Arachnologische Mitteilungen 54

46 J. Holstein, I. Wendt & A. Rossi Most of the first metasomal segment of the specimen is missing. The metasoma has been torn from the mesosoma and is now connected by a straw.This was probably as a result of later handling since there is no reference to any damage in Koch’s (1841) description. A comparison with the plate figure makes it clear that the tip of the stinger also suffered subse- quent damage (Fig. 3). As Koch’s method of measurement for the carapace, mesosoma, metasoma and telson is not clear, the measure- ments do not agree completely with the specimen. It is also feasible that Koch used a different measuring unit than that assumed (e.g., ‘Bavarian lines’, ‘Rheinland Zoll’). The total length nevertheless appears to be consistent with the value measured in the rediscovered specimen. If we take into ac- count the missing part of the first metasomal segment and the broken aculeus, the possible total length of the speci- men is approximately 170 mm, similar to that reported by Koch using the Bavarian decimal Zoll. On the other hand, if Koch used the French Zoll, the total length adheres to the values which can now be measured in the damaged speci- men.This being the case, the original drawing was possibly manipulated to represent a complete specimen despite the missing parts. Taxonomy Family Scorpionidae Latreille, 1802 Subfamily Pandininae Thorell, 1876 Tribe Pandinini Thorell, 1876 Genus Pandinus Thorell, 1876 Pandinus imperator (C.L. Koch, 1841) (for the historical references until 1998, see Fet et al. 2000) Redescription of the holotype Type material : ) holotype (dry, SMNS-Scor-002031), unk- nown locality. Description: Measurements in Fig. 2. Total length 160.9 mm. [Possible total length including the missing broken parts about 170 mm.] Base colour brown to reddish brown; pedipalp brown to reddish brown with chela palm yellowish to orange-brown and fingers brown; carapace brown; tergites brown; sternites yellowish brown; pectines and genital oper- culum pale yellow; legs from brown (femur) to yellowish (tar- somere); chelicerae yellowish with fingers brown; metasoma brown and telson yellowish to brown. Carapace with many fine granules mainly on anterior and lateral sides. Carapace with a V furrow on its anterior border and a low triangular median depression on the posterior side. Median eyes grey and closer to posterior border of carapace. Lateral eyes three in number and grey. Tergites generally smooth with some fine granules on VII tergite. Sternites smooth. Stigmata very long and narrow. Genital operculum is damaged. Pectines with 16/16 teeth form an angle of approximately 120°. Ster- num pentagonal almost identical in length and width. Coxo- apophysis of reddish yellow and longer than wide. Chelicerae with two denticles on the fixed finger and four denticles on the movable finger (Vachon 1963). Pedipalps with very few and short setae, on chela fingers only. Trochanter and femur tuberculated on anterior and superior side. Patella generally smooth. Chela very wide and round, dorsally with rounded granules, rarely conical or pointed; ventral surface with se- veral granules. Chela with 3 internal trichobothria (Fig. 5) and 9 ventral trichobothria (Fig. 6). Patella with 32 ventral trichobothria (Fig. 7). These numbers correlate on left and right pedipalp. Fixed and movable fingers all have six/seven subrows of granules which forms a single line.Type C tricho- bothrial pattern (Vachon 1974). Tarsomere II with 2 spines on the inclined antero-ventral surface. Spine formula of tar- somere II: 4/3: 4/3: 4-5/3: 4-5/3. Metasomal segments with 8-8-8-8-7 carinae; latero-ventral carinae almost completely absent on segments I, II, and III. Ventral carinae smooth on segments I, II, and III, with some granules on segment IV and moderately pointed on segment V. Dorsal carinae on me- tasomal segments pointed. All segments longer than wide but metasomal segment I badly damaged and cannot be studied. Telson with only a few short setae. Vesicle piriform; its ventral surface showing several granules. Aculeus long, but broken at the tip. Discussion The specimen undoubtedly belongs to what is presently known as the species P. imperator . In fact, it clearly differs from the two most closely related species, Pandinus ulderigoi Rossi, 2014 from the Central African Republic and Pandinus gambiensis Pocock, 1900 from Senegal, Mali, Guinea-Bissau and Gambia (Vachon 1967, Rossi 2014, 2015a, 2015b, 2015c, 2015d). Fig. 7: Pandinus imperator , ventral surface of right patella, trichobothria marked with yellow rings. High quality images of these details are availa- ble at http://ent.smns-bw.org/drawer/Entomologie-drawers_Arachnida. htm