Arachnologische Mitteilungen 54

The Emperor is back – the holotype of Pandinus imperator 47 There has been some confusion as to the correct year of description for Buthus imperator ; a matter already discussed by Brignoli (1985). Although Koch’s 9 th Volume of “Die Arach- niden” was published in 1842, the first 56 pages, containing the description of Buthus imperator, had already been pub- lished in 1841. Due to article 21.5 of ICZN (2017) the year 1841 is therefore correct. The newly discovered insect drawer containing the holoty- pe of Buthus imperator contains 18 other scorpion specimens, only some of which are labelled (see http://ent.smns- bw. org/drawer/Entomologie-drawers_Arachnida.htm). While further examinations revealed that the labelled specimens and their descriptions did not tally particularly well, the specimen of Androctonus margarelon C.L. Koch, 1838 corresponds well to Koch’s (1838) description. In particular, its damaged pec- tines are explicitly mentioned by Koch.The type of A. marga- relon had also been considered lost (Fet et al. 2000) and the species was treated as a junior synonym of Hottentotta hotten- totta (Fabricius, 1787) by Kraepelin (1891). Furthermore, two specimens labelled as Buthus reticulatus and Tityus hottentotta fit Koch’s descriptions (Koch 1837, 1845), while others ( Opis- topthalmus [sic] capensis (Herbst, 1800) in Koch (1837), Tityus mucronatus (Fabricius, 1798) in Koch (1845), Androctonus pa- ris C.L. Koch, 1838 in Koch (1838), and Ischnurus australasiae (Fabricius, 1775) in Koch (1837), do not seem to resemble the specimens on which his descriptions are based.The unlabeled specimens have not yet been examined. It remains a mystery as to how these specimens found their way into the collection at the National History Museum in Stuttgart in the first place.The SMNS is starting a project to digitize its archives of printed and handwritten historical documents. We hope, these efforts will also result in hints to clarify the accession of these scorpion specimens. References Brignoli PM 1985 On the correct dates of publication of the arach- nid taxa described in some works by C.W. Hahn and C. L. Koch (Arachnida). – Bulletin of the British arachnological Society 6: 414-416 Fet V, Sissom WD, Lowe G & Braunwalder ME 2000 Catalog of the scorpions of the world (1758-1998). Entomological Society, New York. 690 pp. Hjelle JT 1990 Anatomy and morphology. In: Polis GA (ed.). The biology of scorpions. University Press, Stanford. pp. 9-63 ICZN (International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature) 2017 Article 21.5, version July 2017. – Internet: http://www. nhm.ac.uk/hosted-sites/iczn/code/index.jsp?nfv=true&article=21 ( July 31, 2017) Koch CL 1837 Die Arachniden.Vierter Band.C.H. Zeh’sche Buch- handlung, Nürnberg. pp. 1-108 – doi: 10.5962/bhl.title.43744 Koch CL 1838 Die Arachniden. Fünfter Band. C. H. Zeh‘sche Buchhandlung,Nürnberg.pp.1-124 – doi: 10.5962/bhl.title.43744 Koch CL 1841 Die Arachniden. Neunter Band. C. H. Zeh‘sche Buchhandlung,Nürnberg. pp. 1-56 – doi: 10.5962/bhl.title.43744 Koch CL 1845 Die Arachniden. Elfter Band. C. H. Zeh‘sche Buch- handlung, Nürnberg. 174 pp. – doi: 10.5962/bhl.title.43744 Kraepelin K 1891 Revision der Skorpione. I. Die Familie der An- droctonidae. – Jahrbuch der Hamburgischen Wissenschaftlichen Anstalten 8: 143-286 Lourenço WR 2014 Further considerations on the identity and distribution of Pandinus imperator (C. L.Koch, 1841) and descrip- tion of a new species from Cameroon (Scorpiones: Scorpionidae). – Entomologische Mitteilungen aus dem Zoologischen Museum Hamburg 17: 139-151 Lourenço WR & Cloudsley-Thompson JL 1996 Recognition and distribution of the scorpions of the genus Pandinus Thorell, 1876 accorded protection by the Washington convention. – Biogeogra- phica 72: 133-143 Moritz M& Fischer SC 1980 DieTypen der Arachniden-Sammlung des zoologischenMuseums Berlin.III.Scorpiones.–Mitteilungen aus dem Zoologischen Museum in Berlin 56: 309-326 Prendini L 2004 On the scorpions of Gabon and neighboring coun- tries, with a reassessment of the synonyms attributed to Babycurus buettneri Karsch and a redescription of Babycurus melanicus Kovařík. – California Academy of Sciences Memoir 28: 235-267 Rossi A 2014 Notes on the distribution of Pandinus ( Pandinus )Thorell, 1876 and Pandinus ( Pandinurus ) Fet, 1997 with the descriptions of two new species from Central African Republic and Djibouti (Scorpiones: Scorpionidae). – Onychium 10: 10-31 Rossi A 2015a Sui sottogeneri di Pandinus Thorell, 1876 con revisi- one del genere Pandinurus Fet, 1997 stat. n. e descrizione di sette nuove specie e tre nuovi sottogeneri (Scorpiones: Scorpionidae). – Onychium 11: 10-66 Rossi A 2015b Clarification of the type locality of Pandinus ulderigoi with notes on the scorpions protected by CITES (Scorpiones: Scorpionidae). [Proceedings of the 28th European Congress of Arachnology, Torino, 2014 August 24-29] – Arachnologische Mitteilungen 49: 47-54 – doi: 10.5431/aramit4905 Rossi A 2015c Una revisione preliminare del genere Pandinus Thorell, 1876 con la descrizione di un nuovo sottogenere e due nuove specie dall’Etiopia (Scorpiones: Scorpionidae). – Arachnida - Rivista Aracnologica Italiana 3: 37-52 Rossi A 2015d Ulteriori commenti sulla tassonomia dei generi Pan- dinus e Pandinurus , con la definizione di un nuovo sottogenere ed una nuova specie di Pandinurus dalla Somalia (Scorpiones: Scor- pionidae). – Arachnida - Rivista Aracnologica Italiana 4: 41-55 Rossi A 2016 Atlas of scorpions. Volume 1 (Scorpionidae: Pandini- nae: Pandinoides ). – Arachnida - Rivista Aracnologica Italiana 8, Supplemento: 1-148 Vachon M 1963 De l’utilité, en systématique, d’une nomenclature des dents des chélicères chez les Scorpions. – Bulletin du Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris 35: 161-166 Vachon M 1967 Le grand scorpion du Sénégal: Pandinus gambiensis Pocock, 1899 doit être considéré comme une véritable espèce et non comme une sous espèce de Pandinus imperator C. L. Koch, 1842. – Bulletin de l’Institut fondamental d’Afrique noire (A) 29: 1534-1537 Vachon M 1974 Étude des caractères utilisés pour classer les familles et les genres de scorpions (Arachnides). – Bulletin du Muséum national d’histoire naturelle, Paris 140: 857-958