Genus Pandinoides Fet, 1997

Figures 1–16; tables 1–5

Pandinus (Pandinoides) Vachon, 1974: 953 (part), nomen nudum (type species not designated).

Pandinus (Pandinoides) Fet, 1997: 248, type species: Pandinus militaris Pocock, 1900 [= Pandinoides militaris (Pocock, 1900)], desig. Fet, 2000: 468 (part); Lamoral and Reynders, 1975: 564 (part); Francke, 1985: 11, 18; Kovařík, 1998: 140 (part); Fet, 2000: 468 (part); Kovařík, 2003: 136, 148, 149, fig. 15, table 1 (part); 2009: 50–52 (part), 58, 59, 114, 115 (part), 129, table 3 (part), figs. 284–293 (part), 403–405; Prendini et al., 2003: 230.

Pandinoides: Rossi, 2015a: 10, 11, 13 (part), 14–16, 43, 50, figs. 8–11.

DIAGNOSIS: Species of Pandinoides differ from all other scorpionid genera in the unique shape of the pedipalp chela manus of the adult male, which is characterized by a marked concave depression in the retrodorsal surface, at the base of the fixed finger (figs. 6A, 13A, 20A), and the retroventral carina projecting ventral to the plane of the ventromedian carina (figs. 6B, 13B, 20B).

The following additional characters, in combination, separate Pandinoides from all other scorpionid genera. Cheliceral movable finger, prodistal (ventral) and retrodistal (dorsal) teeth unequal, retrodistal tooth considerably smaller than prodistal tooth, aligned longitudinally and not opposable. Carapace interocular and posteromedian surfaces smooth in both sexes (figs. 4, 11, 18); posterior sutures present, connected anteriorly to posterior furcations of interocular suture and extending anteriorly beyond median ocular tubercle. Sternites and metasomal segments I–V, intercarinal surfaces smooth or predominantly so. Sternite VII with paired, costate ventrosubmedian and ventrolateral carinae. Ventrolateral and ventrosubmedian carinae more strongly developed on metasomal segments I and II than on III and IV. Pedipalp chela manus predominantly acarinate except for retroventral and ventromedian carinae (figs. 6, 7, 13, 14, 20, 21); retrodorsal surfaces predominantly smooth proximally with shallow, anastomosing granules and/or reticulation distally. Chela movable finger of adult male without proximal lobe, with median lobe more pronounced than other lobes, and with correspondingly welldeveloped notch in fixed finger, creating moderate to prominent gap between fingers, when closed (figs. 6A, 13A, 20A). Pedipalp neobothriotaxic major, Type C, with 84 (74–93) trichobothria (tables 1–5; n = 90); chela with 4 (3–5) i trichobothria and 9 (7–12) V trichobothria; patella with 14 (13–15) e trichobothria and 31 (22–38) v trichobothria. Telotarsi with the following counts of pro- and retroventral spiniform macrosetae (tables 1–5; n = 90): I, 3 (1–3), 4 (3–5); II, 3 (2 or 3), 4 (2–5); III, 3 (2–4), 4 (3–5); IV, 3 (2 or 3), 4 (3–5).

DISTRIBUTION: Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Tanzania,? Uganda. This genus does not occur in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaïre) or in Sudan as stated by Kovařík (1998, 2009) and Fet (2000). As discussed under P. militaris, the record from Sudan is actually in Uganda (fig. 2), and remains to be confirmed.

ECOLOGY: Pandinoides occur in arid savannah and riverine forest, from 240–1770 m elevation. All three species of the genus are fossorial, constructing burrows in compacted clayey to sandy-loam soils using the chelicerae, first two pairs of legs, and metasoma. Burrow entrances are usually situated in open ground. The thickened metasoma (figs. 9, 16, 23), short, robust legs (figs. 8, 15, 22) with stout, spiniform macrosetae distributed retrolaterally and distally on the basitarsi, and curved telotarsal ungues are consistent with the pelophilous ecomorphotype (Prendini, 2001b). Burrows may be single entrance, occupied by a single individual, or composite and multi-entrance, containing multiple related individuals of overlapping generations.

CONSERVATION: All three species of Pandinoides are harvested in large numbers for the international trade in exotic pets, judging from their availability on markets in Europe, the United States, and Japan (fig. 1A). The impact of this activity on wild populations is unknown, but several factors suggest it is probably detrimental. Species of Pandinoides may be slow to repopulate and hence vulnerable to overharvesting, as with other large-bodied Scorpionidae (Prendini et al., 2003). Female scorpionids typically have gestation periods of up to 12 months and produce fairly small broods (30–35 young) compared with other scorpions. Young are relatively altricial, spending several months in the maternal burrow before dispersing, protracting the period before a female can give birth to her next brood. Age to sexual maturity is 4–7 years, during which period most juveniles experience natural predation (including cannibalism). The fairly restricted distributional ranges of Pandinoides species provide further cause for concern, given that wild populations are threatened not only by harvesting but also by continued habitat destruction. Pandinoides appear to be equilibrium species, restricted to relatively undisturbed habitat. Species of Pandinoides should be CITES-listed as is the case with three West African species, Pandinopsis dictator (Pocock, 1888), Pandinus gambiensis Pocock, 1899, and Pandinus imperator (C.L. Koch, 1841).

INCLUDED SPECIES: Pandinoides cavimanus (Pocock, 1888); Pandinoides duffmackayi, sp. nov.; Pandinoides militaris (Pocock, 1900).

Vachon (1974) assigned Pandinus platycheles Werner, 1916, to subgenus Pandinoides, based solely on the count of trichobothria in the i series of the pedipalp chela. Lamoral and Reynders (1975), Fet (2000), and Kovařík (2003, 2009) adopted Vachon’s (1974) placement of P. platycheles in Pandinoides, as did Rossi (2015a) when elevating the historical subgenera to the rank of genera.

Kovařík (2009: 50) suggested that knowing the adult male of P. platycheles “is crucial to deciphering its relationship to P. (Pandinoides) cavimanus, a species that has yet another unusual expression of sexual dimorphism.” On the contrary, several obvious differences between the female of P. platycheles, illustrated by Kovařík (2009: 115, figs. 291– 293), and the females of P. cavimanus and P. militaris, notably the shape and surface granulation of the carapace and pedipalp chela, clearly ally P. platycheles with the species of Pandinus and Pandinurus occurring in eastern Africa, rather than with Pandinoides.

Pending a detailed reassessment of the genera and subgenera of Pandinus, sensu lato, based on quantitative phylogenetic analysis, Pandinoides is restricted to the three species with a marked concave depression in the retrodorsal surface of the pedipalp chela manus of the adult male, and P. platycheles transferred to Pandinus subgenus Pandinoriens Rossi, 2015: Pandinus (Pandinoriens) platycheles (Werner, 1916), comb. nov.

REMARKS: As published by Vachon (1974), the name Pandinus (Pandinoides) was a nomen nudum and therefore unavailable. Fet (1997: 248) designated the type species as Scorpio exitialis Pocock, 1888, in error. Fet (2000) corrected that to Pandinus militaris Pocock, 1900.