Spiniform macrosetae have been useful as a taxonomic trait in the genus Diplocentrus, such as the telotarsal spiniform macrosetae formula widely used to separate species. Basitarsal spiniform macrosetae have been studied in the family Scorpionidae but not in its sister family (Diplocentridae). In this study, we analyzed the variation in the position and number of spiniform macrosetae on the basitarsus of one species of the genus Diplocentrus. We found minimal ontogenetic, intersexual and geographical variation within the species. We also compare the pattern found in Diplocentrus tehuacanus Hoffmann 1931 to those of two morphologically similar species, and found that the basitarsal macrosetal pattern is also a good, reliable taxonomic character at the interspecific level.
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1 November 2013
Variation in the spiniform macrosetae pattern on the basitarsi of Diplocentrus tehuacanus (Scorpiones: Diplocentridae): new characters to diagnose species within the genus
Carlos Eduardo Santibáñez-López,
Oscar F. B. Francke,
Alberto Ortega-Gutierrez
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The Journal of Arachnology
Vol. 41 • No. 3
November 2013
Vol. 41 • No. 3
November 2013
Diagnostic character
geographical variation
intersexual variation
interspecific variation
ontogenetic variation