The African species of the genus "Leiurus Ehrenberg", 1828 (Scorpiones: Buthidae) with the description of a new species

Abstract

A new species of buthid scorpion belonging to the genus Leiurus Ehrenberg is described on the basis of a single male collected north of Garoua, Cameroon. The new species, Leiurus savanicola sp. n., can be distinguished from the only other known species of the genus distributed in Africa, Leiurus quinquestriatus (Ehrenberg, 1828) by its generally blackish- brown colour, whereas L. quinquestriatus shows an overall yellowish coloration. The type locality of the new species represents the most southerly record of the genus Leiurus in Africa, and it is the first to be located in a zone of transition between the Sahel and savannah formations.