Scorpions of the genus Hottentotta (Birula, 1908)

Key to species of
Asia
Africa & Arabia

Key to the species of the genus Hottentotta (Birula, 1908) occurring in Africa and Arabia

1.	All metasomal segments uniformly colored ...............................................................................................................................4
-	First two or three metasomal segments yellow, fifth segment and telson black ................................................................2

2.	All segments of pedipalps uniformly colored ...........................................................................H. scaber (Ehrenberg, 1828)
-	Femur of pedipalp yellow to yellowish brown, chela dark ........................................................................................................3

3.	Patella of pedipalp as dark as chela ..............................................................................................H. jayakari (Pocock, 1895)
-	Patella of pedipalp as yellow to yellowish brown as femur .............................................................H. salei (Vachon, 1980)

4.	Telson extremely inflated, both sexes with very narrow chelea. Occurs only in Angola, South Africa & Namibia .........5
-	Telson much less inflated ................................... ..........................................................................................................................6

5.	Total length 32-43 mm. First metasomal segment width/length ratio 0.95-1.05 in males, 1.03-1.14 in females .....................................................................................................................H. arenaceus (Purcell, 1902)
-	Total length 40-65 mm. First metasomal segment width/length ratio 1.22-1.42 in males, 1.28-1.47 in females ....................................................................................................................H.conspersus (Thorell, 1876)

6.	Ventral surfaces of metasomal segments and vesicle of female densely hirsute .............................................................7
-	Metasoma of both sexes bears only a few hairs .......................................................................................................................8

7.	Legs yellow ............................................................... ...................................................................H. franzwerneri (Birula, 1914)
-	Legs black or reddish brown ................................................................................................................H. gentili (Pallary, 1924)

8.	Trichobothrium db on the fixed finger of pedipalp located between trichobothria et and dt or on level with trichobothrium et (Fig. 4). Occurs in Socotra .........................................................................H. socotrensis (Pocock, 1889)
-	Trichobothrium db on the fixed finger of pedipalp located between trichobothria et and est or esb (Fig. 1). Does not occur in Socotra. ........................................................................ ....................................................................................9

9.	Entire body black, does not occur in Africa ....................................................................................H. judaicus (Simon, 1872)
-	Usually uniformly reddish brown, some populations yellowish brown to black. Occurs in Afrika .................................10

10.	Chelicerae of both sexes yellow, without reticulation .............................................................................................................11
-	Chelicerae always reticulated in females, reticulation may be absent in males .........H. hottentotta (Fabricius, 1787)

11.	Metasoma wide. First metasomal segment of adults always wider than long, second metasomal segment usually wider than long ........................... ...................................................................................................................................................12
-	Metasoma narrow. First metasomal segment usually longer than wide or as wide as long (except for some males of H. trilineatus) .............................................................................. ...................................................................................................13

12.	Male with manus of pedipalp markedly broader than in female .................................................H. niloticus (Birula, 1928)
-	Width of manus of pedipalp same in both sexes ...........................................................................H. minax (L. Koch, 1875)

13.	Metasoma very narrow. 4th metasomal segment length/width ratio higher than 1.6 .....H. polystictus (Pocock, 1896)
-	Fourth metasomal segment length/width ratio less than 1.6 .................................................H. trilineatus (Peters, 1861)

To go to the description of a species click on the name.