Parabuthus calvus (Purcell, 1898)
P. calvus Purcell, 1898
Parabuthus calvus (Waxy Thicktail Scorpion) from Vanrhynsdorp
Picture by xander.swart
Picture by paulParabuthus calvus (Waxy Thicktail Scorpion) from Loeriesfontein
To commemorate 2k followers I'm sharing probably the rarest scorpion in South Africa. The holy grail of South African scorpions. Seen very seldomly; P. calvus has quite a large distribution range, covering most of the Namaqualand and parts of the Bushmanland but specimen seem to be few and far between. It is closely related to P. planicauda which it shares the uncommon trait of females and males not showing sexual dimorphism through the shape of the pincers/chela; with males in most other Parabuthus species having more bulbous chela than the females.
The easiest way to distinguish between calvus and any other Parabuthus species is by examining the tail/metasoma which in P. calvus is almost completely smooth, hence the name calvus which means bald in Latin.
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