Scorpions of the Family Vaejovidae (excluding Vaejovis)

Updated 18 March 2003

The following genera, Serradigitus, Pseudouroctonus, Uroctonites, and Uroctonus are listed below. There are several undescribed species of Serradigitus in Arizona, Colorado, and Texas, possibly elsewhere. More will be written about these genera at a later date.

Genus Serradigitus Stahnke, 1974. (24 species, 2 subspecies).
Type Species: Serradigitus wupatkiensis (Stahnke, 1940).

Serradigitus scorpions are distinguished from other vaejovids by having the following characters in combination:

1.  Fingers of pedipalp chela (hand) are usually elongate and have a serrate row of denticles, usually not interrupted by a larger denticle, terminating with an enlarged clawlike denticle or tooth; Look carefully at the hands of this Serradigitus wupatkiensis courtesy of Warren Savary; 
2. Trichobothria ib and it situated well away from the base of the pedipalp fixed finger;
3. Basal one, two, or three teeth on the female pectine lacking sensillae, typically more round in shape and disproportionate in size to the other pectinal teeth (i.e., slightly larger or slightly smaller).

Serradigitus agilis Sissom and Stockwell, 1991
Type Locality: 5-6 mi W Pena Blanca Lake & Sycamore Canyon, Santa Cruz County, Arizona.
Distribution: Arizona: Atascosa Mountains, Santa Cruz County. New Mexico: Peloncillo Mountains, Antelope Pass, 7 mi. west of Animas, Hidalgo County. Possibly at localities between these sites.
Mexico: Sonora.

Serradigitus allredi Sissom and Stockwell, 1991
Type Locality: Picacho Peak, Pinal County, Arizona.
Distribution: Arizona: Picacho Peak, Pinal County and Dripping Springs, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Pima County.
Mexico: Sonora (Cornelio).

Serradigitus deserticola (Williams, 1970)
Type Locality: Travertine Spring, Death Valley National Monument, Inyo County, California.
Distribution: California: Travertine Spring, DVNM, Inyo County.

Serradigitus gertschi gertschi (Williams, 1968)
Photo of adult female from San Diego, California, copyright 2002 KJM (specimen courtesy Kevin Cash).
Type Locality: 1.6 km E San Ysidro, San Diego County, California.
Distribution: California: From Aubrey, Fresno County, along Coast Ranges south to San Ignacio, Baja California Sur, and islands of Gulf of California, Mexico.
Notes: Apparently common in the San Diego vicinity.

Serradigitus gertschi striatus (Hjelle, 1972)
Photo of adult female from near Mt. Diablo, Contra Costa Co., California, courtesy of and Copyright 2001 Mike "troll" Dame.
Type Locality: Frank Raines Park, 18 mi W Patterson, Stanislaus County, California.
Distribution: California: Eastern slopes of coast ranges from San Benito County to Mendocino County, Central Valley into the Sierra Foothills: Kern, Tuolumne, Kings, Fresno, San Benito, Contra Costa, and Tulare counties (Berke 1987).

Serradigitus gramenestris (Williams, 1970)
Type Locality: Travertine Spring, 0.5 mi E Furnace Creek Inn, Death Valley National Monument, Inyo County California.
Distribution: California: Death Valley, Inyo County.

Serradigitus harbisoni (Williams, 1970)
Photo courtesy of and Copyright Graeme Lowe.
Type Locality: Calamajue Arroyo, Baja California Norte, Mexico.
Distribution: Arizona: Tinajas Altas and Gila mountains, Yuma County; Bren, LaPaz County. California: Kern, Riverside, and San Diego counties.
Mexico: Baja California Norte and Gulf islands.
Notes: Williams (1976) considered S. subtilimanus a junior synonym of S. harbisoni; Sissom and Stockwell (1991) continued to recognize them as valid. 

Serradigitus joshuaensis (Soleglad, 1972)
Photo courtesy of and Copyright Graeme Lowe.
Type Locality: Cottonwood Springs, Joshua Tree National Monument, Riverside County, California.  
Distribution: Mojave Desert and Colorado Desert subdivision of Sonoran Desert:  California: Ventura (Wheeler Springs), Riverside, San Bernardino, Imperial and San Diego counties; W Arizona (new records unpublished).

Serradigitus subtilimanus (Soleglad, 1972)
Type Locality: 23 mi N Winterhaven, Imperial County, California.
Distribution: California: Colorado Desert in Imperial County.
Notes: Williams (1976) considered S. subtilimanus a junior synonym of S. harbisoni; Sissom and Stockwell (1991) continued to recognize them as valid. 

Serradigitus torridus Williams and Berke, 1986
Type Locality: Red Rock Canyon State Recreation Area, Kern County, California
Distribution: California: Kern County: Known only from type locality, Jaw Bone Canyon, and 20 mi N Mojave.  

* Serradigitus wupatkiensis (Stahnke, 1940)
Type Locality: Wupatki National Monument, Coconino County, Arizona.
Distribution: Great Basin: Arizona: Navajo, Apache, and * Coconino counties (possibly Mohave County). Utah: Grand and Moab counties. Southern Nevada. California: Inyo and Los Angeles (San Gabriel Mountains) counties. Idaho, New Mexico (Sissom, 2000).

* Serradigitus spp.
Several undescribed species from Arizona, Colorado, and * Texas.

Genus Pseudouroctonus Stahnke, 1974

Pseudouroctonus andreas (Gertsch and Soleglad, 1972)
Type Locality: Andreas Canyon, off Palm Canyon, 4 miles S Palm Springs, Riverside County, California.
Distribution: California: Riverside and San Diego counties.
Mexico: BCN.

Pseudouroctonus angelenus (Gertsch and Soleglad, 1972)
Type Locality: Malibu, Los Angeles County, California.
Distribution: California: Known only from type locality, possibly into Ventura County.

* Pseudouroctonus apacheanus (Gertsch and Soleglad, 1972)
Type Locality: Southwestern Research Station, 5 miles W Portal, Cochise County, Arizona.
Distribution: Arizona: Cochise (Chiricahua Mtns.), Santa Cruz, Pima (west to Baboquivari Mountains), and Graham counties. New Mexico: Eddy County (other new localities unpublished). Texas: Val Verde, Brewster, Culberson, Hudspeth, and Jeff Davis counties. Doubtless occurs throughout northeastern Mexico.

Pseudouroctonus bogerti (Gertsch and Soleglad, 1972)
Type Locality: Snow Creek, San Jacinto Mountains, Riverside County, California.
Distribution: California: Riverside, San Bernardino, and San Diego counties.

Pseudouroctonus glimmei (Hjelle, 1972)
Type Locality: 5 miles N Rayhouse Road, junction Davis and Cache creeks, Lake County, California.
Distribution: California: Lake, Mendocino, Monterey, and Napa counties.

Pseudouroctonus iviei (Gertsch and Soleglad, 1972)
Photo of female P. iviei from near Mt. Diablo, Contra Costa Co., CA, courtesy Mike Dame. Note the spines on the metasoma segments, similar to Vaejovis spinigerus
Photo of preserved female.
Type Locality: San Juan, Nevada County, California.
Distribution: N California: Sierra, Trinity, Placer, Butte (Chico), Eldorado, Plumas, Yuba, Shasta, Napa, Contra Costa, Nevada, Sonoma, and Mendocino counties in the foothills and mountains of northern California.

Pseudouroctonus minimus minimus (Kraepelin, 1911)
Type Locality: San Pedro, Los Angeles County, California.
Distribution: California: Santa Catalina and San Clemente islands, and San Pedro, Los Angeles County.

Pseudouroctonus minimus castaneus (Gertsch and Soleglad, 1972)
Type Locality: Santee, San Diego County, California.
Distribution: California: Santee and Vista, San Diego County.

Pseudouroctonus minimus thompsoni (Gertsch and Soleglad, 1972)
Type Locality: Anacapa Island, Ventura County, California.
Distribution: California: Northern Channel Islands of Ventura (Anacapa) and Santa Barbara (Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa) counties.

* Pseudouroctonus reddelli (Gertsch and Soleglad, 1972)
Photo of preserved adult male P. reddelli from Uvalde County, Texas, Copyright 2001 KJM.
Type Locality: Pablo's Cave, Uvalde County, Texas.
Distribution: Texas: Williamson, Travis, Burnet, Real, Bandera, Bexar, Comal, Edwards, Hays, Kerr, Kimble, Medina, Uvalde, and Val Verde counties, in karst topography of the Balcones Escarpment.
Mexico: Unpublished localities.

Pseudouroctonus williamsi (Gertsch and Soleglad, 1972)
Link Photo of Ps. williamsi from San Diego courtesy of a Copyright 2001 Matt Graham.
Type Locality: Mission Gorge, 1 mile W Padre Dam, San Diego County, California.
Distribution: California: San Diego County.

Genus Uroctonites Williams and Savary, 1991 (4 species)

Uroctonites giulianii Williams and Savary, 1991
Photo courtesy of and Copyright Grame Lowe.
Type Locality: White Mountains, Inyo National Forest, Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, 1.1 km S Schulman Grove, Inyo County, California.
Distribution: California: Inyo and Mono counties, elev. 1300-3080 m in White and Inyo Mountains.

Uroctonites huachuca (Gertsch and Soleglad, 1972)
Type Locality: Madera Canyon, Santa Ria Mountains, Santa Cruz County, Arizona.
Distribution: Arizona: Santa Cruz and Cochise counties, in Huachuca and Santa Rita mountains. Doubtless Sonora, Mexico, in Huachuca Mountains.

Uroctonites montereus (Gertsch and Soleglad, 1972)
Type Locality: Red Hill, Hastings Natural History Reserve, Monterey County, California.
Distribution: California: Monterey, Alameda, Santa Clara, and San Mateo counties.

Uroctonites sequoia (Gertsch and Soleglad, 1972)
Type Locality: Clough Cave, Shasta National Monument, Tulare County, California.
Distribution: California: Extremely rare, known only from a few specimens from type locality.

Genus Uroctonus Thorell, 1876
Uroctonus and Anuroctonus were recently transferred to the scorpion family Chactidae by Soleglad & Fet (2004). Go to the Euscorpius on-line journal for more information.

Uroctonus franckei Williams, 1986
Type Locality: 17.7 km W Big Pine, Inyo County, California.
Distribution: California: Whitney Portal, Inyo County, and June Lake, Mono County, in yellow pine forests above 2130 m.

Uroctonus grahami Gertsch and Soleglad, 1972.
Type Locality: Samwel Cave, Shasta County, California.
Distribution: California: Extremely rare, known only from a few specimens from type locality.

* Uroctonus mordax mordax Thorell, 1876
Photo of adult P. silvestrii courtesy of a copyright 1999 Graeme Lowe; compared with adult female Uroctonus mordax from near Mt. Diablo, CA, courtesy of and copyright 2001 Martin Cross. These two species are common and occasionally occur together in western California.
Uroctonus mordax mordax Photo courtesy of and Copyright 1996 R. David Gaban.
Type Locality: San Francisco, California.
Distribution: Washington: Klickitat County; Oregon: Coast Ranges; most of California S to Los Angeles County.  Reported from Utah, but this is very unlikely.
More Photos: Here is a view of the tail, hopefully showing the forked row of granules (like a "Y") on the fifth metasoma segment.
Uroctonus mordax mordax female on my 5-year-old fearless daughter, Malea! This species pinches worse than it stings, i.e., do NOT try this on your kids, or yourself! I, like Steve Irwin, am a professional and we (Malea and I) know what we're doing.

Uroctonus mordax pluridens Hjelle, 1972
Type Locality: Near Corralitos, Santa Cruz County, California.
Distribution: California: Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties.

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