EREMOBATINAE
  Eremobates
      angustus group
      aztecus group
      lapazi group
     pallipes group
      palpisetulosus group
      scaber group
          Eremobates actenidia
          Eremobates ascopulatus
          Eremobates clarus
          Eremobates corpink
          Eremobates ctenidiellus
          Eremobates hodai
          Eremobates icenogelei
          Eremobates legalis
          Eremobates mormonus
          Eremobates scaber
          Eremobates similis
          Eremobates socal
          Eremobates zinni
      vallis group
  Eremocosta
  Eremorhax
  Eremothera
  Horribates
THEROBATINAE
  Chanbria
  Eremochelis
  Hemerotrecha

Eremobates similis Muma 1951

Eremobates similis Muma, 1951: 60, figs 70-71; Muma, 1962: 4; Muma, 1963: 1; Muma, 1970a: 14; Muma, 1974c: 13-14; Muma, 1976: 15; Muma, 1989: 9; Brookhart and Brantley, 2000: 445, 446; ►Brookhart and Cushing, 2004: 302-303, figs 28, 41, 56; ►Brookhart and Brookhart, 2006: 314.

HOLOTYPE:: United States: Utah: Utah County - Elk Ridge (40º00'N, 111º40'W), 13 June 1936 (Douglas Henriques), ♂ (holotype) (AMNH).

Original description:
Muma 1951: 60, figs 70-71:

SUBSEQUENT ACCOUNTS:
Brookhart and Cushing, 2004: 302-303, figs 28, 41, 56:

Description.—Males: Appendages and propeltidium straw yellow with violet brown markings. Propeltidium lightly blotched violet brown on anterior and lateral margins, palpus and legs violet brown on femur, tibia, metatarsus, tarsus, abdominal tergites yellow grey. FF regularly curved in ectal view with no teeth; MF with posterior IT situated in the notch; AT triangulate with no cleft; MST tiny to absent. Fond significantly wider than long (Fig. 28); 4–6 thin, needle like ctenidia on first post spiracular sternite extending less than half the length of the sternite (Fig. 41). No papillae on palpal scopula. Both male and female descriptions are made from specimens collected in wet pit fall traps in Costillo County, Colorado in the summer of 1997 by J.O. and I.P. Brookhart. They were the most common solifugid found in the San Luis Valley of Colorado. They were referred to as E. mormonus by Brookhart (1972). Male holotype: Total length 22.0, chelicera length 5.2, chelicera width 2.6, propeltidium length 2.5, propeltidium width 3.9, palpus length 17.0, first leg length 14.0, fourth leg length 22.0. Ratios: A/CP 6.88, CL/CW 2.00, PL/PW 0.64, FL/FW 0.50, FW/FFW 1.66. Male measurements (6) (from San Luis Valley, Colorado): Total length 15.5–17.0, chelicera length 4.2–4.8, chelicera width 1.8–2.0, propeltidium length 2.0–2.2, propeltidium width 2.8–3.2, palpus 12.0–18.0, first leg length 11.0–16.5, fourth leg length 17.0–20.0. Ratios: A/CP 6.52–7.69, CL/CW 2.22–2.44, PL/PW 0.63–0.71, FL/FW 0.62–0.71, FW/FFW 3.50–4.33, CW/FFW 5.50—6.50
Females: Coloration as in males, chelicera typical of species; MF with posterior IT in the notch of PT; MST indistinct to absent. Genital operculum with short, thin arms, interior lateral surface curved ending in a point as in E. zinni and E. mormonus, long recurved wings, rounded posterior margin (Fig. 56). No papillae on metatarsus of palpus; 2–5 tiny hairlike ctenidia were present on most specimens (Fig. 44). Female measurements (6): Total length 16.5–22.0, chelicera length 4.20–5.52, chelicera width 1.8–2.4, propeltidium length 2.0–2.6, propeltidium width 3.0–4.0, palpus length 10.0–15.0, first leg length 8.0–11.5, fourth leg length 14.0–21.0. Ratios: A/CP 5.30–5.76, CL/CW 2.33–2.88, PL/PW 0.62–0.81, GOL/GOW 0.58–0.71.

DISTRIBUTION: United States; Mexico.

PUBLISHED RECORDS: Mexico: Sonora: 7 mi. N of Hermosillo, at ultra-violet light, 14 August 1964  (J. Shetterly), ♀ (collection?). UNITED STATES: Colorado: Costillo & Saguache Counties - San Luis Valley, in wet pitfalls, 8 June–8 August 1997 (Jack & Irene Brookhart), 22 ♂, 19 ♀; New Mexico: Socorro County - Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge (34º03'N, 106º23'W), in wet pitfalls, 1989–1994  (collector?), 7 ♂, 18 ♀; Sandoval County - Bandelier National Monument (35º47'N, 106º18'W), in wet pitfall traps, 1998–2000 (collector?) (22 ♂, 19 ♀). Deposited at DMNS and University of New Mexico.

NOTES:  Brookhart and Cushing, 2004 Diagnosis.—Lighter coloration with a more violet tinge than the closely related E. mormonus with 4–6 short, thin, needle like ctenidia extending less than half the length of succeeding sternite, no palpal papillae.
Brookhart and Brookhart (2006) included the species in an annotated checklist of continental North American Solifugae.Remarks.—Eremobates similis was described from a specimen with a locality label from Salt Lake City, Utah. Although the type locality for E. similis is listed as Salt Lake City, Utah we have collected this species only in an area that can be roughly called the northern Rio Grande Valley at three sites, San Luis Valley, Colorado, Seviletta LTER, Socorro County, New Mexico, and Bandelier National Monument, Sandoval County, New Mexico. Examination of the type fits Muma’s description but we were unable to determine if there was an error in labeling the type locality. None of the specimens from Utah that we used in the scaber study could be identified as E. similis. Females of this species have not been previously described. Each of the above populations occurred in high desert shrub habitat and varied somewhat in color. The male population of Bandelier National Monument had a statistically significant variation in A/CP ratio indicating the possibility of sibling species. San Luis Valley (2303 m) specimens were collected in Rabbit Bush, snake weed, greasewood habitats. Bandelier National Monument specimens from Piñon-Juniper and Ponderosa Pine habitat and Sevilleta LTER from Pin˜on-Juniper habitat but not from grassland and creosote bush (Brookhart & Brantley 2000).