Uroctonites sequoia

Uroctonites sequoia (Gertsch & Soleglad 1972)

	Synonyms. -	Uroctonus sequoia Gertsch & Soleglad 1972: 565, 590-592. Vejovis sequoia (Gertsch & Soleglad): Stahnke 1974: 130, 136. Vaejovis sequoia (Gertsch & Soleglad): Williams 1976: 2. Uroctonites sequoia (Gertsch & Soleglad): Williams & Savary 1991: 272, 275, 278, 281, 283- 285, fig. 17.
	Type. -	Holotype, female, deposited in the American Museum of Natural History. Data: USA. California. Tulare Co.: Sequoia National Park, Clough Cave, under rocks in Ladder Room, 14 May, 1966, T. S. Briggs.
	Diagnosis. -	This species is related to Uroctonites montereus, but has the primary row denticles of the fixed finger of the pedipalp chela divided into five (not six) subrows. As in U. montereus, a single subdistal tooth is present on the dorsal tine of the movable cheliceral finger (not two subdistal teeth as in most vaejovids), and the movable finger of the pedipalp chela bears seven supernumerary denticles.
	Distribution. -	Sierra Nevada of California from Plumas and Tulare counties at elevations of 900-1500 meters. A single immature specimen is known from the vicinity of Soda Springs Cave near Quincy in Plumas County; all other specimens are known from caves or limestone outcrops in or near Sequoia National Park in Tulare County.
	Remarks. -	This is one of the most rarely encountered species of scorpion in California, being known from fewer than a dozen specimens from four localities. The species appears to be associated with caves and limestone outcrops.
	Literature. -	Gertsch, W. J. & M. Soleglad. 1972. Studies of North American scorpions of the genera Uroctonus and Vejovis (Scorpionida, Vejovidae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 148: 549-608. Stahnke, H. L. 1974. Revision and keys to the higher categories of Vejovidae (Scorpionida). Journal of Arachnology, 1: 107-141. Williams, S. C. 1976. The scorpion fauna of California. Bulletin of the Society of Vector Ecologists, 3: 1-4. Williams, S. C. & W. E. Savary. 1991. Uroctonites, a new genus of scorpion from western North America (Scorpiones: Vaejovidae). Pan-Pacific Entomologist, 67(4): 272-287.