# Pandinus Dictator - Just The Facts Nothing But The Facts



## Thaedion (Feb 22, 2007)

I've been watching a certain *Thread about Pandinus dictator* and seeing it go on topic off topic and into lands of speculation and theory. (even invoking the ire of some) So I was wanting to dedicate a thread solely to information about this Pandinus sp.

here are Quotes from the other thread to start it off: If I'm being too presumptuous here please forgive me, and allow this thread to die off by not posting to it, if not post away with cold hard facts please.



Deolok said:


> I have been doing some small research on this species and as always, they are incredibly rare. In fact I thought it was just something someone made up. Apparently not, they are indeed a living arachnid.
> 
> The link to the picture on scorpion files-
> http://www.ub.ntnu.no/scorpion-files/p_dictator(f).jpg
> ...





Thaedion said:


> Hello again;
> 
> here is a *Link to a PDF* that may be of interest to you, it is titled "On the Scorpions of Gabon and Neighboring Countries..." and has 32 references to P dictator in it. an excerpt _"Although P. dictator has not been redescribed since its original description, the diagnostic characters of this species have been thoroughly elaborated in three papers."_ It list the papers, you could dig deeper and search those papers out for more info.
> 
> ...





skinheaddave said:


> ...There is an original description published, as well as several records of specimens in collections.  Size, appearance, habitat and distribution are waiting there for someone to dig them up...
> 
> Cheers,
> Dave





fusion121 said:


> *Pandinus dictator:*
> 
> Here is a large male specimen of P. dictator from the Congo:
> 
> ...





skinheaddave said:


> ...As for the citation, there are actually dozens of documents out there that relate to P.dictator in some way.  There are only a few that are readily accessible, though.
> 
> Cheers,
> Dave



I found this excerpt in a *PDF Titled* "On the Scorpions of Gabon and Neighboring Countries,"

Although P. dictator has not been redescribed since its original description, the diagnostic characters of this species have been thoroughly elaborated in *three papers*. Belfield’s (1956) key reviewed traditional diagnostic differences in the pectinal tooth count and the surface ornamentation of the carapace, terga and pedipalp chela manus between P. dictator and the closely related P. imperator and P. gambiensis (as P. imperator gambiensis). Vachon (1974) presented a new key, wherein diagnostic differences in the numbers and  relative positions of pedipalp trichobothria were demonstrated among the three species, transferred P. dictator to a new subgenus, Pandinopsis, and retained the other two species, which are evidently more closely related, in the subgenus Pandinus. Lourenço and Cloudsley-Thompson (1996) summarized the differences presented by Vachon (1974) and discussed the known distributional range of the three species.

So these are three sources that describe P dictator. Anyone have these available?

Thaedion


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