Coahuila/Nuevo LeonJuly 17-28, 2006

Research Team

Two team trip! Dr. David Sissom came

south from Texas with Dr. Brent Hendrixson, Kari McWest and Steven Grant.

Dr. Oscar Francke traveled north with Milagros Cordova, Abigail Jaimes, Jesus Ballesteros and Edmundo Gonzalez (visiting Mexico from his Ph. D. studies tenure in New York!).

Brent Kari

Edmundo, Milagros, & Abigail

Oscar Jesus

Cuatro CienegasWe spent the first week in Coahuila, where it was hot and dry, and collected a number of interesting and/or new scorpion species. The two teams met in Cuatro Cienegas de Carranza, a desert oasis famous for its desert pupfish populations as well as other endemics (including scorpions).Each night we would split into two or three teams, thus covering more habitats and localities, and increasing the diversity of our catches. In Cuatro Cienegas we failed to get two of our target species (Vaejovis minckleyi and Paruroctonus coahuilanus), although in general we were very satisfied with the results. Vaejovis minckleyi, or a very close relative, was collected a few nights later at a different location in western Coahuila.

Cuatro Cienegas

Sierra La MaderaOn the night of the 19th, we collected on the slopes near El Oso in the Sierra La Madera.Here we got typical Chihuahuan Desert species, such as Centruroides vittatus, Vaejovis coahuilae, V. intermedius (below), and V. crassimanus.

Sierra MojadaOn the 20th, one group, consisting of David, Edmundo, Brent, and Steven, went westward to the Sierra Mojada. Here we got a very nice species in the nitidulus group, close to V. minckleyi, V. crassimanus,

Vaejovis crassimanus Vaejovis nr. minckleyi

Dunas de BilbaoThe other team went to the Dunas de Bilbao in southwestern Coahuila. The catch here included Vaejovis nr. russelli, V. globosus, and two species of Solifugae.

ParrasWe then moved south to Parras, where one team collected in the flats and got very little (nevertheless, a good series of Paruroctonus gracilior ) and the other hit the mountains where they obtained several interesting species, including a possible new Vaejovis near rubrimanus (below) and a new Diplocentrus.

Mountains of SE CoahuilaWe then traveled into the mountains in southeastern Coahuila and camped at 2,700 meters—we almost froze to death after so many days in the hot desert; unfortunately, the collecting was very unproductive.

Cañon de HuastecaAt Huasteca Canyon, near Monterrey in central Nuevo Leon, we collected Vaejovis rubrimanus and Diplocentrus colwelli. This is the type locality for both species.

Southern Nuevo LeonMoving south in Nuevo Leon we ran into a tropical depression and tried to fight-off and out-run the rain for three days and three nights unsuccessfully. We got very wet at times, with flooding in our campground and tents. For those first two nights the rain was intermittent, enabling us to collect with limited success. We did obtain what appears to be Vaejovis tesselatus from several localities, as well as V. bilineatus.

V. tesselatus, Photo by T. AntonSierra de Tesorero, NL. Photo by Tom Anton

V. bilineatus, Photo by T. Anton

Rained OutOn the third night, the rain was persistent and (at times) heavy, and we were unable to collect. The two team leaders agreed to terminate the trip a couple of days early due to the unfavorable weather conditions. However, Francke’s team had a chance to collect on their way home and gathered additional samples of interesting scorpions that will help us fill in gaps in their known distributions.

Overcast scene along Hwy 58, NL