Scorpion Systematics Research Group

East Africa (Kenya): 16 days (25 July–11 August, 2008), funded by the NSF-BS&I Solifugae grant and the AMNH. Samuel M. Mwangi, an M.S. student at the Africa Nazarene University, Nairobi, conducted fieldwork to collect arachnids, licensed by the National Council for Science and Technology (NCST) in the Kenyan Ministry of Education Science and Technology. Areas visited included the Machakos District, Makueni District (Wote), Makindu, Kibwezi, Mtito Adei (Tsavo), Maliakani, Taita, Mombasa, Kilifi, Watamu beach and Malindi, a distance of over 3000 km. It was not easy to collect arachnids in some areas that were infested with wild animals such as buffaloes, hyenas and the famous Tsavo lions and extra security was needed at night. Other hardships included the hot climate of the semi-arid areas of Tsavo, digging in very hard ground to the depth more than 1 meter, and going without basic necessities such as clean water. Extra fuel had to be carried in some areas, as petrol filling stations were a rare occurrence. More than 300 specimens, including solifuges, scorpions, and centipedes, were collected during the trip. These specimens will be divided between the AMNH and the National Museums of Kenya, after professional identification. The material will help Mr Mwangi and other East African regional research students to successfully complete their studies and to accomplish their dream of becoming experts among the few systematic arachnologists available in the region.

East Africa (Kenya): 9 days (30 April–8 May, 2008), funded by the NSF-BS&I Solifugae grant. Samuel M. Mwangi, an M.S. student at the Africa Nazarene University, Nairobi, conducted fieldwork to collect arachnids for the grant. Fieldwork was conducted at localities outside the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) jurisdiction, including Kajiado, Namanga, Magadi soda and Ngurumani, and was licensed by the National Council for Science and Technology (NCST) in the Ministry of Education Science and Technology. Approximately 150 specimens, including 140 scorpions, 8 solifuges, and 2 centipedes, were collected. These specimens will be divided between the AMNH and appropriate Kenyan research institutions, e.g the National Museums of Kenya, after professional identification.

Southern Africa (Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa): 2 months (8 December, 2007–14 February, 2008) funded by a Constantine Niarchos Expedition grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (Malawi and Mozambique trip) and by the NSF BS&I Solifugae grant (Namibia and South Africa trips). Lorenzo Prendini conducted three separate trips, totalling more than 20,000 km, across terrain varying from subtropical woodland to desert, in southern Africa, during the 9-week period. On the first trip, Prendini was joined Warren Schmidt, a South African herpetologist, in Johannesburg. Prendini and Schmidt flew to Blantyre, Malawi, hired a 4x4 Suzuki Jeep and drove across the border to Mozambique, where they spent two nights in arid savanna of the Zambezi River Valley, near Tete, the type locality of Hadogenes troglodytes, Opistophthalmus carinatus, Parabuthus mossambicensis and Uroplectes flavoviridis. All of these species were collected in numbers along with Hottentotta trilineatus, Uroplectes planimanus, an unidentified Uroplectes sp. and several interesting solpugids. Schmidt and Prendini then returned to Malawi and traveled through mesic Miombo woodland from Blantyre to Zomba, where they ascended the Zomba Plateau, and then on to Liwonde National Park and Monkey Bay, before returning to Blantyre via Zomba, and then back to Johannesburg. Good collections were made at several points along the Malawi route and included Hadogenes troglodytes, Opistophthalmus glabrifrons, Pandinus viatoris, Uroplectes flavoviridis, U. planimanus, two unidentified Uroplectes spp., the amblypygid Damon variegatus and several solpugid species. Prendini was joined by Mark Cooper, also from Johannesburg, South Africa, for the second trip, a circular route that travelled westwards across the southern Kalahari, the Great Karoo and Bushmanland in the Northern Cape Province, southwards through Namaqualand and the West Coast (Western Cape Province), eastwards across the Great and Little Karoo to the Great Swartberg Mountains and then on to Algoa Bay in the Eastern Cape Province, and finally northwards via the Eastern Cape and Free State provinces, back to Johannesburg. This trip, which as usual involved extensive burrow excavation by day, was highly successful in yielding large series of many rare and poorly known species of Opistophthalmus, many still undescribed, and provided important material and DNA samples for clarifying the species limits within several tenacious complexes such as the capensis, latimanus and pictus groups. Good collections of Parabuthus, Uroplectes and Hadogenes and various solifuges were also made during the course of the trip. For the third trip, Prendini flew from Johannesburg to Windhoek, Namibia, and was joined by Tharina Bird of the National Museum of Namibia for a circular route, crossing the central, southern and northeastern parts of the country, in a government-issued 4x4. The route originated in Windhoek and travelled southwest to Rehoboth, the Gamsberg and Naukluft Mountains, then south, via the desolate karroid areas near Maltahohe and Helmeringhausen to Nuichas and the Fish River Canyon. It then turned northwest to the Great Karasberg, north to Keetmanshoop and west again to Helmeringhausen, east to Gibeon and northeast through the eastern Kalahari, via the Nossob and Olifants riverbeds, to Gobabis, and Grootfontein. The final part of the journey travelled east to Tsumkwe and back to Grootfontein, before turning south to Okahandja and then returning to Windhoek. Extensive rains all over the country hindered night collecting in several places and prevented collecting altogether in the Bushmanland region near Tsumkwe, which was completely flooded and largely impassable. In the arid southern part of the country, however, the rains greatly aided collecting. Many Opistophthalmus species opened their burrows, which were often abundant and easy to find, and the rains has softened the usually hard soil, facilitating the ease of excavation. Under these conditions, large series were collected at most localities, and several new species of Opistophthalmus were discovered (two in the opinatus group, at least two in the pictus group, and one in the wahlbergii group) along with several Hadogenes species, Lisposoma elegans, buthids in the genera Karasbergia, Parabuthus and Uroplectes, an ambypygid, Phrynichodamon scullyi, and various solifuge species in the families Daesiidae and Solpugidae. The three trips collectively yielded approximately 3500 specimens, representing six arachnid orders (amblypygids, scorpions, solifuges, opilionids, pseudoscorpions, spiders), 4 families, 10 genera, and ca. 105 species of scorpions, at least ten new species among them, material that will contribute to several ongoing projects.

South Africa (Limpopo Province): 4 days (28th to 31st December, 2007). Collectors: Ian Engelbrecht and Ruan Lambrechts. Destination: Potgietersus and Polokwane regions. Total Trip Distance: 1330km. The purpose of this trip was to try and collect several members of the Opistophthalmus glabrifrons species complex and a possibly undescribed species of Hadogenes. The first day proved relatively successful in yielding Hadogenes specimens from three localities around Potgietersrus, including several adult males from the Percy Fyfe Nature Reserve. The second day saw a small calamity when our vehicle broke down. Thus the day was effectively lost as we sat under a nearby tree while the vehicle hire company sent a replacement from Johannesburg. The third day of the trip took us to the area around the quaint little town of Haenertsburg. While the surrounds here were breathtaking, our target species could not be found anywhere. We suspected it to the incorrect habitat and headed off to the southern slopes of the Wolkberg. Searching on the dolomite rock outcrops yielded a good series of our target, a very darkly coloured member of the O. glabrifrons group, and a few Hadogenes bicolor for good luck. That afternoon we decided to investigate a small track we found on the map, which turned out to be a concreted road to the very top of the Strydpoortberg. Again the surroundings were stunning, and the afternoons search gave us another very good series of Opistophthalmus. This trip yielded 117 scorpion specimens, with a total of nine species.

South Africa (North West Province): Three short trips: 10th and 11th November, 2007; 3rd and 4th January, 2008; and 1st to 3rd February, 2008. Destination: Jericho and Borakolalo areas. Collectors: Ian Engelbrecht, Kyle Moir and Martin Paulsen. Total Trip Distance: 441km, 435km and 612km. The objective of these three short trips was to collect additional specimens of an undescribed species in the Opistophthalmus pugnax complex which had been collected at a town called Jericho, between Brits and Tabazimbi in North West Province. We started off searching several areas around Jericho, where the species had been collected before with little luck, until we stumbled across an area of deep, dark clay soils. Further searching yielded another area with the same habitat type just outside Borakolalo National Park, and here we excavated a good series of specimens. As is often the case with Opistophthalmus, digging specimens during the day yields a disproportionately low number of adult males, and so the repeat trips to the area were an attempt to get males with UV light at night. Unfortunately the weather conditions were not ideal for the Opistophthalmus on any of the trips, but UV lighting on the first trip did yield a potentially new species of Uroplectes, closely related to U. triangulifer. In total all three trips yielded 105 scorpion specimens representing seven species.

South Africa (Eastern and Western Cape Provinces): 1 week (28–30 June, 6–11 July, 2007), funded in part by the NSF AToL grant. A trip by Ian Engelbrecht to Port Elizabeth for the Annual Conference of the Society of Conservation Biology, sponsored by the South African Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Environment, provided an opportunity for scorpion collecting en route. On the trip down, Ian and colleagues stopped at several interesting locations and collected some interesting species in the Opistophthalmus latimanus group, as well as a handful of Hadogenes. They also visited some intriguing tourist spots including the UFO research centre at Smithfield, and the Owl House at Nieu Bethesda near Graaff Reinet. After the conference, Ian spent the second part of the trip, sponsored by the AMNH, travelling west towards Cape Town, again searching for Opistophthalmus species in the latimanus and pictus groups. Few were found, perhaps because it was mid-winter and most had closed their burrow entrances, but some interesting new distribution records were collected nonetheless. The highlight of this part of the trip was the collection of a series of an undescribed Opistophthalmus species from the Seweweekspoort area. The roundtrip of ca. 6,000 km yielded 113 specimens, including fourteen scorpion species, in five genera and three families.

South Africa (North West Province): 4 days (6th to 9th April, 2007). Collectors: Ian Engelbrecht and Kyle Moir. Total Trip Distance: About 1800km The objective of this trip was to try and pick up a particularly elusive species of Opistophthalmus, related to O. fitzsimonzi, near the town of Mafikeng. At the same time, the opportunity would be used to determine the distribution of Hadogenes gunningi in the area for the purposes of an IUCN red list assessment for this species, and to search for additional distribution records for other scorpions. Both Hadogenes gunningi and the Opistophthalmus species were located on the first day, although in low numbers. However, the Hadogenes records represented an important range extension for the species, and the Opistopthalmus was found to live under rocks in areas of dolomite which is unusual for a member of this species group. The rest of the trip resulted in a find of a potentially new species of Hadogenes and record of the theraphosid Harpactira hamiltoni, very far west of its known distribution as well. This trip yielded approximately 30 scorpion specimens, with a total of four species.

Southern Africa (Namibia, South Africa): 8 weeks (5 February–2 April 2007) funded by the NSF AToL Spider Phylogeny grant. Lorenzo Prendini conducted three separate trips, totaling ca. 15,000 km, in southern Africa, during the 8-week period. On the first trip, Prendini was joined in Cape Town by AMNH Scientific Assistant Jeremy Huff, for a journey of several thousand kilometers, much of it over backroads by 4x4, that resulted in several flat tyres. The route took Prendini and Huff through diverse habitats and landscapes from Karoopoort and the Tankwa Karoo, in the Western Cape Province, through western Bushmanland and Namaqualand, along the southern bank of the Orange River, and across the southern Kalahari, all in the Northern Cape Province, to the Molopo, Groot Marico and Bela Bela (Warmbaths) areas of the North West Province, before ending in Johannesburg. Highlights of this trip included the discovery of two new Opistophthalmus and a new Uroplectes in the Loeriesfontein area (Northern Cape Province), the collection of additional material of several other undescribed Opistophthalmus species in the Western and Northern Cape provinces, and discovery of the first records of Opistophthalmus kalaharicus in the North West Province of South Africa. Prendini was joined by Howard Bichard, from Kyalami, South Africa, for the second trip, back down to Cape Town via the Northern and Eastern Cape Provinces. The route for this trip, taken in a 2-wheel drive bakkie, took Prendini and Bichard from the southern Kalahari to eastern Bushmanland in the Northern Cape Province, southeast across the Great Karoo to Algoa Bay in the Eastern Cape Province, and west across the Little Karoo to the Great Swartberg Mountains and the Breede River Valley in the Western Cape Province, before returning to Cape Town. Unlike the trip with Huff, which involved considerable UV light detection by night, as well as burrow excavation during the day, the trip with Bichard was conducted mostly under suboptimal moon conditions (full moon cycle) and involved extensive burrow excavation by day. In spite of this limitation, the second trip was as successful as the first in yielding large series of many unusual species, including Cheloctonus glaber, several new Opistophthalmus, a new Hadogenes, possible new Opisthacanthus, and a new eresid spider in the genus Penestomus. The highlight of this trip was the rediscovery of a highly endangered new species of Opistophthalmus from salt marsh habitats in the vicinity of Port Elizabeth, last collected more than 100 years previously! For the third trip, Prendini flew to Windhoek, Namibia, and was joined by Tharina Bird of the National Museum of Namibia for two routes, crossing the southern and northern halves of the country, in a government-issued 4x4. The first route, which traversed the dry riverbeds of the Nossob and Auob Rivers in the Kalahari, the Karasberg, the Fish River Canyon, and the Rehoboth area, before returning to Windhoek, yielded good series of two new Opistophthalmus in the pictus group and DNA material for O. scabrifrons from near the type locality, but was unsuccessful in yielding most material needed from the arid south, due to unseasonally cold nighttime temperatures. The second route, traveling north to Otjiwarongo, Tsumeb, across the Etosha National Park, and south via the Kamanjab area, acquired good series of O. nigrocarinatus and additional material of new species related to O. fitzsimonsi. Collectively, the three trips yielded ca. 1880 specimens in three orders (scorpions, solifuges, spiders), including 3 families, 9 genera, and ca. 93 species of scorpions, vastly enhancing our knowledge of the diversity and distributions of southern African arachnids, and allowing the completion of several ongoing projects.

Kenya: 5 months (January–May, 2007), partly funded by the NSF BSI Global Survey and Inventory of Solifugae grant. Kristie Reddick, an M.S. student at Texas A & M University, traveled through Lake Bogoria National Reserve and surrounding areas in the northern Rift Valley, Tsavo West National Park, Kimana Wildlife Sanctuary in southern Kenya, Ologesailie, Hell’s Gate National Park, Lake Naivasha, Mara Conservancy/Aitong area, Arabuko-Sokoke National Forest/Watamu Coast, Lokichoggio in northern Kenya, and Nairobi Township. A total of 116 solifuges were collected, all by hand except for one specimen that was taken in a pitfall trap. Solifuges were not found in all sampling sites. Most of the material is deposited in the National Museum of Kenya (NMK), Nairobi. Kristie also participated in the upgrade of the solifuge holding at NMK, identifying all the material (233 specimens) to family level and males to species level. As a result of her fieldwork, and work on the solifuge collection at NMK, there are 5 new solifuge species, 4 new species records, and one new genus record for Kenya.

South Africa (Northern and Western Cape Provinces): 3 weeks (30 November–23 December, 2006), funded by the NSF AToL Spider Phylogeny grant. Ian Engelbrecht and Randy Mercurio traveled ca. 6000 km through the southern and western Karoo, in the Northern and Western Cape Provinces of South Africa. After a frantic packing session the night before, where it appeared at one point that not all the equipment would fit all into their rather small Ford Bantam, Engelbrecht and Mercurio left Johannesburg before sunrise for a tour that would take them to some of the most beautiful places in South Africa. Lorenzo Prendini, the trip sponsor, had set some pretty tough targets for this trip in terms of the number of species to be collected, but they were prepared to do what was necessary. Highlights of the trip included spotting a White Rhinoceros from the main road as it grazed quietly in a nature reserve on the first morning, visiting the spectacular Swartberg and Groot Winterhoek mountain ranges, and the experience of the hospitality of the local people in the areas visited. Collections were made in almost every habitat imaginable, from steep rocky hillslopes, to flat, dry pans (called ‘vloere’ in the local dialect). It became surprisingly cold at night in this part of the country, and hence UV collecting was very poor in general. However, most of the target species were found by searching for burrows or flipping rocks during the day. Mercurio noted how collecting Opistophthalmus was a completely different experience to collecting North American vaejovids: while the latter is usually a simple matter of UV lighting at night, the former often entails digging in rock hard soil during the heat of the day. Overall the trip yielded ca. 540 scorpion specimens, comprising approximately 38 species, in 7 genera and three families, including valuable material for ongoing work on the systematics of this group of animals.

Namibia (Central Namib Desert and Brandberg): 3 weeks (20 March–10 April, 2006), funded by the NSF AToL grant. Between 22–27 March, Lorenzo Prendini traveled with Chris Bird (National Museum of Namibia), and Tauno Iipinge (Science EduVentures) to farm Döbra, the Gamsberg (third highest mountain in Namibia), farm Rooisand, and Gobabeb, the Desert Ecological Research Station, in the Namib-Naukluft Park. Bird and Iipinge then departed and Prendini was joined at Gobabeb by Tharina Bird (Curator of Arachnids at the National Museum of Namibia) and Sylvanis Uunona (Science EduVentures). The party continued to survey the central Namib gravel plains, traveling from Gobabeb to Swartbank, Bloedkoppie, the Langer-Heinrichberg, and the Welwitschiavlakte, before continuing on to the Brandberg for a 4-day hike to the summit via the Ga-Asab gorge. A new Hadogenes and a new Opistophthalmus were collected on the Gamsberg. Several interesting scorpions and records were collected from the gravel plains, including the enigmatic Opistophthalmus penrithorum, two new Parabuthus, and a new Hadogenes. A remarkable amblypygid, Xerophrynus machadoi, was collected at the Ga-Asab gorge, a new record for this species.

South Africa (Northern Cape): 27 days (14 January–10 February, 2006), funded by the NSF AToL grant. Ian Engelbrecht and Kyle Moir hired a single cab pickup truck and departed from Johannesburg for a round trip of ca. 4770 km through the Orange River Valley, Namaqualand, and the central Great Karoo, in the Northern Cape Province, South Africa. The first three nights were spent along the Orange River, whereafter they traveled into Namaqualand, spending two weeks in the area between Port Nolloth in the north, and Garies in the south. They returned to Johannesburg via Brandvlei, Van Wyksvlei and Prieska in the central Karoo, taking approximately five days for the return trip. Sampling sites were selected to maximize the number of available habitats for scorpions, including sandy flats, gravel flats, and rocky ridges and outcrops of different geology. Scorpions were often difficult to find during the day, so most collecting involved UV light detection at night. However, some specimens were found by rock turning and burrow excavation during the day. Some 700 scorpion specimens, representing ca. 30 species in five genera and three families were collected, including a new Opistophthalmus, and new records of several other poorly known and/or undescribed Opistophthalmus.

South Africa (Limpopo): 6 days (3–8 January, 2006), partially funded by the NSF AToL grant. Ian Engelbrecht, Alistair Mathie and Christy Meyer departed Johannesburg in Alistair’s double-cab pickup truck for a round trip of 1766 km through the Waterberg, Soutpansberg and Sekhukhuneland areas in the Limpopo Province, South Africa. The party spent the first two nights near Melkrivier, collecting arachnids in the broadleaf savanna of the Waterberg, with its predominantly sandstone and conglomerate geology. Collecting methods included rock turning by day, and ultraviolet light detection at night. The party then traveled on to the farm Lajuma on the southern slopes of the Soutpansberg, where collecting again involved rock turning during the day, and UV detection at night. Lajuma yielded several new records for Hadogenes and Opisthacanthus scorpions. The party the traveled to Sekhukhuneland, where additional records were obtained for Hadogenes. Eight scorpion species, representing three families and four genera, and various other arachnids were collected.

East Africa (Kenya): 2 months (15 November, 2005- 20 January, 2006), funded by the AMNH. Samuel M. Mwangi, an M.S. student at the Africa Nazarene University, Nairobi, conducted fieldwork collecting East African scorpions. Between 2003 and 2006, Mwangi was a research affiliate of the National Museums of Kenya (NMK), in the Department of Invertebrate Zoology. In 2005, shortly visiting the AMNH, Mwangi travelled to various localities in Kenya including areas surrounding Lake Bogoria, Lake Baringo, Embu District, Turkana District, Sibiloi and Loiangarani where he collected about 300 scorpion specimens most of which are stored at the NMK.

Zimbabwe: 5 days (26–30 December, 2005), funded by the NSF AToL grant. Ian Engelbrecht and Jannes de Villiers flew from Johannesburg to Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, hired a vehicle, and explored the area around Victoria Falls and the farm Dipangombe for arachnids for various projects. The area comprises savanna woodland, mostly on Kalahari sand, with low basaltic rocky outcrops and associated clay soils. Most collecting was conducted during the day, by turning rocks, searching through other debris, and excavating burrows. Seven scorpion species, representing three families and five genera, and various spiders and amblypygids were collected.

West Africa (Senegal and Guinea-Bissau): 3 weeks (25 June–July 16, 2005), funded by the NSF ATOL project. Jeremy Huff (AMNH & Rutgers University) and Valerio Vignoli (University of Siena, Italy) traveled over 5,300 km across the West African countries of Senegal and Guinea-Bissau for the ATOL Spider Phylogeny project. Huff and Vignoli’s route proceeded along the Gambia border, south to the village of Bambadinca in Guinea-Bissau, returning to Tambacounda, before turning SE to the Guinea border and travelling north along the Mali border, west along the Mauritania border to St. Luis, and south to Dakar. Forty collection sites were visited with elevations ranging from 0–126 m, and biotopes including rainforest, dry broadleaf forest, Acacia thorn scrub, savannah, Sahel and southern Sahara. Ten arachnid orders were collected, including approximately 600 scorpions (8 genera, 9 species), 90 solpugids (2 genera, 3 species), 10 amblypygids (1 genus and species), 200 spiders, 60 Opiliones, 40 Ricinulei, 6 schizomids, 30 pseudoscorpions, 25 uropygids, as well as 500 myriapods. Key discoveries on the expedition included the only African uropygid (Etennieus africanus) and an unidentified ‘microbuthid’ genus.

West Africa (Benin): 3.5 weeks (25 May–18 June, 2005), funded by the Richard Lounsbery Foundation. Valerio Vignoli, AMNH visiting scientist and collaborator, travelled ca. 3,000 km from south to north in the West African country of Benin (Banikoara, Bembereké, Cotonou, Dassa, Kandi, Parakou, Tanagou, Tanguietà districts) through primary and gallery rainforests, wet and semiarid savannas and cultivated areas, from 0–420 m. Vignoli was accompanied by a local scientist, Sévérin Tchibozo (Centre de Recherche pour la Gestion de la Biodiversité et du Terroir, Cotonou, Benin). Two national parks (Park National du “W” and Pendjari Park) and two relict forestal protected areas (Niaouli Forest, South Benin; Kpinkonzoumé forest, S-E Benin) were visited. 678 specimens were collected: Araneae (299 specimens); Opiliones (19 specimens); Pseudoscorpiones (40 specimens); Scorpiones (237 specimens); Solifugae (19 specimens); Myriapoda (64 specimens). At least eight scorpion species, in seven genera (Babycurus, Butheoloides, Buthus, Hottentotta, Pandinus, Scorpio, and a probable new genus) and two families (Buthidae, Scorpionidae), were collected although, prior to the expedition, only two species and two genera were recorded from Benin.

South Africa (Northern Cape, Western Cape): 6 weeks (31 January–14 March, 2005), funded by the NSF ATOL Spider Phylogeny grant. Lorenzo Prendini returned to Namaqualand region of the Northern and Western Cape Provinces, South Africa, to continue surveying the arachnid fauna of this region and its implications for understanding palaeodrainage systems. This trip uncovered a new Hadogenes and two new Opistophthalmus species in a region previously thought to have been well surveyed. Another new species of Opistophthalmus was ‘rediscovered’ after seven years of searching. Separately, Prendini travelled to the Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces of South Africa to obtain other arachnids for several projects. Collectively, these trips yielded ca. 500 specimens.

Morocco: 3 weeks (2–26 September, 2004), funded by the NSF AToL grant. Visiting Ph.D. student and collaborator, Valerio Vignoli travelled 2,750 km through four states (Marrakech, Tiznit, Tan Tan, Tafraoute, Essaouira), collecting in steppe, pine forest, coastal dunes and rocky desert, from 30–1400 m. Vignoli obtained ca. 215 specimens in the following taxa: Araneae, Solifugae, Opiliones, Scorpiones (Buthidae: 5 genera, 11 species, 1 subspecies; Scorpionidae: 1 genus, 1 species, 3 subspecies), including several rarely collected scorpion taxa.

Southern Africa (Namibia, South Africa): 7 weeks (30 November 2003–6 February, 2004), mostly funded by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, and augmented by the AMNH Division of Invertebrate Zoology and the NSF ATOL grant. After attending the MSEF meeting in Pretoria, Lorenzo Prendini flew to Cape Town, hired a 4x4 from the University of Cape Town and drove to Namibia where he was joined by the following individuals for the Constantine S. Niarchos Expedition of 2003: Dr Elizabeth Scott (then Curator of Herpetology, Transvaal Museum of Natural History, Pretoria); Chris and Tharina Bird (Department of Entomology, National Museum of Namibia, Windhoek); Quinton & Nicole Martins (Wildlives Africa Safari Company, Sun Valley, South Africa); Nicholas Krone (Principal, Windhoek Public High School, Namibia). This trip comprised three separate expeditions (a roundtrip of ca. 7,500 km): the Brandberg Massif (a 5-day hike from the base of the Massif, during which participants carried backpacks containing water, food and collecting equipment); the central Namib Desert; the Waterberg, Otavi Highlands, Kaokoveld, and Damaraland. The primary objective was to target endemic scorpions for particular projects, and conduct a general survey of the arachnid fauna of these rugged and inaccessible areas. This expedition yielded more than 2,000 specimens, representing three orders (Amblypygi, Scorpiones and Solifugae) of arachnids. Thirty-one scorpion species in seven genera and four families were collected: all families, all except one of the genera, and nearly half the scorpion species thus far recorded from Namibia. While Prendini and colleagues were travelling in northern Namibia, two other colleagues from the University of the Witwatersrand, Ian Engelbrecht and Bronwyn Watkins, travelled ca. 5,000 km through the semi-desert region of the Northern Cape Province, South Africa, collecting arachnids for two weeks (5–20 January). Their trip yielded ca. 200 specimens in 4 orders (pseudoscorpions, scorpions, solifuges, spiders), 5 families, 10 genera, and ca. 30 species, which Prendini brought to the AMNH with the other material collected to the north. Among other discoveries, these trips yielded another new Opistophthalmus and two new Uroplectes.

South Africa (Mpumalanga, Northern Cape, Western Cape): 7 weeks (1 February–23 March, 2003), funded mostly by the AMNH and supplemented by the NSF ATOL Spider Phylogeny grant. This trip, led by Lorenzo Prendini, started in Johannesburg, before travelling northeast to the Mpumalanga province of South Africa with Ian Engelbrecht. After returning to Johannesburg, Prendini flew to Cape Town and commenced a second trip northwards with Dr Elizabeth Scott (former Curator of Herpetology, Transvaal Museum), through the Western Cape and Northern Cape provinces. Prendini and Scott visited the Richtersveld mountain desert along the southern border with Namibia, discovered an undescribed Opistophthalmus scorpion and collected abundant material of several rare scorpions and solifuges, as well as the endemic (and rarely collected) amblypygid genus, Phrynichodamon. Prendini returned to Cape Town and spent several days collecting spiders for the ATOL project before flying back to Johannesburg and on to New York. The trip yielded approximately 800 specimens, including more than 30 species of Araneae, 9 species of Solifugae and 53 species of Scorpiones.