Holotype ♂ (MTAS) İzmir Province, Yamanlar Mountain, Karagöl [38°33'26.00N; 27°13'11.00E], 28. XI. 2008, under stones, leg. K.B.Kunt. Paratypes: 2 ♂ (MTAS) same data as holotype.

The new species is dedicated to “Ersen Aydın Yağmur” who made a great contribution to our knowledge of Turkish scorpions and who is a good friend of the authors.

Harpactea erseni sp. n. differs from other Turkish Harpactea species (see Nosek 1905; Alicata 1974; Brignoli 1978a-b; Brignoli 1979; Bayram et al. 2009) in the structure of the pedipalp of the male. However, the palpal structures of Harpactea erseni sp. n. are close to Harpactea strandjica Dimitrov, 1997 and Harpactea terveli Lazarov, 2009 described from Bulgaria (see Lazarov 2009). The new species can be distinguished from Harpactea terveli by the different shape of the embolus and conductor; and from Harpactea strandjica by having a thinner, curved embolus without a bifurcated tip.

Harpactea is one of the most endemic and speciose dysderid genera in Turkey, with 17 endemics (Bayram et al. 2010). Most of the endemic species have restricted distributions and occur at high elevations, such as the mountain ranges of the Mediterranean, and the north and central Anatolian regions. This distribution pattern presumably results from the combination of topography, proximate biogeographical subregions, the high number of different biotopes and the climate of Anatolia, all of which play a special role in speciation. In short, the Anatolian Harpactea fauna is characterized by a high level of local endemism, and by limited co-occurrence of species in the adjacent zoogeographical regions. However, one question can be raised regarding the newly described species: is the male a specimen of a previously described species known only from the female (presumably from Turkey or neighboring countries)? According to our morphometric data, our samples are larger than all previously described Harpactea species from Turkey (see Brignoli 1978a–b), supporting our conclusion that it is in fact a new species, rather than the male of a previously described female.

AL 4.05; CL 3.45; CWmax 2.25; CWmin 1.35; AMEd 0.15; PLEd 0.13; PMEd 0.10; ChF 0.76; ChG 0.34; ChL 1.35 mm. Leg measurements are given in Table 1.

Carapace light brown, with smooth surface and distinct fovea. AME, PLE and PME closely grouped; AME separated (Fig. 2). Sternum, labium, gnathocoxae and chelicerae yellowish-brown. Sternum with long, thin hairs near the margin (Fig. 3). Cheliceral groove with four teeth: retromargin with two teeth, including a tiny one at the base of the groove; promargin with two strong teeth of equal size close to each other. Top of the labium and gnathocoxae with short, strong hairs, sparsely distributed (Fig. 4). Abdomen greyish-light brown, with short, thin blackish hairs over the entire surface. Legs yellowish-light brown with sparse blackish setae. Leg IV > Leg I > Leg II > Leg III. Tarsi with three claws. Tarsi III and IV with fine scopulae. Legs III and IV with fine metatarsal scopulae covering slightly less than the distal half of the segment (ventral surface only). Dorsal part of coxae III and IV with 2–6 spines (Fig. 5). Details of leg spination are given in Table 2.

Palpal organ with globular bulb and curved, black embolus tapering towards the tip. Conductor same colour as embolus and hook-shaped at the tip and with a tuberculum on the mid-part (Figs 6–9). Female unknown.