History of changes

Introduction

The Buthidae are the only family currently included within the Buthoidea, although the enigmatic South-East Asian family Chaerilidae is sometimes included as the sister-group to the Buthidae. Buthidae is a diverse family with some 50 genera and over 500 species currently recognised (Sissom, 1990). They are often considered to represent the sister-group to the remaining Recent scorpions, and as there is little consensus regarding a suitable subfamilial classification, we have refrained from using subfamilies for the Australian fauna until a replacement classification can be demonstrated to have any validity. Buthids are widely distributed around the world, but are largely absent from the northern Holarctic Region and from New Zealand.

The Australian buthid fauna is currently assigned to five genera and 11 species (Koch 1977; Locket 1990; Kovarík 1997), but unpublished research by E.S.V. indicates that the fauna is actually much more diverse, with substantial changes at the generic level, and numerous new species yet to be described.

General References

Koch, L.E. 1977. The taxonomy, geographic distribution and evolutionary radiation of Australo-Papuan scorpions. Records of the Western Australian Museum 5: 83-367

Kovarík, F. 1997. Revision of the genera Lychas and Hemilychas, with description of six new species (Scorpiones: Buthidae). Acta Societatis Zoologicae Bohemicae 61: 311-371

Locket, N.A. 1990. A new genus and species of scorpion from South Australia (Buthidae: Buthinae). Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 114: 67-80

Sissom, W.D. 1990. Systematics, biogeography, and paleontology. pp. 64-160 in Polis, G.A. (ed.). The Biology of Scorpions. Stanford : Stanford University Press.

History of changes

• Australobuthus Locket, N.A. 1990. A new genus and species of scorpion from South Australia (Buthidae: Buthinae). Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 114: 67-80 [67].

  Type species:

   Australobuthus xerolimniorum Locket, 1990 by original designation.

Distribution

States

South Australia

IBRA

SA: Channel Country (CHC), Central Ranges (CR), Eyre Yorke Block (EYB), Finke (FIN), Flinders Lofty Block (FLB), Gawler (GAW), Great Victoria Desert (GVD), Kanmantoo (KAN), Nullarbor (NUL), Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields (SSD), Stony Plains (STP)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

• Australia
  • South Australia: Lake Eyre basin, S Gulfs, W plateau

History of changes

• Australobuthus xerolimniorum Locket, N.A. 1990. A new genus and species of scorpion from South Australia (Buthidae: Buthinae). Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 114: 67-80 [68].

  Type data:

   Holotype SAMA N1988568 ♂, Lake Hart shore, South Australia, Australia [32°41'S 136°54'E].
  Paratype(s) SAMA N1988570-572 1♂ 2♀, Price Peninsula, Lake Eyre, South Australia, Australia; SAMA N1988573 1♀, Everard Ranges, South Australia, Australia; SAMA N1988574 1♂, Lake Gilles, South Australia, Australia; SAMA N1988576 1♂, Lake Gilles, South Australia, Australia; SAMA N1988576 1♀, Laqke Gairdner, South Australia, Australia; SAMA N1988577-579 3♀, Lake Gairdner, South Australia, Australia.

Distribution

States

South Australia

IBRA

SA: Channel Country (CHC), Central Ranges (CR), Eyre Yorke Block (EYB), Finke (FIN), Flinders Lofty Block (FLB), Gawler (GAW), Great Victoria Desert (GVD), Kanmantoo (KAN), Nullarbor (NUL), Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields (SSD), Stony Plains (STP)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

• Australia
  • South Australia: Lake Eyre basin, S Gulfs, W plateau

Ecological Descriptors

Predator, salt lake, terrestrial.

History of changes

• Hemilychas Hirst, S. 1911. Descriptions of new scorpions. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 8 8: 462-473 [464] [first introduced as a subgenus of Lychas C.L. Koch, 1845].

  Type species:

   Lychas (Hemilychas) alexandrinus Hirst, 1911 by monotypy.

Distribution

States

New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia

IBRA

NSW, NT, Qld, SA, Vic, WA: Australian Alps (AA), Avon Wheatbelt (AW), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Broken Hill Complex (BHC), Burt Plain (BRT), Carnarvon (CAR), Channel Country (CHC), Central Kimberley (CK), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Coolgardie (COO), Cobar Peneplain (CP), Central Ranges (CR), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Desert Uplands (DEU), Dampierland (DL), Darling Riverine Plains (DRP), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Esperance Plains (ESP), Eyre Yorke Block (EYB), Finke (FIN), Gascoyne (GAS), Gawler (GAW), Gibson Desert (GD), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Great Sandy Desert (GSD), Great Victoria Desert (GVD), Hampton (HAM), Jarrah Forest (JF), Little Sandy Desert (LSD), MacDonnell Ranges (MAC), Mallee (MAL), Murray Darling Depression (MDD), Mitchell Grass Downs (MGD), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), Mulga Lands (ML), Murchison (MUR), Nandewar (NAN), New England Tablelands (NET), Northern Kimberley (NK), NSW North Coast (NNC), NSW South Western Slopes (NSS), Nullarbor (NUL), Ord Victoria Plain (OVP), Pilbara (PIL), Riverina (RIV), South Eastern Highlands (SEH), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields (SSD), Stony Plains (STP), Swan Coastal Plain (SWA), Tanami (TAN), Victoria Bonaparte (VB), Victorian Midlands (VM), Warren (WAR), Wet Tropics (WT), Yalgoo (YAL)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

• Australia
  • New South Wales: Murray-Darling basin
  • Northern Territory: Lake Eyre basin
  • Queensland: Lake Eyre basin, Murray-Darling basin, NE coastal
  • South Australia: Lake Eyre basin, W plateau
  • Victoria: Murray-Darling basin
  • Western Australia: N coastal, NW coastal, SW coastal, W plateau

History of changes

• Lychas (Hemilychas) alexandrinus Hirst, S. 1911. Descriptions of new scorpions. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 8 8: 462-473 [464].

  Type data:

   Holotype BMNH ♂, Alexandria, Northern Territory, Australia.
• Lychas truncatus Glauert, L. 1925. The flora and fauna of the Nuyts Archipelago and the Investigator group. No. 17. — The scorpions, with descriptions of some species from other localities in South Australia. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 49: 85-87 [85].

  Type data:

   Holotype NMV K-7259 ♂, Pyramid Hill, Victoria, Australia.
• Lychas annulatus Glauert, L. 1925. Australian Scorpionidea. Part 1. Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia 11: 89-118 [107].

  Type data:

   Holotype NMV K-7258 ♀, Kychering Soak, near Tarcoola, South Australia, Australia.

Distribution

States

New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia

IBRA

NSW, NT, Qld, SA, Vic, WA: Australian Alps (AA), Avon Wheatbelt (AW), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Broken Hill Complex (BHC), Burt Plain (BRT), Carnarvon (CAR), Channel Country (CHC), Central Kimberley (CK), Coolgardie (COO), Cobar Peneplain (CP), Central Ranges (CR), Dampierland (DL), Darling Riverine Plains (DRP), Esperance Plains (ESP), Eyre Yorke Block (EYB), Finke (FIN), Gascoyne (GAS), Gawler (GAW), Gibson Desert (GD), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Great Sandy Desert (GSD), Great Victoria Desert (GVD), Hampton (HAM), Jarrah Forest (JF), Little Sandy Desert (LSD), MacDonnell Ranges (MAC), Mallee (MAL), Murray Darling Depression (MDD), Mitchell Grass Downs (MGD), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), Mulga Lands (ML), Murchison (MUR), Nandewar (NAN), New England Tablelands (NET), Northern Kimberley (NK), NSW South Western Slopes (NSS), Nullarbor (NUL), Ord Victoria Plain (OVP), Pilbara (PIL), Riverina (RIV), South Eastern Highlands (SEH), Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields (SSD), Stony Plains (STP), Swan Coastal Plain (SWA), Tanami (TAN), Victoria Bonaparte (VB), Victorian Midlands (VM), Warren (WAR), Yalgoo (YAL)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

• Australia
  • New South Wales: Murray-Darling basin
  • Northern Territory: Lake Eyre basin
  • Queensland: Lake Eyre basin, Murray-Darling basin
  • South Australia: Lake Eyre basin, W plateau
  • Victoria: Murray-Darling basin
  • Western Australia: N coastal, NW coastal, SW coastal, W plateau

Ecological Descriptors

Predator, terrestrial.

General References

Kovarík, F. 1997. Revision of the genera Lychas and Hemilychas, with description of six new species (Scorpiones: Buthidae). Acta Societatis Zoologicae Bohemicae 61: 311-371 [365]

History of changes

• Isometroides Keyserling, E. 1885. Ordo Scorpiones. pp. 1-39 in Koch, L. & Keyserling, E. (eds). Die Arachniden Australiens, nach der Natur beschrieben und abgebildet. Nürnberg : Bauer & Raspe Vol. 2. [16].

  Type species:

   Isometrus vescus Karsch, 1880 by subsequent designation, see Stahnke, H.L. 1972. A key to the genera of Buthidae (Scorpionida). Entomological News 83: 121-133 [129].

Distribution

States

New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia

IBRA

NSW, NT, Qld, SA, WA: Australian Alps (AA), Avon Wheatbelt (AW), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Broken Hill Complex (BHC), Burt Plain (BRT), Carnarvon (CAR), Channel Country (CHC), Central Kimberley (CK), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Coolgardie (COO), Cobar Peneplain (CP), Central Ranges (CR), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Desert Uplands (DEU), Dampierland (DL), Darling Riverine Plains (DRP), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Esperance Plains (ESP), Eyre Yorke Block (EYB), Finke (FIN), Gascoyne (GAS), Gawler (GAW), Gibson Desert (GD), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Great Sandy Desert (GSD), Great Victoria Desert (GVD), Hampton (HAM), Jarrah Forest (JF), Little Sandy Desert (LSD), MacDonnell Ranges (MAC), Mallee (MAL), Murray Darling Depression (MDD), Mitchell Grass Downs (MGD), Mulga Lands (ML), Murchison (MUR), Nandewar (NAN), New England Tablelands (NET), Northern Kimberley (NK), NSW North Coast (NNC), NSW South Western Slopes (NSS), Nullarbor (NUL), Ord Victoria Plain (OVP), Pilbara (PIL), Riverina (RIV), South Eastern Highlands (SEH), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields (SSD), Swan Coastal Plain (SWA), Tanami (TAN), Victoria Bonaparte (VB), Warren (WAR), Wet Tropics (WT), Yalgoo (YAL)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

• Australia
  • New South Wales: Murray-Darling basin
  • Northern Territory: Lake Eyre basin
  • Queensland: NE coastal
  • South Australia: W plateau
  • Western Australia: N coastal, NW coastal, SW coastal, W plateau

History of changes

• Isometroides angusticaudus Keyserling, E. 1885. Ordo Scorpiones. pp. 1-39 in Koch, L. & Keyserling, E. (eds). Die Arachniden Australiens, nach der Natur beschrieben und abgebildet. Nürnberg : Bauer & Raspe Vol. 2. [19].

  Type data:

   Holotype whereabouts unknown, Peak Downs, Queensland, Australia.

Distribution

States

Queensland

IBRA

Qld: Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Desert Uplands (DEU), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), NSW North Coast (NNC), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Wet Tropics (WT)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

• Australia
  • Queensland: NE coastal

Ecological Descriptors

Predator, terrestrial.

General References

Locket, N.A. 1993. Scorpion distribution in a dune and swale environment. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 33: 593-598 [593] (removal from synonymy with Isometroides vescus)

History of changes

• Isometrus vescus Karsch, F. 1880. Mittheilung über die von Herrn Dr. O. Finsch während seiner polynesischen Reise gesammelten Myriapoden und Arachniden. Sitzungsberichte der Gesellschaft Naturforschender Freunde zu Berlin 1880: 77-83 [56*].

  Type data:

   Holotype ZMB 3246 ♀?, Australia.

Distribution

States

New South Wales, Northern Territory, South Australia, Western Australia

IBRA

NSW, NT, SA, WA: Australian Alps (AA), Avon Wheatbelt (AW), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Broken Hill Complex (BHC), Burt Plain (BRT), Carnarvon (CAR), Channel Country (CHC), Central Kimberley (CK), Coolgardie (COO), Cobar Peneplain (CP), Central Ranges (CR), Dampierland (DL), Darling Riverine Plains (DRP), Esperance Plains (ESP), Eyre Yorke Block (EYB), Finke (FIN), Gascoyne (GAS), Gawler (GAW), Gibson Desert (GD), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Great Sandy Desert (GSD), Great Victoria Desert (GVD), Hampton (HAM), Jarrah Forest (JF), Little Sandy Desert (LSD), MacDonnell Ranges (MAC), Mallee (MAL), Murray Darling Depression (MDD), Mitchell Grass Downs (MGD), Mulga Lands (ML), Murchison (MUR), Nandewar (NAN), New England Tablelands (NET), Northern Kimberley (NK), NSW South Western Slopes (NSS), Nullarbor (NUL), Ord Victoria Plain (OVP), Pilbara (PIL), Riverina (RIV), South Eastern Highlands (SEH), Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields (SSD), Swan Coastal Plain (SWA), Tanami (TAN), Victoria Bonaparte (VB), Warren (WAR), Yalgoo (YAL)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

• Australia
  • New South Wales: Murray-Darling basin
  • Northern Territory: Lake Eyre basin
  • South Australia: W plateau
  • Western Australia: N coastal, NW coastal, SW coastal, W plateau

Ecological Descriptors

Predator, terrestrial.

History of changes

• Isometrus Ehrenberg, C.G. 1828. Arachnoidea, Scorpiones. pp. 1-12 in Hemprich, F.G. & Ehrenberg, C.G. (eds). Symbolae physicae seu icones et descriptiones animalium evertebratorum: sepositis insectis qua ex itinere perafricam borealem et asiam occidentalem. Berolini: ex Officina Academia Venditur a Mittlero. [3] [first introduced as a subgenus of Buthus Leach, 1815].

  Type species:

   Buthus (Isometrus) filum Ehrenberg, 1828 by monotypy.

  Secondary source:

   Braunwalder, M.E. & Fet, V. 1998. On publications about scorpions (Arachnida, Scorpiones) by Hemprich and Ehrenberg (1828-1831). Bulletin of the British Arachnological Society 11: 29-35 [31].

Distribution

States

Northern Territory, Queensland

IBRA

NT, Qld: Arnhem Coast (ARC), Arnhem Plateau (ARP), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Central Arnhem (CA), Channel Country (CHC), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Daly Basin (DAB), Darwin Coastal (DAC), Desert Uplands (DEU), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Mitchell Grass Downs (MGD), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), NSW North Coast (NNC), Ord Victoria Plain (OVP), Pine Creek (PCK), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields (SSD), Tiwi Cobourg (TIW), Victoria Bonaparte (VB), Wet Tropics (WT)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

• Australia
  • Northern Territory: N coastal
  • Queensland: Lake Eyre basin, NE coastal
• Papua New Guinea

History of changes

• Scorpio maculatus De Geer, C. 1778. Mémoires pour Servir á l'Histoire des Insectes. Stockholm : Pierre Hesselberg Vol. 7 i-xii, 950 pp., pls 1-49. [346].

  Type data:

   Holotype NHRM ♂, locality unknown.
• Scorpio dentatus Herbst, J.F.W. 1800. Natursystem der Ungeflügelten Insekten. Berlin : Lange Vol. 4. [55].
• Scorpio americanus Herbst, J.F.W. 1800. Natursystem der Ungeflügelten Insekten. Berlin : Lange Vol. 4. [60].
• Buthus (Isometrus) filum Ehrenberg, C.G. 1828. Arachnoidea, Scorpiones. pp. 1-12 in Hemprich, F.G. & Ehrenberg, C.G. (eds). Symbolae physicae seu icones et descriptiones animalium evertebratorum: sepositis insectis qua ex itinere perafricam borealem et asiam occidentalem. Berolini: ex Officina Academia Venditur a Mittlero. [3].

  Type data:

   Holotype ZMB 86, "Gumfude" (now Al-Qunfudhah), Saudi Arabia.

  Type locality references:

  Braunwalder, M.E. & Fet, V. 1998. On publications about scorpions (Arachnida, Scorpiones) by Hemprich and Ehrenberg (1828-1831). Bulletin of the British Arachnological Society 11: 29-35 [32].
• Scorpio (Lychas) gabonensis Lucas, H. 1858. Aptères. pp. 373-445 in Thomson, M.J. (ed.). Archives Entomologiques. Paris : Bureau du Trésorier de la Société Entomologique de France Vol. 2. [430].
• Scorpio (Lychas) guineensis Lucas, H. 1858. Aptères. pp. 373-445 in Thomson, M.J. (ed.). Archives Entomologiques. Paris : Bureau du Trésorier de la Société Entomologique de France Vol. 2. [432].

Distribution

States

Northern Territory, Queensland

IBRA

NT, Qld: Arnhem Coast (ARC), Arnhem Plateau (ARP), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Central Arnhem (CA), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Daly Basin (DAB), Darwin Coastal (DAC), Desert Uplands (DEU), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), NSW North Coast (NNC), Ord Victoria Plain (OVP), Pine Creek (PCK), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Tiwi Cobourg (TIW), Victoria Bonaparte (VB), Wet Tropics (WT)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

• Australia
  • Northern Territory: N coastal
  • Queensland: NE coastal

Ecological Descriptors

Predator, terrestrial.

History of changes

• Lychas melanodactylus Koch, L. 1867. Beschreibungen neuer Arachniden und Myriapoden. II. Verhandlungen der Zoologisch-Botanischen Gesellschaft in Wien 17: 173-250 [239].

  Type data:

   Holotype whereabouts unknown, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
• Isometrus gracilis Thorell, T. 1877. Études scorpiologiques. Abhandlungen Herausgegeben vom Naturwissenschaftlichen Verein zu Bremen 19: 75-272 [140].

  Type data:

   Holotype NHRM ♂, Australia.
• Isometrus papuensis Werner, F. 1916. Über einige Skorpione und Gliederspinnen der Naturhistorischen Museums in Wiesbaden. Jahrbuch des Nassauischen Vereins für Naturkunde 69: 79-97 [88].

  Type data:

   Holotype WNS ♂, Bagadjim, Irian Jaya, Indonesia.
• Isometrus melanodactylus inflatus Glauert, L. 1925. Australian Scorpionidea. Part 1. Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia 11: 89-118 [117].

  Type data:

   
  Syntype(s) MMUS "several specimens", King Sound, Kimberley, Western Australia, Australia; MMUS several specimens, King Sound, Kimberley, Western Australia, Australia.

Distribution

States

Queensland

IBRA

Qld: Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Channel Country (CHC), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Desert Uplands (DEU), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Mitchell Grass Downs (MGD), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), NSW North Coast (NNC), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields (SSD), Wet Tropics (WT)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

• Australia
  • Queensland: Lake Eyre basin, NE coastal
• Papua New Guinea

Ecological Descriptors

Predator, terrestrial.

History of changes

• Lychas Koch, C.L. 1845. Die Arachniden. Getreu nach der Natur abgebildet und beschrieben. Nürnberg : C.H. Zeh'schen Vol. 12 166 pp. [1].

  Type species:

   Lychas scutilis C.L. Koch, 1845 by subsequent designation, see Pocock, R.I. 1899. On the scorpions, pedipalps and spiders from tropical West Africa represented in the collection of the British Museum. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1899: 833-885 [834].
• Archisometrus Kraepelin, K. 1891. Revision der Skorpione. I. Die familie der Androctonidae. Jahrbuch der Hamburgischen Wissenschaftlichen Anstalten 8: 1-144 [75].

  Type species:

   Tityus marmoreus C.L. Koch, 1845 by subsequent designation, see Koch, L.E. 1977. The taxonomy, geographic distribution and evolutionary radiation of Australo-Papuan scorpions. Records of the Western Australian Museum 5: 83-367 [123].
• Pilumnus Koch, C.L. 1837. Übersicht des Arachnidensystems. Nürnberg : C.H. Zeh'schen Buchhandlung Vol. 1 pp. 1-39. [junior homonym of Pilumnus Leach, 1815 (CRUSTACEA)].

  Type species:

   Lychas scutilis C.L. Koch, 1845 by subsequent designation, see Fet, V. 1997. Notes on the taxonomy of some Old World scorpions (Scorpiones: Buthidae, Chactidae, Ischnuridae, Scorpionidae). Journal of Arachnology 25: 245-250 [247].
• Repucha Fet, V. 1997. Notes on the taxonomy of some Old World scorpions (Scorpiones: Buthidae, Chactidae, Ischnuridae, Scorpionidae). Journal of Arachnology 25: 245-250 [247] [unnecessary nom. nov. for Pilumnus C.L. Koch, 1837].

Distribution

States

New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia

IBRA

NSW, NT, Qld, SA, Vic, WA: Australian Alps (AA), Arnhem Coast (ARC), Arnhem Plateau (ARP), Avon Wheatbelt (AW), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Broken Hill Complex (BHC), Burt Plain (BRT), Central Arnhem (CA), Carnarvon (CAR), Channel Country (CHC), Central Kimberley (CK), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Coolgardie (COO), Cobar Peneplain (CP), Central Ranges (CR), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Daly Basin (DAB), Darwin Coastal (DAC), Desert Uplands (DEU), Dampierland (DL), Davenport Murchison Ranges (DMR), Darling Riverine Plains (DRP), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Esperance Plains (ESP), Eyre Yorke Block (EYB), Finke (FIN), Flinders Lofty Block (FLB), Flinders (FLI), Gascoyne (GAS), Gawler (GAW), Gibson Desert (GD), Gulf Fall and Uplands (GFU), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Great Sandy Desert (GSD), Gulf Coastal (GUC), Gulf Plains (GUP), Great Victoria Desert (GVD), Hampton (HAM), Jarrah Forest (JF), Kanmantoo (KAN), Little Sandy Desert (LSD), MacDonnell Ranges (MAC), Mallee (MAL), Murray Darling Depression (MDD), Mitchell Grass Downs (MGD), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), Mulga Lands (ML), Murchison (MUR), Nandewar (NAN), Naracoorte Coastal Plain (NCP), New England Tablelands (NET), Northern Kimberley (NK), NSW North Coast (NNC), NSW South Western Slopes (NSS), Nullarbor (NUL), Ord Victoria Plain (OVP), Pine Creek (PCK), Pilbara (PIL), Riverina (RIV), Sydney Basin (SB), South East Coastal Plain (SCP), South East Corner (SEC), South Eastern Highlands (SEH), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields (SSD), Stony Plains (STP), Sturt Plateau (STU), Swan Coastal Plain (SWA), Tanami (TAN), Tiwi Cobourg (TIW), Victoria Bonaparte (VB), Victorian Midlands (VM), Victorian Volcanic Plain (VVP), Warren (WAR), Wet Tropics (WT), Yalgoo (YAL)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

• Australia
  • New South Wales: Murray-Darling basin, SE coastal
  • Northern Territory: Lake Eyre basin, N Gulf, N coastal, W plateau
  • Queensland: Murray-Darling basin, N Gulf, NE coastal
  • South Australia: Lake Eyre basin, Murray-Darling basin, S Gulfs, SE coastal, W plateau
  • Victoria: Murray-Darling basin, SE coastal
  • Western Australia: N coastal, NW coastal, SW coastal, W plateau
• Papua New Guinea

History of changes

• Lychas buchari Kovarík, F. 1997. Revision of the genera Lychas and Hemilychas, with description of six new species (Scorpiones: Buthidae). Acta Societatis Zoologicae Bohemicae 61: 311-371 [320].

  Type data:

   Holotype MNHP RS 4416 ♀, Australia.

Distribution

Extra Distribution Information

Type locality simply given as "Australia".

Ecological Descriptors

Predator, terrestrial.

History of changes

• Lychas jonesae Glauert, L. 1925. Australian Scorpionidea. Part 1. Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia 11: 89-118 [110].

  Type data:

   Holotype WAM 24/446 ♂, Hampton Hill Station, Bulong, near Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, Australia [30°45'S, 121°46'E].

Distribution

States

South Australia, Western Australia

IBRA

SA, WA: Murchison (MUR)

Ecological Descriptors

Predator, terrestrial.

General References

Locket, N.A. 1993. Scorpion distribution in a dune and swale environment. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 33: 593-598 [593] (removal from synonymy with Lychas marmoreus)

History of changes

• Tityus marmoreus Koch, C.L. 1845. Die Arachniden. Getreu nach der Natur abgebildet und beschrieben. Nürnberg : C.H. Zeh'schen Vol. 12 166 pp. [36].

  Type data:

   Holotype whereabouts unknown, locality unknown.
• Isometrus bituberculatus Pocock, R.I. 1891. Notes on some scorpions collected by Mr. J.J. Walker, with descriptions of two new species and a new genus. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 6 8: 241-247 [243].

  Type data:

   Holotype BMNH juvenile, Baudin Island, Kimberley, Western Australia, Australia.
• Lychas marmoreus obscurus Kraepelin, K. 1916. Results of Dr. E. Mjöbergs Swedish Scientific Expeditions to Australia 1910-1913. 4. Scolopendriden und Scorpione. Arkiv för Zoologi 10(2): 1-43 [27] [junior homonym of Lychas asper obscurus Kraepelin, 1913].

  Type data:

   Holotype ZMH ♀, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
• Lychas marmoreus nigrescens Kraepelin, K. 1916. Results of Dr. E. Mjöbergs Swedish Scientific Expeditions to Australia 1910-1913. 4. Scolopendriden und Scorpione. Arkiv för Zoologi 10(2): 1-43 [27].

  Type data:

   Holotype ZMH ♀, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
• Lychas marmoreus splendens Kraepelin, K. 1916. Results of Dr. E. Mjöbergs Swedish Scientific Expeditions to Australia 1910-1913. 4. Scolopendriden und Scorpione. Arkiv för Zoologi 10(2): 1-43 [28].

  Type data:

   Lectotype ZMH 462 ♀, Moora, Western Australia, Australia.
  Paralectotype(s) ZMH 462 6 adults and juveniles, Moora, Western Australia, Australia.

  Subsequent designation references:

  Kovarík, F. 1997. Revision of the genera Lychas and Hemilychas, with description of six new species (Scorpiones: Buthidae). Acta Societatis Zoologicae Bohemicae 61: 311-371 [340].
• Lychas marmoreus lucienkochi Fet, V. 1997. Notes on the taxonomy of some Old World scorpions (Scorpiones: Buthidae, Chactidae, Ischnuridae, Scorpionidae). Journal of Arachnology 25: 245-250 [247] [nom. nov. for Lychas marmoreus obscurus Kraepelin, 1916].

  Type data:

   Syntype(s).

Distribution

States

New South Wales, Northern Territory, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia

IBRA

NSW, NT, SA, Vic, WA: Australian Alps (AA), Avon Wheatbelt (AW), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Broken Hill Complex (BHC), Burt Plain (BRT), Carnarvon (CAR), Channel Country (CHC), Coolgardie (COO), Cobar Peneplain (CP), Central Ranges (CR), Dampierland (DL), Davenport Murchison Ranges (DMR), Darling Riverine Plains (DRP), Esperance Plains (ESP), Eyre Yorke Block (EYB), Finke (FIN), Flinders Lofty Block (FLB), Flinders (FLI), Gascoyne (GAS), Gawler (GAW), Gibson Desert (GD), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Great Sandy Desert (GSD), Great Victoria Desert (GVD), Hampton (HAM), Jarrah Forest (JF), Kanmantoo (KAN), Little Sandy Desert (LSD), MacDonnell Ranges (MAC), Mallee (MAL), Murray Darling Depression (MDD), Mitchell Grass Downs (MGD), Mulga Lands (ML), Murchison (MUR), Nandewar (NAN), Naracoorte Coastal Plain (NCP), New England Tablelands (NET), NSW North Coast (NNC), NSW South Western Slopes (NSS), Nullarbor (NUL), Pilbara (PIL), Riverina (RIV), Sydney Basin (SB), South East Coastal Plain (SCP), South East Corner (SEC), South Eastern Highlands (SEH), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields (SSD), Stony Plains (STP), Sturt Plateau (STU), Swan Coastal Plain (SWA), Tanami (TAN), Victorian Midlands (VM), Victorian Volcanic Plain (VVP), Warren (WAR), Yalgoo (YAL)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

• Australia
  • New South Wales: Murray-Darling basin, SE coastal
  • Northern Territory: Lake Eyre basin, W plateau
  • South Australia: Lake Eyre basin, Murray-Darling basin, S Gulfs, SE coastal, W plateau
  • Victoria: Murray-Darling basin, SE coastal
  • Western Australia: NW coastal, SW coastal, W plateau

Ecological Descriptors

Predator, terrestrial.

General References

Kovarík, F. 1997. Revision of the genera Lychas and Hemilychas, with description of six new species (Scorpiones: Buthidae). Acta Societatis Zoologicae Bohemicae 61: 311-371 [338] (redescription)

History of changes

• Lychas mjobergi Kraepelin, K. 1916. Results of Dr. E. Mjöbergs Swedish Scientific Expeditions to Australia 1910-1913. 4. Scolopendriden und Scorpione. Arkiv för Zoologi 10(2): 1-43 [24].

  Type data:

   Lectotype ZMH ♀, Kimberley district, Western Australia, Australia.
  Paralectotype(s) NHRM 1♀, Kimberley district, Western Australia, Australia.

  Subsequent designation references:

  Kovarík, F. 1997. Revision of the genera Lychas and Hemilychas, with description of six new species (Scorpiones: Buthidae). Acta Societatis Zoologicae Bohemicae 61: 311-371 [341].

Distribution

States

Western Australia

IBRA

WA: Central Kimberley (CK), Dampierland (DL), Northern Kimberley (NK), Ord Victoria Plain (OVP), Victoria Bonaparte (VB)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

• Australia
  • Western Australia: N coastal

Ecological Descriptors

Predator, terrestrial.

General References

Kovarík, F. 1997. Revision of the genera Lychas and Hemilychas, with description of six new species (Scorpiones: Buthidae). Acta Societatis Zoologicae Bohemicae 61: 311-371 [341] (removal from synonymy of Lychas alexandrinus; redescription)

History of changes

• Isometrus variatus Thorell, T. 1877. Études scorpiologiques. Abhandlungen Herausgegeben vom Naturwissenschaftlichen Verein zu Bremen 19: 75-272 [136].

  Type data:

   Holotype NHRM ♀, Australia (as 'Nova Hollandia').
• Isometrus thorelli Keyserling, E. 1885. Ordo Scorpiones. pp. 1-39 in Koch, L. & Keyserling, E. (eds). Die Arachniden Australiens, nach der Natur beschrieben und abgebildet. Nürnberg : Bauer & Raspe Vol. 2. [12].

  Type data:

   
  Syntype(s) whereabouts unknown 1 specimen, Sydney, New South, Australia; whereabouts unknown 1 specimen, Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia.
• Isometrus variatus papuanus Thorell, T. 1888. Pedipalpi e Scorpioni dell'Arcipelago Malese conservati nel Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Genova. Annali del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale, Genova 2 6: 327-428 [407].

  Type data:

   Holotype MCG ♀, Yule Island (Roro), Central District Province, Papua New Guinea [8°50'S 146°30'E].
• Isometrus armatus Pocock, R.I. 1890. On some Old-World species of scorpions belonging to the genus Isometrus. Journal of the Linnean Society of London, Zoology 23: 433-447 [439].

  Type data:

   Holotype BMNH ♂, Darwin (as 'Port Essington'), Northern Territory, Australia.
  Paratype(s) BMNH 1♀, not stated.
• Lychas marmoreus kimberleyanus Kraepelin, K. 1916. Results of Dr. E. Mjöbergs Swedish Scientific Expeditions to Australia 1910-1913. 4. Scolopendriden und Scorpione. Arkiv för Zoologi 10(2): 1-43 [28].

  Type data:

   Syntype(s) NHRM 2 adults, 3 juveniles, Kimberley District, Western Australia, Australia.
• Lychas spinatus Kraepelin, K. 1916. Results of Dr. E. Mjöbergs Swedish Scientific Expeditions to Australia 1910-1913. 4. Scolopendriden und Scorpione. Arkiv för Zoologi 10(2): 1-43 [32].

  Type data:

   Syntype(s) NHRM 2♀, Queensland, Australia.
• Lychas spinatus besti Glauert, L. 1925. Australian Scorpionidea. Part 1. Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia 11: 89-118 [103].

  Type data:

   Holotype NMV K-7078, Mallee District, Victoria, Australia.
• Lychas spinatus pallidus Glauert, L. 1925. Australian Scorpionidea. Part 1. Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia 11: 89-118 [105].

  Type data:

   
  Syntype(s) AM 2 specimens, New South Wales, Australia; MMUS 2 specimens, without data.
• Lychas lappa Glauert, L. 1954. A new scorpion from Queensland. North Queensland Naturalist 23: 4-5 [4].

  Type data:

   Holotype WAM 64/62 ♀, Lappa Junction, Queensland, Australia [17°22'S, 144°53'E].

Distribution

States

New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, Victoria, Western Australia

IBRA

NSW, NT, Qld, Vic, WA: Australian Alps (AA), Arnhem Coast (ARC), Arnhem Plateau (ARP), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Broken Hill Complex (BHC), Burt Plain (BRT), Central Arnhem (CA), Carnarvon (CAR), Central Kimberley (CK), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Coolgardie (COO), Cobar Peneplain (CP), Central Ranges (CR), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Daly Basin (DAB), Darwin Coastal (DAC), Desert Uplands (DEU), Dampierland (DL), Davenport Murchison Ranges (DMR), Darling Riverine Plains (DRP), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Gascoyne (GAS), Gibson Desert (GD), Gulf Fall and Uplands (GFU), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Great Sandy Desert (GSD), Gulf Coastal (GUC), Gulf Plains (GUP), Great Victoria Desert (GVD), Hampton (HAM), Little Sandy Desert (LSD), Murray Darling Depression (MDD), Mitchell Grass Downs (MGD), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), Mulga Lands (ML), Murchison (MUR), Nandewar (NAN), New England Tablelands (NET), Northern Kimberley (NK), NSW North Coast (NNC), NSW South Western Slopes (NSS), Nullarbor (NUL), Ord Victoria Plain (OVP), Pine Creek (PCK), Pilbara (PIL), Riverina (RIV), Sydney Basin (SB), South East Corner (SEC), South Eastern Highlands (SEH), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Sturt Plateau (STU), Tanami (TAN), Tiwi Cobourg (TIW), Victoria Bonaparte (VB), Victorian Midlands (VM), Wet Tropics (WT), Yalgoo (YAL)

Ecological Descriptors

Predator, terrestrial.

History of changes