Introduction

Scorpions are among the more instantly recognisable arachnids, characterised by the presence of chelate pedipalps, pectines and an elongate metasoma furnished with a sting, among other features. Their long fossil record, combined with a suite of plesiomorphic features, have led most researchers to consider them as the sister-group to the remaining arachnids (e.g. Weygoldt & Paulus 1979; Weygoldt 1998). However, others have suggested that the Scorpiones are nested deep within the Arachnida (e.g. Shultz 1990; Wheeler & Hayashi 1998).

Current classifications of the Scorpiones usually recognise five superfamilies, Buthoidea, Chaeriloidea, Vaejovoidea, Chactoidea and Scorpionoidea (e.g. Sissom 1990), of which only members of the Buthoidea and Scorpionoidea are represented in the Australian fauna.

The revision of the Australian scorpion fauna by Koch (1977) represented a major landmark in the study of Australian scorpions; a total of six genera and 29 species were recognised. However, recent research has shown that the species boundaries for a number of groups must be modified (e.g. Acosta 1990). Further taxonomic work on the Australian fauna has been conducted since Koch's revision (e.g. Acosta 1990; Kovarík 1997; Locket 1990, 1995, 1997; Volschenk et al. 2000), and further revisionary work is currently in press or in preparation (E.S.V., unpublished data; N.A. Locket, in litt.).

Acknowledgements

We wish to thank the Australian Biological Resources Study for funds to E.S.V. for his work on Australasian buthids.

Limital Area

Distribution data in the Directory is by political and geographic region descriptors and serves as a guide to the distribution of a taxon. For details of a taxon's distribution, the reader should consult the cited references (if any) at genus and species levels.

Australia is defined as including Lord Howe Is., Norfolk Is., Cocos (Keeling) Ils, Christmas Is., Ashmore and Cartier Ils, Macquarie Is., Australian Antarctic Territory, Heard and McDonald Ils, and the waters associated with these land areas of Australian political responsibility. Political areas include the adjacent waters.

Terrestrial geographical terms are based on the drainage systems of continental Australia, while marine terms are self explanatory except as follows: the boundary between the coastal and oceanic zones is the 200 m contour; the Arafura Sea extends from Cape York to 124 DEG E; and the boundary between the Tasman and Coral Seas is considered to be the latitude of Fraser Island, also regarded as the southern terminus of the Great Barrier Reef.

Distribution records, if any, outside of these areas are listed as extralimital. The distribution descriptors for each species are collated to genus level. Users are advised that extralimital distribution for some taxa may not be complete.

General References

Acosta, L.E. 1990. El genero Cercophonius Peters, 1861 (Scorpiones, Bothriuridae). Boletín de la Sociedad de Biología de Concepción 61: 7-27

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

Locket, N.A. 1995. A new ischnurid scorpion from the Northern Territory, Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum, Supplement 52: 191-198

Locket, N.A. 1997. Liocheles extensa, a replacement name for Liocheles longimanus Locket, 1995 (Scorpiones: Ischnuridae). Records of the Western Australian Museum 18: 331

Shultz, J.W. 1990. Evolutionary morphology and phylogeny of Arachnida. Cladistics 6: 1-38

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

Volschenk, E.S., Smith, G.T. & Harvey, M.S. 2000. A new species of Urodacus from Western Australia, with descriptive notes on Urodacus megamastigus (Scorpiones: Urodacidae). Records of the Western Australian Museum 20: 57-68

Weygoldt, P. 1998. Evolution and systematics of the Chelicerata. Experimental and Applied Acarology 22: 63-79

Weygoldt, P. & Paulus, H.F. 1979. Untersuchungen zur Morphologie, Taxonomie und Phylogenie der Chelicerata. II. Cladogramme und die Entfaltung der Chelicerata. Zeitschrift für Zoologische Systematik und Evolutionsforschung 17: 177-200

Wheeler, W.C. & Hayashi, C.Y. 1998. The phylogeny of the extant chelicerate orders. Cladistics 14: 173-192

History of changes

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

History of changes

• HORMURIDAE.
• LIOCHELIDAE.

Introduction

The Liochelidae (as Ischnuridae) were, until recently, included as a subfamily within the Scorpionidae, but were elevated to family level by Lourenço (1989). Eight genera were included by Prendini (2000), of which only the widespread Liocheles Sundevall is known from Australia where it occurs in tropical areas. Liochelids are elsewhere found in Asia, Africa and tropical America, and on many islands in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. The Australian species occur under stones and rocks in eastern and northern Australia.

Following Monad et al. (2013), the family name Hormuridae is used in preference to Liochelidae.

General References

Lourenço, W.R. 1989. Rétablissement de la famille des Ischnuridae, distincte des Scorpionidae Pocok, 1893, à partir de la sous-famille des Ischnurinae Pocock, 1893. Revue Arachnologique 8: 159-177

Monod, L., Harvey, M.S. & Prendini, L. 2013. Stenotopic Hormurus Thorell, 1876 scorpions from the monsoon ecosystems of northern Australia, with a discussion on the evolution of burrowing behaviour in Hormuridae Laurie, 1896. Revue Suisse de Zoologie 120(2): 281-346

Prendini, L. 2000. Phylogeny and classification of the superfamily Scorpionoidea Latreille, 1802 (Chelicerata, Scorpiones): an exemplar approach. Cladistics 16: 1-78

History of changes

• Hormurus Thorell, T. 1876. On the classification of scorpions. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 4 17: 1-15 [14] [reinstated for Australian species by Monod (2011)].

  Type species:

   Ischnurus caudicula L. Koch, 1867 by original designation.

Distribution

States

Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia

IBRA

NT, Qld, WA: Arnhem Coast (ARC), Arnhem Plateau (ARP), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Central Arnhem (CA), Central Kimberley (CK), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Daly Basin (DAB), Darwin Coastal (DAC), Desert Uplands (DEU), Dampierland (DL), Darling Riverine Plains (DRP), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Gulf Fall and Uplands (GFU), Gulf Coastal (GUC), Gulf Plains (GUP), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), Mulga Lands (ML), Nandewar (NAN), Northern Kimberley (NK), NSW North Coast (NNC), Ord Victoria Plain (OVP), Pine Creek (PCK), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Tiwi Cobourg (TIW), Victoria Bonaparte (VB), Wet Tropics (WT)

History of changes

• Hormurus ischnoryctes Monod, L. & Prendini, L. in Monod, L., Harvey, M.S. & Prendini, L. 2013. Stenotopic Hormurus Thorell, 1876 scorpions from the monsoon ecosystems of northern Australia, with a discussion on the evolution of burrowing behaviour in Hormuridae Laurie, 1896. Revue Suisse de Zoologie 120(2): 281-346 [301].

  Type data:

   Holotype QM ♂, Australia, Queensland, Mount Mulligan cattle station [16º50'S 144º50'E].
  Paratype(s) QM 2♂ 7♀ 10 immatures.

Distribution

States

Queensland

IBRA

Qld: Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Wet Tropics (WT)

History of changes

• Hormurus karschii 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. [31].

  Type data:

   Holotype ZMB ♂, New Guinea.
• Hormurus karschii keyensis Kraepelin, K. 1914. Die Skorpione und Pedipalpen von Neu-Caledonien und den benachbarten Inselgruppen. pp. 327-337 in Sarasin, F. & Roux, J. (eds). Nova Caledonia, Zoologie. Wiesbaden : C.W. Kreidals Verlag Vol. 1. [331].

  Type data:

   
  Syntype(s) ZMH 2 specimens, Key Islands;
  Status unknown, Key Islands,.
• Hormurus papuanus Kraepelin, K. 1914. Die Skorpione und Pedipalpen von Neu-Caledonien und den benachbarten Inselgruppen. pp. 327-337 in Sarasin, F. & Roux, J. (eds). Nova Caledonia, Zoologie. Wiesbaden : C.W. Kreidals Verlag Vol. 1. [333].

  Type data:

   Syntype(s) whereabouts unknown number of specimens unknown, New Guinea; Neu-Pommern, Papua New Guinea; Wammer Island, Aru Islands.

Generic Combinations

• Hormurus karschii Keyserling, 1885. —
  Monod, l. 2011. The Liochelidae Fet & Bechly, 2001 (Scorpiones) of the Indo-Pacific region: systematics and biogeography. Ph.D. thesis, City University of New York, 2 volumes. 848 pp.
• Liocheles karschii (Keyserling, 1885).

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), Gulf Plains (GUP), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), NSW North Coast (NNC), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Wet Tropics (WT)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

• Australia
  • Queensland: N Gulf, NE coastal
• Papua New Guinea

Ecological Descriptors

Predator, saxicoline, terrestrial, tropical.

General References

Seymour, J., Volschenk, E. & Scott, B. 1995. Record of the scorpion Liocheles karschii (Keyserling, 1855) [sic] from north Queensland (Scorpionida: Ischnuridae). Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 38: 532 [532] (distribution)

History of changes

• Liocheles longimanus Locket, N.A. 1995. A new ischnurid scorpion from the Northern Territory, Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum, Supplement 52: 191-198 [192] [junior homonym of Hormurus australasiae longimanus Werner, 1939, reinstated in Homarus by Monod et al. (2013)].

  Type data:

   Holotype NTM ♂, Oenpelli Cave, Northern Territory, Australia [12°32.5'S 133°03.5'E].
  Paratype(s) NTM 1♂, Kakadu National Park, 13°15.80'S, 139°39.0'E, Northern Territory, Australia.
• Liocheles extensa Locket, N.A. 1997. Liocheles extensa, a replacement name for Liocheles longimanus Locket, 1995 (Scorpiones: Ischnuridae). Records of the Western Australian Museum 18: 331 [331] [unnecessary nom. nov. for Liocheles longimanus Locket, 1995, since longimanus is reinstated in Homarus].

Distribution

States

Northern Territory

Extra Distribution Information

Australian Endemic.

IBRA

NT: Arnhem Plateau (ARP), Daly Basin (DAB), Gulf Fall and Uplands (GFU), Pine Creek (PCK)

General References

Monod, L., Harvey, M.S. & Prendini, L. 2013. Stenotopic Hormurus Thorell, 1876 scorpions from the monsoon ecosystems of northern Australia, with a discussion on the evolution of burrowing behaviour in Hormuridae Laurie, 1896. Revue Suisse de Zoologie 120(2): 281-346 (reinstated Homanus longimanus as valid name, redescription)

History of changes

• Hormurus macrochela Monod, L. in Monod, L., Harvey, M.S. & Prendini, L. 2013. Stenotopic Hormurus Thorell, 1876 scorpions from the monsoon ecosystems of northern Australia, with a discussion on the evolution of burrowing behaviour in Hormuridae Laurie, 1896. Revue Suisse de Zoologie 120(2): 281-346 [314].

  Type data:

   Holotype QM S59212 ♂, Australia, Queensland, Palm island, site 4 [18º40'S, 146º40'E].
  Paratype(s) QM 1♂ 1♀ 1 immauture, all Palm Island sites.

Distribution

States

Queensland

Extra Distribution Information

Australian Endemic.

IBRA

Qld: Central Mackay Coast (CMC)

History of changes

• Hormurus ochyroscapter Monod, L. in Monod, L., Harvey, M.S. & Prendini, L. 2013. Stenotopic Hormurus Thorell, 1876 scorpions from the monsoon ecosystems of northern Australia, with a discussion on the evolution of burrowing behaviour in Hormuridae Laurie, 1896. Revue Suisse de Zoologie 120(2): 281-346 [327].

  Type data:

   Holotype QM S17072 ♂, Australia, Queensland, Reedybrook [18º45'S, 144º38'E].
  Paratype(s) QM 1♂ 2 immatures, same data as holotype.

Distribution

States

Queensland

Extra Distribution Information

Australian Endemic.

IBRA

Qld: Einasleigh Uplands (EIU)

History of changes

• Liocheles polisorum Volschenk, E.S., Locket, N.A. & Harvey, M.S. 2001. Liocheles polisorum n. sp., first record of a troglobitic ischnurid scorpion from Australasia (Scorpiones: Ischnuridae). In, Fet, V. & Seldon, V.A. (eds). Scorpions 2001. In Memorium of Gary A. Polis. Burnhem Beeches, Bucks : British Arachnological Society pp. [163].

Generic Combinations

• Hormurus polisorum (Volschenk, Locket & Harvey, 2001). —
  Monod, l. 2011. The Liochelidae Fet & Bechly, 2001 (Scorpiones) of the Indo-Pacific region: systematics and biogeography. Ph.D. thesis, City University of New York, 2 volumes. 848 pp.

Distribution

Distribution References

History of changes

• Scorpio (Ischnurus) waigiensis Gervais, P. 1844. Remarques sur la famille des scorpions et description de plusieurs espèces nouvelles de la collection du Muséum. Archives du Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris 4: 226-240 [237].
• Ischnurus caudicula Koch, L. 1867. Beschreibungen neuer Arachniden und Myriapoden. II. Verhandlungen der Zoologisch-Botanischen Gesellschaft in Wien 17: 173-250 [237].

  Type data:

   Holotype ZMH unknown sex, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
• Ischnurus neocaledonicus Simon, E. 1877. Arachnides nouveaux ou peu connus. Annales de la Société Entomologique de France 5 7: 225-242 [237].

  Type data:

   
  Syntype(s) MNHP unknown number of specimens, New Caledonia;
  Status unknown.
• Ischnurus dechangei Becker, L. 1880. Études sur les scorpions (premier article). Annales de la Société Entomologique de Belgique (Comptes-rendus) 24: 134-145 [143].

  Type data:

   
  Syntype(s) RIB unknown number of specimens, Manilla, Luzon, Philippines;
  Status unknown.
• Hormurus insculptus 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 [422].

  Type data:

   Syntype(s) MCG 2♀, "Andai Novae Guineae".
• Hormurus weberi Pocock, R.I. 1893. Scorpions from the Malay Archipelago. pp. 84-99 in Max Webber (ed.). Zoologische Ergebnisse einer Reise in Niederländisch Ost-Indien. Leiden : Publisher unknown Vol. 2. [97].
• Hormurus sarasini Kraepelin, K. 1914. Die Skorpione und Pedipalpen von Neu-Caledonien und den benachbarten Inselgruppen. pp. 327-337 in Sarasin, F. & Roux, J. (eds). Nova Caledonia, Zoologie. Wiesbaden : C.W. Kreidals Verlag Vol. 1. [332].

  Type data:

   Status unknown, whereabouts unknown unknown number of specimens, New Caledonia.
• Hormurus caudicula novaeguineae Giltay, L. 1931. Scorpions et Pédipalpes. In, Résultats Scientifiques du voyage aux Indes Orientales Néerlandaises de LL. AA. RR. de Prince et la Princesse Léopold de Belgique. Mémoires du Musée Royal d'Histoire Naturelle de Belgique 3(6): 1-28 [11].

  Type data:

   Holotype RIB juvenile♂, Sakoemi, West Papua, Indonesia.

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Thorell, T. 1877. Études scorpiologiques. Abhandlungen Herausgegeben vom Naturwissenschaftlichen Verein zu Bremen 19: 75-272 [250] (synonymy of Ischnurus caudicula with Scorpio waigiensis)

Generic Combinations

• Liocheles waigiensis (Gervais, 1844). —
  Monod, l. 2011. The Liochelidae Fet & Bechly, 2001 (Scorpiones) of the Indo-Pacific region: systematics and biogeography. Ph.D. thesis, City University of New York, 2 volumes. 848 pp.
• Hormurus waigiensis (Gervais, 1844).

Distribution

States

Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia

IBRA

NT, Qld, WA: Arnhem Coast (ARC), Arnhem Plateau (ARP), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Central Arnhem (CA), Central Kimberley (CK), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Daly Basin (DAB), Darwin Coastal (DAC), Desert Uplands (DEU), Dampierland (DL), Darling Riverine Plains (DRP), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Gulf Fall and Uplands (GFU), Gulf Coastal (GUC), Gulf Plains (GUP), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), Mulga Lands (ML), Nandewar (NAN), Northern Kimberley (NK), 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 Gulf, N coastal
  • Queensland: Murray-Darling basin, N Gulf, NE coastal
  • Western Australia: N coastal
• Papua New Guinea

Ecological Descriptors

Predator, saxicoline, terrestrial, tropical.

History of changes

• Liocheles Sundevall, C.J. 1833. Conspectus Arachnidum. Londini Gothorum : C.F. Berling. [31] [first introduced as a subgenus of Scorpio Linnaeus, 1758].

  Type species:

   Scorpio australasiae Fabricius, 1775 by monotypy.
• Ischnurus Koch, C.L. 1838. Die Arachniden. Getreu nach der Natur abgebildet und beschrieben. Nürnberg : C.H. Zeh'schen Vol. 4 144 pp. [69].

  Type species:

   Sisyphus companatus C.L. Koch, 1837 by monotypy.

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Pocock, R.I. 1902. A contribution to the systematics of scorpions. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 7 10: 364-380 [364] (synonymy of Ischnurus with Hormurus)

Distribution

States

Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia

IBRA

NT, Qld, WA: Arnhem Coast (ARC), Arnhem Plateau (ARP), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Central Arnhem (CA), Central Kimberley (CK), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Daly Basin (DAB), Darwin Coastal (DAC), Desert Uplands (DEU), Dampierland (DL), Darling Riverine Plains (DRP), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Gulf Fall and Uplands (GFU), Gulf Coastal (GUC), Gulf Plains (GUP), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), Mulga Lands (ML), Nandewar (NAN), Northern Kimberley (NK), 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 Gulf, N coastal
  • Queensland: Murray-Darling basin, N Gulf, NE coastal
  • Western Australia: N coastal
• Papua New Guinea

History of changes

• Scorpio australasiae Fabricius, J.C. 1775. Systema Entomologiae, sistens Insectorum Classes, Ordines, Genera, Species, adiectis Synonymis, Locis, Descriptionibus, Observationibus. Flensburgi et Lipsiae [= Flensburg & Leipzig] : Kortii xxxii 832 pp. [Date published 17 April] [399].
• Ischnurus complanatus Koch, C.L. 1838. Die Arachniden. Getreu nach der Natur abgebildet und beschrieben. Nürnberg : C.H. Zeh'schen Vol. 4 144 pp. [73].
• Scorpio gracilicauda Guérin-Méneville, F.E. 1843. Iconographie du Règne Animal de G. Cuvier. Insectes; Table Alphabétique des Genres, Sous-Genres et Espèces Figués ou Décrits, etc. London : A. Paris & J.B. Baillière Vol. 3 559 pp. [11].
• Scorpio cumingii Gervais, P. 1844. Insectes. Aptères. pp. 1-476 in Walckenaer, C.A. (ed.). Histoire Naturelle des Insectes. Aptères. Paris : Librairie Encyclopédique de Roret Vol. 3 476 pp. [69].

  Type data:

   Status unknown, BMNH unknown number of specimens, Philippines.
• Ischnurus pistaceus Simon, E. 1877. Etudes arachnologiques. 5e Memoire. IX. Arachnides recueillis aux îles Phillipines par MM G.A. Baer et Laglais. Annales de la Société Entomologique de France 7(5): 53-96 [93].
• Hormurus australasiae suspectus 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 [420].

  Type data:

   Syntype(s) MCG unknown, Burma.
• Buthus brevicaudatus Rainbow, W.J. 1897. The arachnidan fauna of Funafuti. Memoirs of the Australian Museum 3: 105-124 [107].

  Type data:

   Syntype(s) whereabouts unknown 1♂ 3♀, Funafuti, Tuvalu.
• Hormurus boholiensis Kraepelin, K. 1914. Die Skorpione und Pedipalpen von Neu-Caledonien und den benachbarten Inselgruppen. pp. 327-337 in Sarasin, F. & Roux, J. (eds). Nova Caledonia, Zoologie. Wiesbaden : C.W. Kreidals Verlag Vol. 1. [333].

  Type data:

   Syntype(s) ZMH 2 specimens, Bohol, Philippines.

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
• Papua New Guinea

Ecological Descriptors

Predator, saxicoline, terrestrial, tropical.

History of changes

Introduction

The Urodacidae consist of a single genus, Urodacus Peters, confined to mainland Australia where 19 species were recognised by Koch (1977). The Urodacidae were recently elevated from a subfamily of the Scorpionidae (Prendini 2000), and suggested to represent the sister-group to the Heteroscorpionidae from Madagascar.

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

Prendini, L. 2000. Phylogeny and classification of the superfamily Scorpionoidea Latreille, 1802 (Chelicerata, Scorpiones): an exemplar approach. Cladistics 16: 1-78

History of changes

• Aops Volschenk & Prendini, 2008.

  Type species:

   Aops oncodactylus Volschenk & Prendini, 2008 by original designation.

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Volschenk, E.S. & Prendini, L. 2008. Aops oncodactylus, gen. et sp. nov., the first troglobitic urodacid (Urodacidae:Scorpiones), with a re-assessment of cavernicolous, troglobitic and troglomorphic scorpions. Invertebrate Systematics 22(2): 235-257 [243]

Taxonomic Decision for Subgeneric Arrangement

• Volschenk, E.S. & Prendini, L. 2008. Aops oncodactylus, gen. et sp. nov., the first troglobitic urodacid (Urodacidae:Scorpiones), with a re-assessment of cavernicolous, troglobitic and troglomorphic scorpions. Invertebrate Systematics 22(2): 235-257 [243]

Distribution

IBRA

Carnarvon (CAR)

History of changes

• Aops oncodactylus Volschenk & Prendini, 2008.

  Type data:

   Holotype WAM WAM 99/2109 juvenile ♀ (second chamber), Australia, Western Australia, Barrow Island, Ledge Cave (Cave B-1) [20°47′53″S 115°19′53″E].

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Volschenk, E.S. & Prendini, L. 2008. Aops oncodactylus, gen. et sp. nov., the first troglobitic urodacid (Urodacidae:Scorpiones), with a re-assessment of cavernicolous, troglobitic and troglomorphic scorpions. Invertebrate Systematics 22(2): 235-257 [243]

Distribution

IBRA

Carnarvon (CAR)

History of changes

• Urodacus Peters, W. 1861. Eine neue Eintheilung der Skorpione und über die von ihm in Mossambique gesammelten Arten von Skorpionen, aus welchem hier Auszug mitgetheilt wird. Monatsberichte der Königlichen Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin 1861: 507-516 [511].

  Type species:

   Urodacus novaehollandiae Peters, 1861 by monotypy.
• Ioctonus Thorell, T. 1876. On the classification of scorpions. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 4 17: 1-15 [14].

  Type species:

   Ioctonus manicatus Thorell, 1876 by original designation.
• Iodacus 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 [245].

  Type species:

   Iodacus darwinii Pocock, 1891 by monotypy.
• Hemihoplopus Birula, A. 1903. Sur un nouveau genre et une nouvelle espèce de scorpions, provenant d'Australie [Na novyy rod i novyy vid skorpionov, iz Avstralii]. pp. xxxiii-xxxiv in Salensky, W. & Schmidt, R. Annuaire du Musée Zoologique de l'Académie des Sciences de St. Pétersbourg [Yezhegodnik Zoologicheskogo Muzeya Imperatorskoy Akademii Nauk]. St. Petersbourg : Imprimerie de l'Academie Imperiale des Sciences Vol. 8 pp. i-x11, 1-394, i-lxxxviii. [xxxiii].

  Type species:

   Hemihoplopus yaschenkoi Birula, 1903 by monotypy.

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Pocock, R.I. 1893. Notes on the classification of scorpions, followed by some observations upon synonymy, with descriptions of new genera and species. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 6 12: 303-330 [320] (synonymy of Iodacus with Urodacus)

Distribution

States

Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia

IBRA

ACT, NSW, NT, Qld, SA, Tas, Vic, WA: Australian Alps (AA), Arnhem Coast (ARC), Arnhem Plateau (ARP), Avon Wheatbelt (AW), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Ben Lomond (BEL), 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), King (KIN), 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), Tasmanian Central Highlands (TCH), Tiwi Cobourg (TIW), Tasmanian Northern Midlands (TNM), Tasmanian Northern Slopes (TNS), Tasmanian South East (TSE), Tasmanian Southern Ranges (TSR), Tasmanian West (TWE), Victoria Bonaparte (VB), Victorian Midlands (VM), Victorian Volcanic Plain (VVP), Warren (WAR), Wet Tropics (WT), Yalgoo (YAL)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

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

History of changes

• Urodacus armatus Pocock, R.I. 1888. The species of the genus Urodacus contained in the collection of the British (Natural-History) Museum. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 6 2: 169-175 [172].

  Type data:

   Holotype BMNH ♂, Port Lincoln, South Australia, Australia.
• Urodacus woodwardii Pocock, R.I. 1893. Notes on the classification of scorpions, followed by some observations upon synonymy, with descriptions of new genera and species. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 6 12: 303-330 [323].

  Type data:

   Holotype BMNH 1892.6.12.2.3 ♀, Darling Ranges, Western Australia, Australia.
• Urodacus granifrons Pocock, R.I. 1898. The Australian scorpions of the genus Urodacus, Pet. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 7 2: 59-67 [62].

  Type data:

   Holotype BMNH ♂, Chapman River, 10 miles from Geraldton, Western Australia, Australia.

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Koch, L.E. 1977. The taxonomy, geographic distribution and evolutionary radiation of Australo-Papuan scorpions. Records of the Western Australian Museum 5: 83-367 [219] (synonymy of U. woodwardii and U. granifrons with U. armatus)

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), 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 South Western Slopes (NSS), Nullarbor (NUL), Pilbara (PIL), Riverina (RIV), South Eastern Highlands (SEH), 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
  • 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
  • Western Australia: NW coastal, SW coastal, W plateau

Ecological Descriptors

Predator, terrestrial.

History of changes

• Urodacus butleri Volschenk, E.S., Harvey, M.S. & Prendini, L. 2012. A new species of Urodacus (Scorpiones: Urodacidae) from Western Australia. American Museum Novitates No. 3748: 18 pp. [3].

  Type data:

   Holotype WAM T851415 ♂, Western Australia, Barrow Island, F block Site SS08.8 [20°51′07″S 115°22′24″E].
  Paratype(s) WAM numerous, ♂♂ ♀♀.

Distribution

States

Western Australia

Extra Distribution Information

Barrow Island and Chichester Range

IBRA

WA: Pilbara (PIL)

History of changes

• Urodacus hoplurus carinatus Hirst, S. 1911. Descriptions of new scorpions. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 8 8: 462-473 [470].

  Type data:

   Holotype BMNH ♂, Hermannsburg, Northern Territory, Australia.

Distribution

States

Northern Territory

IBRA

NT: Burt Plain (BRT), Central Ranges (CR), Davenport Murchison Ranges (DMR), Great Sandy Desert (GSD), Mitchell Grass Downs (MGD), Sturt Plateau (STU), Tanami (TAN)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

• Australia
  • Northern Territory: W plateau

History of changes

• Urodacus centralis Koch, L.E. 1977. The taxonomy, geographic distribution and evolutionary radiation of Australo-Papuan scorpions. Records of the Western Australian Museum 5: 83-367 [216].

  Type data:

   Holotype WAM 73/775 ♂, Palm Valley, Northern Territory, Australia [24°06'S, 132°43'E].
  Paratype(s) AM 1♂, Palm Valley, Northern Territory, Australia.

Distribution

States

Northern Territory

Extra Distribution Information

Known only from type locality.

IBRA

NT: MacDonnell Ranges (MAC)

History of changes

• Urodacus elongatus Koch, L.E. 1977. The taxonomy, geographic distribution and evolutionary radiation of Australo-Papuan scorpions. Records of the Western Australian Museum 5: 83-367 [191].

  Type data:

   Holotype WAM 68/490 ♂, Mt Remarkable, South Australia, Australia [32°48'S, 138°10'E].
  Paratype(s) SAMA 1♀, Beetaloo, South Australia, Australia; SAMA 4♂, Flinders Ranges, South Australia, Australia; SAMA 1♂, Leigh Creek, South Australia, Australia; SAMA 1♂, 32 km N of Macumba Creek, South Australia, Australia; SAMA 1♂, Mt Brown, South Australia, Australia; WAM 68/491-497 2♂ 5♀, Mt Remarkable, South Australia, Australia; SAMA 1♂, Parachilna, South Australia, Australia; SAMA 2♀, Port Germein, South Australia, Australia; SAMA 3♂ 5♀, Stoney Creek, Willowie Forest, South Australia, Australia; SAMA 2♂, Willowie, South Australia, Australia; SAMA 2♀, Woolshed Flat, South Australia, Australia.

Distribution

States

South Australia

IBRA

SA: Channel Country (CHC), Eyre Yorke Block (EYB), Finke (FIN), Flinders Lofty Block (FLB), Gawler (GAW), Kanmantoo (KAN), Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields (SSD), Stony Plains (STP)

History of changes

• Urodacus excellens Pocock, R.I. 1888. The species of the genus Urodacus contained in the collection of the British (Natural-History) Museum. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 6 2: 169-175 [170].

  Type data:

   Holotype BMNH ♀, Darwin (as 'Port Essington'), Northern Territory, Australia.
• Iodacus darwinii 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 [245].

  Type data:

   Holotype BMNH ♀, Darwin (as 'Port Darwin'), Northern Territory, Australia.

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Koch, L.E. 1977. The taxonomy, geographic distribution and evolutionary radiation of Australo-Papuan scorpions. Records of the Western Australian Museum 5: 83-367 [274] (synonymy of I. darwinii with U. excellens)

Distribution

States

Northern Territory

IBRA

NT: Arnhem Coast (ARC), Arnhem Plateau (ARP), Central Arnhem (CA), Daly Basin (DAB), Darwin Coastal (DAC), Gulf Fall and Uplands (GFU), Gulf Coastal (GUC), Gulf Plains (GUP), Ord Victoria Plain (OVP), Pine Creek (PCK), Tiwi Cobourg (TIW), Victoria Bonaparte (VB)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

• Australia
  • Northern Territory: N Gulf, N coastal

History of changes

• Urodacus giulianii Koch, L.E. 1977. The taxonomy, geographic distribution and evolutionary radiation of Australo-Papuan scorpions. Records of the Western Australian Museum 5: 83-367 [267].

  Type data:

   Holotype WAM 69/2013 ♀, Mt Davies Camp, South Australia, Australia [26°11'S 129°08'E].
  Paratype(s) WAM 69/2000-2001 1♂ 1♀, 373 km NE of Laverton, Western Australia, Australia; WAM 69/2006 1♀, 477 km NE of Laverton, Western Australia, Australia; WAM 69/2010-2011 2♂, 98 km E of Warburton Mission, Western Australia, Australia; NMV 2♀, Angas Downs, Northern Territory, Australia; NMV 2♀, Haasts Bluff, Northern Territory, Australia; WAM 1♀, Tanami, Northern Territory, Australia.

Distribution

States

Northern Territory, South Australia, Western Australia

IBRA

NT, SA, WA: Burt Plain (BRT), Coolgardie (COO), Central Ranges (CR), Dampierland (DL), Davenport Murchison Ranges (DMR), Eyre Yorke Block (EYB), Gawler (GAW), Gibson Desert (GD), Great Sandy Desert (GSD), Great Victoria Desert (GVD), Hampton (HAM), Little Sandy Desert (LSD), Mitchell Grass Downs (MGD), Murchison (MUR), Nullarbor (NUL), Sturt Plateau (STU), Tanami (TAN)

History of changes

• Urodacus hartmeyeri Kraepelin, K. 1908. Scorpiones. pp. 87-104 in Michaelsen, W. & Hartmeyer, R. (eds). Die Fauna Südwest-Australiens. Jena : Gustav Fischer Vol. 2. [99].

  Type data:

   Syntype(s) ZMH 2♀, Tamala, Western Australia, Australia.

Distribution

States

Western Australia

IBRA

WA: Avon Wheatbelt (AW), Carnarvon (CAR), Esperance Plains (ESP), Gascoyne (GAS), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Jarrah Forest (JF), Mallee (MAL), Murchison (MUR), Pilbara (PIL), Swan Coastal Plain (SWA), Warren (WAR), Yalgoo (YAL)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

• Australia
  • Western Australia: NW coastal, SW coastal

History of changes

• Urodacus hoplurus Pocock, R.I. 1898. The Australian scorpions of the genus Urodacus, Pet. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 7 2: 59-67 [64].

  Type data:

   Holotype BMNH ♂, Lawlers, Western Australia, Australia.
• Urodacus hillieri Hirst, S. 1911. Descriptions of new scorpions. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 8 8: 462-473 [469].

  Type data:

   Syntype(s) BMNH 2♂, 2 juveniles, Hermannsburg, Northern Territory, Australia.

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Koch, L.E. 1977. The taxonomy, geographic distribution and evolutionary radiation of Australo-Papuan scorpions. Records of the Western Australian Museum 5: 83-367 [258] (synonymy of U. hillieri with U. hoplurus)

Distribution

States

Northern Territory, South Australia, Western Australia

IBRA

NT, SA, WA: Avon Wheatbelt (AW), Burt Plain (BRT), Carnarvon (CAR), Channel Country (CHC), Central Kimberley (CK), Coolgardie (COO), Central Ranges (CR), Dampierland (DL), Davenport Murchison Ranges (DMR), Esperance Plains (ESP), Eyre Yorke Block (EYB), Finke (FIN), Flinders Lofty Block (FLB), 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), Mitchell Grass Downs (MGD), Murchison (MUR), Northern Kimberley (NK), Nullarbor (NUL), Ord Victoria Plain (OVP), Pilbara (PIL), Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields (SSD), Sturt Plateau (STU), Swan Coastal Plain (SWA), Tanami (TAN), Victoria Bonaparte (VB), Warren (WAR), Yalgoo (YAL)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

• Australia
  • Northern Territory: Lake Eyre basin, W plateau
  • South Australia: S Gulfs, W plateau
  • Western Australia: N coastal, NW coastal, SW coastal, W plateau

History of changes

• Urodacus koolanensis Koch, L.E. 1977. The taxonomy, geographic distribution and evolutionary radiation of Australo-Papuan scorpions. Records of the Western Australian Museum 5: 83-367 [226].

  Type data:

   Holotype WAM 68/487 ♂, Koolan Island, Western Australia, Australia [16°08'S, 123°45'E].
  Paratype(s) WAM 68/488 1♂, Barker River Gorge, Napier Range, Western Australia, Australia; MMUS 4♂ 3♀, King Sound, Western Australia, Australia; WAM 69/27 1♂, Mt Bell, King Leopold Range, Western Australia, Australia; WAM 68/489 1♀, Windjana Gorge, Napier Range, Western Australia, Australia.

Distribution

States

Western Australia

IBRA

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

History of changes

• Urodacus lowei Koch, L.E. 1977. The taxonomy, geographic distribution and evolutionary radiation of Australo-Papuan scorpions. Records of the Western Australian Museum 5: 83-367 [280].

  Type data:

   Holotype WAM 69/620 ♂, within 16 km of Lawley River and Mitchell River area, Western Australia, Australia [14°58'S, 126°02'E].
  Paratype(s) WAM 69/2026-2027 1♂ 1♀, 161 km ENE of Broome, Western Australia, Australia; WAM 69/2037-2038 2♀, 3 km S of Dampier Downs, Western Australia, Australia; WAM 69/2034 1♀, 64 km E of Broome, Western Australia, Australia; WAM 69/616 1♂, Kalumburu, Western Australia, Australia; WAM 66/265 1♂, Kalumburu, Western Australia, Australia; WAM 69/617 1♂, Lawley River, Western Australia, Australia; WAM 69/621-623 1♂ 2♀, within 16 km of Lawley River and Mitchell River area, Western Australia, Australia; WAM 69/619 1♀, Mitchell River flats, 48 km from sea, Western Australia, Australia; WAM 73/774 1♂, Mitchell River Station, Western Australia, Australia; WAM 10/3982-3983 2♀, Napier Broome Bay, Western Australia, Australia.

Distribution

States

Western Australia

IBRA

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

History of changes

• Urodacus lunatus Buzatto, B., Clark, H.L., Harvey, M.S. & Volschenk, E.S. 2024. Two new species of burrowing scorpions (Urodacidae: Urodacus) from the Pilbara region of Western Australia with identical external morphology. Australian Journal of Zoology 71(ZO23018): 1-18 [13].
  Zoobank Registration Number:1766B0C7-2370-486DBD6A-55D5AE6B0E20

  Type data:

   Holotype WAM T79450 ♂ (Pilbara Biological Survey site DRE09), 6 km SE of Whim Creek Hotel, WA [20°52'11.7"S, 117°51'31.6"E].
  Paratype(s) WAM T79449 ♂, same data as holotype.

Distribution

States

Western Australia

Extra Distribution Information

Around Whim Creek, SW of Port Hedland, Pilbara region of WA

Australian Endemic.

IBRA

WA: Pilbara (PIL)

Ecological Descriptors

Burrower.

History of changes

• Urodacus macrurus Pocock, R.I. 1899. Descriptions of some new species of scorpions. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 7 3: 411-420 [414].

  Type data:

   Holotype BMNH ♂, Muldiva, Queensland, 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), Darling Riverine Plains (DRP), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Gulf Plains (GUP), Mitchell Grass Downs (MGD), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), Mulga Lands (ML), Nandewar (NAN), 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, Murray-Darling basin, N Gulf, NE coastal

History of changes

• Ioctonus manicatus Thorell, T. 1876. On the classification of scorpions. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 4 17: 1-15 [14].

  Type data:

   Syntype(s) NHRM 2♀, Australia (as 'Nova Hollandia').
• Urodacus abruptus Pocock, R.I. 1888. The species of the genus Urodacus contained in the collection of the British (Natural-History) Museum. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 6 2: 169-175 [174].

  Type data:

   
  Syntype(s) BMNH 1♀, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia; BMNH 1♀, Australia (as 'New Holland').
• Urodacus keyserlingii 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 [245].

  Type data:

   Syntype(s) BMNH 1890.7.1.241-242 2♀, Western Australia, Australia.
• Buthus flavicruris Rainbow, W.J. 1896. Contributions to a knowledge of the Arachnidan fauna of Australia. No. 1. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 1896: 634-636 [634].

  Type data:

   Holotype AM unknown sex (lost), Cooma, New South Wales, Australia.

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Pocock, R.I. 1893. Notes on the classification of scorpions, followed by some observations upon synonymy, with descriptions of new genera and species. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 6 12: 303-330 [321] (synonymy of U. keyserlingii with U. abruptus)

Distribution

States

New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria

IBRA

NSW, Qld, SA, Vic: Australian Alps (AA), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Broken Hill Complex (BHC), Channel Country (CHC), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Cobar Peneplain (CP), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Desert Uplands (DEU), Darling Riverine Plains (DRP), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Eyre Yorke Block (EYB), Finke (FIN), Flinders Lofty Block (FLB), Flinders (FLI), Kanmantoo (KAN), Murray Darling Depression (MDD), Mulga Lands (ML), Nandewar (NAN), Naracoorte Coastal Plain (NCP), New England Tablelands (NET), NSW North Coast (NNC), NSW South Western Slopes (NSS), 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), Victorian Midlands (VM), Victorian Volcanic Plain (VVP), Wet Tropics (WT)

History of changes

• Urodacus mckenziei Volschenk, E.S., Smith, G.T. & Harvey, M.S. 2000. A new species of Urodacus from Western Australia, with descriptive notes on Urodacus megamastigus (Scorpiones: Urodacidae). Records of the Western Australian Museum 20: 57-68 [58].

  Type data:

   Holotype WAM 99/1111 ♂, Zuytdorp, site ZU4, Western Australia, Australia [27°15'45.1"S 114°09'12.9"E].
  Paratype(s) WAM 99/1111-1127 16♂, Zuytdorp, site ZU4, Western Australia, Australia; AM 1♂, Zuytdorp, site ZU4, Western Australia, Australia; ANIC 1♂, Zuytdorp, site ZU4, Western Australia, Australia; NMV 1♂, Zuytdorp, site ZU4, Western Australia, Australia; MNHP 1♂, Zuytdorp, site ZU4, Western Australia, Australia; QM 1♂, Zuytdorp, site ZU4, Western Australia, Australia; SAMA 1♂, Zuytdorp, site ZU4, Western Australia, Australia; WAM 98/1592 1♀, Peron Homestead, 100 m W of Visitors Centre [25°50'S 113°33'E].

Distribution

States

Western Australia

IBRA

WA: Carnarvon (CAR), Gascoyne (GAS), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Murchison (MUR), Pilbara (PIL), Yalgoo (YAL)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

• Australia
  • Western Australia: NW coastal

History of changes

• Urodacus megamastigus Koch, L.E. 1977. The taxonomy, geographic distribution and evolutionary radiation of Australo-Papuan scorpions. Records of the Western Australian Museum 5: 83-367 [229].

  Type data:

   Holotype WAM 66/368 ♂, Mundiwindi, Western Australia, Australia [23°50'S, 120°10'E].
  Paratype(s) WAM 68/366-367 2♂, Mundiwindi, Western Australia, Australia; WAM 71/1784-1785 1♂ 1♀, Walgun, Western Australia, Australia.

Distribution

States

Western Australia

IBRA

WA: Gascoyne (GAS)

History of changes

• Urodacus novaehollandiae Peters, W. 1861. Eine neue Eintheilung der Skorpione und über die von ihm in Mossambique gesammelten Arten von Skorpionen, aus welchem hier Auszug mitgetheilt wird. Monatsberichte der Königlichen Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin 1861: 507-516 [511].

  Type data:

   Holotype ZMB unknown sex, Western Australia, Australia (as 'Westaustralien').
• Iodacus orthurus Thorell, T. 1877. Études scorpiologiques. Abhandlungen Herausgegeben vom Naturwissenschaftlichen Verein zu Bremen 19: 75-272 [264].

  Type data:

   Holotype NHRM 435 66 ♂, locality unknown.
• Urodacus bicolor Werner, F. 1936. Neu-Eingänge von Scorpionen im Zoologischen Museum in Hamburg. pp. 171–193 in, Festschrift zum 60. Geburtstage von Professor Dr. Embrik Strand. Vol. 1. Riga. [182].

  Type data:

   
  Syntype(s) ZMH 1♂ (Werner (1936) erroneously stated that this was a female), Brancaster, Upper Blackwood District, Western Australia, Australia; ZMH 1♂ 1♀, Pickering Brook, Western Australia, Australia.
• Urodacus marianus Roewer, C.F. 1943. Über eine neuerworbene Sammlung von Scorpionen des Natur-Museums Senckenberg. Senckenbergiana Biologica 26: 205-244 [225].

  Type data:

   Holotype SMF 8878/220 ♂, Saipan, Marianas Islands (mislabelled).

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Koch, L.E. 1977. The taxonomy, geographic distribution and evolutionary radiation of Australo-Papuan scorpions. Records of the Western Australian Museum 5: 83-367 [194] (synonymy of U. bicolor and U. marianus with U. novaehollandiae)

Distribution

States

South Australia, Western Australia

IBRA

SA, WA: Avon Wheatbelt (AW), Broken Hill Complex (BHC), Channel Country (CHC), Coolgardie (COO), Central Ranges (CR), Dampierland (DL), Esperance Plains (ESP), Eyre Yorke Block (EYB), Finke (FIN), Flinders Lofty Block (FLB), 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), Mallee (MAL), Murray Darling Depression (MDD), Murchison (MUR), Nullarbor (NUL), Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields (SSD), Stony Plains (STP), Swan Coastal Plain (SWA), Tanami (TAN), Warren (WAR), Yalgoo (YAL)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

• Australia
  • South Australia: Lake Eyre basin, Murray-Darling basin, S Gulfs, W plateau
  • Western Australia: SW coastal, W plateau

History of changes

• Urodacus planimanus Pocock, R.I. 1893. Notes on the classification of scorpions, followed by some observations upon synonymy, with descriptions of new genera and species. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 6 12: 303-330 [321].

  Type data:

   Holotype BMNH 1893.7.4.29 ♀, within 30 miles of Perth, Western Australia, Australia.

Distribution

States

Western Australia

IBRA

WA: Avon Wheatbelt (AW), Esperance Plains (ESP), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Jarrah Forest (JF), Mallee (MAL), Pilbara (PIL), Swan Coastal Plain (SWA), Warren (WAR), Yalgoo (YAL)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

• Australia
  • Western Australia: SW coastal

History of changes

• Urodacus similis Koch, L.E. 1977. The taxonomy, geographic distribution and evolutionary radiation of Australo-Papuan scorpions. Records of the Western Australian Museum 5: 83-367 [284].

  Type data:

   Holotype WAM 69/487 ♂, Kathleen Valley, Western Australia, Australia [27°23'S, 120°38'E].
  Paratype(s) WAM 69/498 1♂, Kathleen Valley, Western Australia, Australia; WAM 69/499-500 1♂ 1♀, Minnie Creek, 103 km E of Cosmo Newberry, Western Australia, Australia.

Distribution

States

Western Australia

IBRA

WA: Murchison (MUR)

History of changes

• Urodacus spinatus Pocock, R.I. 1902. A contribution to the systematics of scorpions. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 7 10: 364-380 [370].

  Type data:

   Holotype BMNH ♂, Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, Australia.
• Urodacus subarmatus Pocock, R.I. 1902. A contribution to the systematics of scorpions. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 7 10: 364-380 [371].

  Type data:

   Holotype BMNH ♀, Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, Australia.
• Urodacus simplex Pocock, R.I. 1902. A contribution to the systematics of scorpions. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 7 10: 364-380 [372].

  Type data:

   Holotype BMNH ♂, Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, Australia.

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Koch, L.E. 1977. The taxonomy, geographic distribution and evolutionary radiation of Australo-Papuan scorpions. Records of the Western Australian Museum 5: 83-367 [278] (synonymy of U. subarmatus and U. simplex with U. spinatus)

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), Gulf Plains (GUP), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), NSW North Coast (NNC), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Wet Tropics (WT)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

• Australia
  • Queensland: N Gulf, NE coastal

History of changes

• Urodacus uncinus Buzatto, B., Clark, H.L., Harvey, M.S. & Volschenk, E.S. 2024. Two new species of burrowing scorpions (Urodacidae: Urodacus) from the Pilbara region of Western Australia with identical external morphology. Australian Journal of Zoology 71(ZO23018): 1-18 [3].
  Zoobank Registration Number:956CB7F3-AA00498E-986C-8BACAF3280EB

  Type data:

   Holotype WAM T79444 ♂ (Pilbara Biological Survey site MBW06), 20 km ENE of Wodgina, WA [21°06'53"S, 118°51'06"E].
  Paratype(s) WAM T153275 ♂, same data as holotype; WAM T107077–107079 3 ♀, approx. 15 km NE of Wodgina mine site, WA [21°06'48.3"S, 118°47'19.1"E]; WAM T113699 & T113700-113701, T113703 one subadult ♂, 3 ♀, approx. 15 km NE of Wodgina Mine site, WA [21°04'31.6"S, 118°46'44"E].

Distribution

States

Western Australia

Extra Distribution Information

Pilbara region of WA, from east to south of Port Hedland

Australian Endemic.

IBRA

WA: Pilbara (PIL)

Ecological Descriptors

Burrower.

History of changes

• Urodacus varians Glauert, L. 1963. Notes on Urodacus scorpions. Western Australian Naturalist 8: 132-135 [133].

  Type data:

   Holotype WAM 62/1 ♂, Canning Stock Route, Western Australia, Australia [26°35'S, 120°14'E to 19°33'S, 127°40'E].
  Paratype(s) WAM 3♂ 1♀, Canning Stock Route, Western Australia, Australia.

Distribution

States

Western Australia

IBRA

WA: Murchison (MUR)

History of changes

• Hemihoplopus yaschenkoi Birula, A. 1903. Sur un nouveau genre et une nouvelle espèce de scorpions, provenant d'Australie [Na novyy rod i novyy vid skorpionov, iz Avstralii]. pp. xxxiii-xxxiv in Salensky, W. & Schmidt, R. Annuaire du Musée Zoologique de l'Académie des Sciences de St. Pétersbourg [Yezhegodnik Zoologicheskogo Muzeya Imperatorskoy Akademii Nauk]. St. Petersbourg : Imprimerie de l'Academie Imperiale des Sciences Vol. 8 pp. i-x11, 1-394, i-lxxxviii. [xxxiii].

  Type data:

   Holotype ZIN, Killalpaninna [Etadunna], South Australia.
• Urodacus granifrons 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 [39] [junior homonym of Urodacus granifrons Pocock, 1898].

  Type data:

   Holotype NHRM ♀, Broome, Western Australia, Australia.
• Urodacus kraepelini Glauert, L. 1963. Notes on Urodacus scorpions. Western Australian Naturalist 8: 132-135 [134] [unnecessary nom. nov. for Urodacus granifrons Kraepelin, 1916].

  Type data:

   Syntype(s).
• Urodacus fossor 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 [36].

  Type data:

   
  Syntype(s) whereabouts unknown 1♀, Broome, Western Australia, Australia; NHRM 1♀, Streeters Station, Western Australia, Australia.
• Urodacus kraepelini Takashima, H. 1945. On the scorpions of eastern Asia. Acta Arachnologica 9: 68-106 [87] [nom. nov. for Urodacus granifrons Kraepelin, 1916].

  Type data:

   Syntype(s).

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Koch, L.E. 1977. The taxonomy, geographic distribution and evolutionary radiation of Australo-Papuan scorpions. Records of the Western Australian Museum 5: 83-367 [292] (synonymy of U. granifrons, U. kraepelini, U. fossor and U. kraepelini with H. yaschenkoi)

Introduction

Luna-Ramirez et al (2017) provided evidence that Urodacus yaschenkoi is likely to be a species complex with up to three putative taxa.

Distribution

States

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

Extra Distribution Information

Australian Endemic.

IBRA

NSW, NT, Qld, SA, Vic, WA: Broken Hill Complex (BHC), Burt Plain (BRT), Channel Country (CHC), Cobar Peneplain (CP), Central Ranges (CR), Dampierland (DL), Eyre Yorke Block (EYB), Finke (FIN), Flinders Lofty Block (FLB), Gascoyne (GAS), Gawler (GAW), Gibson Desert (GD), Great Sandy Desert (GSD), Great Victoria Desert (GVD), Kanmantoo (KAN), Little Sandy Desert (LSD), MacDonnell Ranges (MAC), Murray Darling Depression (MDD), Mulga Lands (ML), Murchison (MUR), Nullarbor (NUL), Pilbara (PIL), Riverina (RIV), Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields (SSD), Stony Plains (STP), Tanami (TAN)

General References

Luna-Ramirez, K., Miller, A.D. & Rašić, G. 2017. Genetic and morphological analyses indicate that the Australian endemic scorpion Urodacus yaschenkoi (Scorpiones: Urodacidae) is a species complex. PeerJ 5: e2759

History of changes

History of changes

Introduction

The Bothriuridae represent the sister-group to the remaining members of the Scorpionoidea (Prendini 2000). The family currently consists of 12 genera, 10 of which occur in South America and one in Namibia. The remaining genus, Cercophonius Peters, occurs in Australia and northern India (Acosta 1990; Lourenço 1996), suggesting that the family has Gondwanan origins.

Previous bothriurid classifications have recognised three or four subfamilies, but Prendini (2000) has shown that these cannot be defended cladistically and the family currently has no subfamilial classification.

General References

Acosta, L.E. 1990. El genero Cercophonius Peters, 1861 (Scorpiones, Bothriuridae). Boletín de la Sociedad de Biología de Concepción 61: 7-27

Lourenço, W.R. 1996. Can a bothriurid scorpion be present in the Himalayas of India? Entomologische Mitteilungen aus dem Zoologischen Staatsinstitut und Zoologischen Museum in Hamburg 12: 83-90

Prendini, L. 2000. Phylogeny and classification of the superfamily Scorpionoidea Latreille, 1802 (Chelicerata, Scorpiones): an exemplar approach. Cladistics 16: 1-78

History of changes

• Cercophonius Peters, W. 1861. Eine neue Eintheilung der Skorpione und über die von ihm in Mossambique gesammelten Arten von Skorpionen, aus welchem hier Auszug mitgetheilt wird. Monatsberichte der Königlichen Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin 1861: 507-516 [509].

  Type species:

   Scorpio (Telegonus) squama Gervais, 1844 by monotypy.
• Acanthochirus Peters, W. 1861. Eine neue Eintheilung der Skorpione und über die von ihm in Mossambique gesammelten Arten von Skorpionen, aus welchem hier Auszug mitgetheilt wird. Monatsberichte der Königlichen Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin 1861: 507-516 [509].

  Type species:

   Acanthochirus testudinarius Peters, 1861 by monotypy.

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Thorell, T. 1877. Études scorpiologiques. Abhandlungen Herausgegeben vom Naturwissenschaftlichen Verein zu Bremen 19: 75-272 [178] (synonymy of Acanthochirus with Cercophonius)

Distribution

States

Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia

IBRA

ACT, NSW, Qld, SA, Tas, Vic, WA: Australian Alps (AA), Avon Wheatbelt (AW), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Ben Lomond (BEL), Broken Hill Complex (BHC), Carnarvon (CAR), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Coolgardie (COO), Central Ranges (CR), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Desert Uplands (DEU), Dampierland (DL), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Esperance Plains (ESP), Eyre Yorke Block (EYB), 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), King (KIN), Little Sandy Desert (LSD), Mallee (MAL), Murray Darling Depression (MDD), Murchison (MUR), Naracoorte Coastal Plain (NCP), 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), Swan Coastal Plain (SWA), Tanami (TAN), Tasmanian Central Highlands (TCH), Tasmanian Northern Midlands (TNM), Tasmanian Northern Slopes (TNS), Tasmanian South East (TSE), Tasmanian Southern Ranges (TSR), Tasmanian West (TWE), Victorian Midlands (VM), Victorian Volcanic Plain (VVP), Warren (WAR), Wet Tropics (WT), Yalgoo (YAL)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

• Australia
  • Australian Capital Territory
  • New South Wales: SE coastal
  • Queensland: NE coastal
  • South Australia: Murray-Darling basin, S Gulfs
  • Tasmania
  • Victoria: Murray-Darling basin, SE coastal
  • Western Australia: NW coastal, SW coastal, W plateau

General References

Acosta, L.E. 1990. El genero Cercophonius Peters, 1861 (Scorpiones, Bothriuridae). Boletín de la Sociedad de Biología de Concepción 61: 7-27 [9] (generic revision)

History of changes

• Cercophonius granulosus Kraepelin, K. 1908. Scorpiones. pp. 87-104 in Michaelsen, W. & Hartmeyer, R. (eds). Die Fauna Südwest-Australiens. Jena : Gustav Fischer Vol. 2. [103].

  Type data:

   Lectotype ZMH ♀, Moonyoonooka, Western Australia, Australia.
  Paralectotype(s) ZMH 2♀, Moonyoonooka, Western Australia, Australia; ZMH 1♀, Geraldton, Western Australia, Australia.

  Subsequent designation references:

  Acosta, L.E. 1990. El genero Cercophonius Peters, 1861 (Scorpiones, Bothriuridae). Boletín de la Sociedad de Biología de Concepción 61: 7-27.

Distribution

States

Western Australia

IBRA

WA: Avon Wheatbelt (AW), Carnarvon (CAR), Esperance Plains (ESP), Gascoyne (GAS), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Jarrah Forest (JF), Mallee (MAL), Murchison (MUR), Pilbara (PIL), Swan Coastal Plain (SWA), Warren (WAR), Yalgoo (YAL)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

• Australia
  • Western Australia: NW coastal, SW coastal

Ecological Descriptors

Predator, terrestrial.

General References

Acosta, L.E. 1990. El genero Cercophonius Peters, 1861 (Scorpiones, Bothriuridae). Boletín de la Sociedad de Biología de Concepción 61: 7-27 [18] (redescription)

History of changes

• Cercophonius kershawi Glauert, L. 1930. New Victorian scorpion. Victorian Naturalist 47: 109 [109].

  Type data:

   Holotype NMV ♀, Ouyen, Victoria, Australia.
  Paratype(s) whereabouts unknown adult, Redcliff, Victoria, Australia.

Distribution

States

South Australia, Victoria

IBRA

SA, Vic: Broken Hill Complex (BHC), Eyre Yorke Block (EYB), Flinders Lofty Block (FLB), Gawler (GAW), Kanmantoo (KAN), Murray Darling Depression (MDD), Riverina (RIV), Victorian Midlands (VM)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

• Australia
  • South Australia: Murray-Darling basin, S Gulfs
  • Victoria: Murray-Darling basin

Ecological Descriptors

Predator, terrestrial.

General References

Acosta, L.E. 1990. El genero Cercophonius Peters, 1861 (Scorpiones, Bothriuridae). Boletín de la Sociedad de Biología de Concepción 61: 7-27 [19] (redescription)

History of changes

• Cercophonius michaelseni Kraepelin, K. 1908. Scorpiones. pp. 87-104 in Michaelsen, W. & Hartmeyer, R. (eds). Die Fauna Südwest-Australiens. Jena : Gustav Fischer Vol. 2. [102].

  Type data:

   Lectotype ZMH ♀, Boorabbin, Western Australia, Australia.
  Paralectotype(s) ZMH 1 juvenile, Boorabbin, Western Australia, Australia; ZMB 15396 1♀, Boorabbin, Western Australia, Australia.

  Subsequent designation references:

  Acosta, L.E. 1990. El genero Cercophonius Peters, 1861 (Scorpiones, Bothriuridae). Boletín de la Sociedad de Biología de Concepción 61: 7-27.

Distribution

States

Western Australia

IBRA

WA: Avon Wheatbelt (AW), Coolgardie (COO), Central Ranges (CR), Dampierland (DL), Esperance Plains (ESP), Gibson Desert (GD), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Great Sandy Desert (GSD), Great Victoria Desert (GVD), Hampton (HAM), Jarrah Forest (JF), Little Sandy Desert (LSD), Mallee (MAL), Murchison (MUR), Nullarbor (NUL), Swan Coastal Plain (SWA), Tanami (TAN), Warren (WAR), Yalgoo (YAL)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

• Australia
  • Western Australia: SW coastal, W plateau

Ecological Descriptors

Predator, terrestrial.

General References

Acosta, L.E. 1990. El genero Cercophonius Peters, 1861 (Scorpiones, Bothriuridae). Boletín de la Sociedad de Biología de Concepción 61: 7-27 [14] (redescription)

History of changes

• Cercophonius queenslandae Acosta, L.E. 1990. El genero Cercophonius Peters, 1861 (Scorpiones, Bothriuridae). Boletín de la Sociedad de Biología de Concepción 61: 7-27 [22].

  Type data:

   Holotype QM 51503 ♀, Lamington National Park, Queensland, Australia.
  Paratype(s) EUQ 1♀, no data; MACN 8393 1♀, Mt Clunie, Queensland/New South Wales (CHECK), Australia.

Distribution

States

New South Wales, Queensland

IBRA

NSW, 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), Sydney Basin (SB), South East Corner (SEC), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Wet Tropics (WT)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

• Australia
  • New South Wales: SE coastal
  • Queensland: NE coastal

Ecological Descriptors

Predator, terrestrial.

History of changes

• Scorpio (Telegonus) squama Gervais, P. 1844. Remarques sur la famille des scorpions et description de plusieurs espèces nouvelles de la collection du Muséum. Archives du Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris 4: 226-240 [227].

  Type data:

   Holotype MNHP ♀ (lost), Tasmania (as 'Van Diemen'), Australia.
• Acanthochirus testudinarius Peters, W. 1861. Eine neue Eintheilung der Skorpione und über die von ihm in Mossambique gesammelten Arten von Skorpionen, aus welchem hier Auszug mitgetheilt wird. Monatsberichte der Königlichen Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin 1861: 507-516 [509].

  Type data:

   Status unknown, ZMB 3♂, Tasmania, Australia (as 'Van Diemensland').

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Thorell, T. 1877. Études scorpiologiques. Abhandlungen Herausgegeben vom Naturwissenschaftlichen Verein zu Bremen 19: 75-272 [180] (synonymy of Acanthochirus testudinarius with Cercophonius squama)

Distribution

States

Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Tasmania, Victoria

IBRA

ACT, NSW, Tas, Vic: Australian Alps (AA), Ben Lomond (BEL), Flinders (FLI), King (KIN), Murray Darling Depression (MDD), Naracoorte Coastal Plain (NCP), NSW North Coast (NNC), Sydney Basin (SB), South East Coastal Plain (SCP), South East Corner (SEC), South Eastern Highlands (SEH), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Tasmanian Central Highlands (TCH), Tasmanian Northern Midlands (TNM), Tasmanian Northern Slopes (TNS), Tasmanian South East (TSE), Tasmanian Southern Ranges (TSR), Tasmanian West (TWE), Victorian Midlands (VM), Victorian Volcanic Plain (VVP)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

• Australia
  • Australian Capital Territory
  • New South Wales: SE coastal
  • Tasmania
  • Victoria: SE coastal

Ecological Descriptors

Predator, terrestrial.

General References

Acosta, L.E. 1990. El genero Cercophonius Peters, 1861 (Scorpiones, Bothriuridae). Boletín de la Sociedad de Biología de Concepción 61: 7-27 [13] (redescription)

History of changes

• Cercophonius sulcatus Kraepelin, K. 1908. Scorpiones. pp. 87-104 in Michaelsen, W. & Hartmeyer, R. (eds). Die Fauna Südwest-Australiens. Jena : Gustav Fischer Vol. 2. [104].

  Type data:

   Lectotype ZMH 1 juvenile, Torbay, Western Australia, Australia.
  Paralectotype(s) ZMH 1♀, Lunenberg, Western Australia, Australia; ZMH 1 juvenile, South Albany, Western Australia, Australia; ZMB 15397 1 juvenile, Collie, Western Australia, Australia; ZMB 15398 2 juveniles, Boyanup, Western Australia, Australia.

  Subsequent designation references:

  Acosta, L.E. 1990. El genero Cercophonius Peters, 1861 (Scorpiones, Bothriuridae). Boletín de la Sociedad de Biología de Concepción 61: 7-27 [18].

Distribution

States

Western Australia

IBRA

WA: Avon Wheatbelt (AW), Coolgardie (COO), Central Ranges (CR), Dampierland (DL), Esperance Plains (ESP), Gibson Desert (GD), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Great Sandy Desert (GSD), Great Victoria Desert (GVD), Hampton (HAM), Jarrah Forest (JF), Little Sandy Desert (LSD), Mallee (MAL), Murchison (MUR), Nullarbor (NUL), Swan Coastal Plain (SWA), Tanami (TAN), Warren (WAR), Yalgoo (YAL)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

• Australia
  • Western Australia: SW coastal, W plateau

Ecological Descriptors

Predator, terrestrial.

General References

Acosta, L.E. 1990. El genero Cercophonius Peters, 1861 (Scorpiones, Bothriuridae). Boletín de la Sociedad de Biología de Concepción 61: 7-27 [18] (redescription)

History of changes