Heterometrus liurus ( Pocock, 1897 )

Kovařík, František, 2004, A review of the genus Heterometrus Ehrenberg, 1828, with descriptions of seven new species (Scorpiones, Scorpionidae), Euscorpius 15 (15), pp. 1-60 : 23-25

Heterometrus liurus ( Pocock, 1897)

( Fig. 18 )

Palamnaeus liurus Pocock, 1897: 114 ; Pocock, 1900: 91.

Heterometrus liurus : Kraepelin, 1899: 115; Roewer, 1929: 613;? Fage, 1936: 181; Roewer, 1943: 228; Fage, 1944: 71; Takashima, 1945: 93; Minnocci, 1974: 38; Kovařík, 2002: 20.

Heterometrus (Chersonesometrus) liurus : Couzijn, 1981: 153; Tikader & Bastawade, 1983: 604; Kovařík, 1998: 136; Fet, 2000: 442.

TYPE LOCALITY AND TYPE REPOSITORY. Gwalior , Central India ; BMNH.

TYPE MATERIAL EXAMINED. India, Gwalior (Dane), 1♀ (lectotype) , 2♀ 1im. (paralectotypes), BMNH No. 1896.12.15.20-25, No. 995 (lectotype) and 992, 994, and 987 (paralectotypes).

DIAGNOSIS. Adults less than 80 mm long. Color uniformly reddish brown, legs and telson yellow to yellowish or reddish brown, always lighter colored than body. Pectinal teeth number 10–14. Chela slightly lobiform, hirsute, its length to width ratio 2.2–2.5. Dorsal surface of pedipalp manus without carinae, with large, rounded granules of uneven size, some of which may merge. Patella of pedipalp without conspicuous internal tubercle. Carapace smooth and glossy, on margins sometimes sparsely granulose and anteriorly tuberculate. Third and fourth leg spine formula 4–5:5–6. Telson hirsute, bulbous, with vesicle markedly longer than aculeus. Genital operculum large, approximately as wide as long.

COMMENTS. Couzijn (1981: 153) designated the female lectotype as „hololectotype“ and the male paralectotype as „ allolectotype “. Those designation are brought into compliance with the Code.

DISTRIBUTION. India: Madhya Pradesh ( Pocock, 1897: 114). The record for Sri Lanka ( Roewer, 1943: 228) was a mistaken determination (see Kovařík, 2002: 20).

Figures

Figure 18: Heterometrus liurus, dorsal view, female paralectotype.