Karyotype evolution and preliminary molecular assessment of genera in the family Scorpiopidae

 

I have stolen the title in this post from the latest article from Frantisek Stahlavsky and co-workers of the moelcular genetics and phylogeny of the family Scorpiopidae. As previously mentioned, I'm not very good at molecular genetics and I leave it up to you readers to checkout this paper to learn more about the details of the results.

The main findings of the article is that their results support the monophyly of the family Scorpiopidae, but most genera were recovered as para- or polyphyletic. This makes the authors questioning the utility of the morphological characteristics currently used in scorpion taxonomy for generic delimitation in this family. I guess these results are the basis for the Scorpiopidae revision published in November by Kovarik et al.

Abstract:
The scorpions represent an ancient and morphologically conserved order of arachnids. Despite that, their karyotypes may differ considerably even among closely related species. In this study, we identify the trends of the karyotype evolution in the family Scorpiopidae based on integrating cytogenetic data and multi-locus molecular phylogenetic approaches. We detected considerable variability in diploid numbers of chromosomes (from 48 to 147), 18S rRNA gene cluster positions (from terminal to pericentromeric) at the interspecific level. Moreover, we identified independent fusions, fissions and inversions in the evolution of the family Scorpiopidae, leading to a remarkable diversification of the karyotypes. The dynamic system of the karyotype changes in this group is further documented by the presence of interstitial telomeric sequences (ITS) in two species. The cytogenetic differences observed among the analyzed species highlight the potential of this type of data for species-level taxonomy in scorpion lineages with monocentric chromosomes. Additionally, the results of our phylogenetic analyses support the monophyly of the family Scorpiopidae, but rendered several genera para- or polyphyletic.

Reference:
Stahlavsky F, Kovarik F, Stockmann M, Opatova V. Karyotype evolution and preliminary molecular assessment of genera in the family Scorpiopidae (Arachnida: Scorpiones). Zoology. 2021;144:125882. [Subscription required for full text]

Thanks to Frantisek Kovarik for sending me their article!

Family Scorpiopidae

A new species of Euscorpius from Bulgaria

 

The unravelling of Europe's hidden Euscorpius species is continuing. Frantisek Kovarik and co-workers have recently described a new species of Euscorpius Thorell, 1876 (Euscorpiidae) from Bulgaria.

Euscorpius thracicus Kovarik, Lowe, Byronova & Stahlavsky, 2020*

Abstract:
Euscorpius thracicus sp. n. from eastern Bulgaria is described, fully complemented with color photographs of both live and preserved specimens, as well as their habitats. This species is described based on morphology and the cytochrome oxidase I (COI) DNA barcoding marker. In addition to the analyses of external morphology and hemispermatophore, we also describe the karyotype of E. thracicus sp. n. (2n=92).

References:
Kovarik F, Lowe G, Byronova M, Stahlavsky F. Euscorpius thracicus sp. n. (Scorpiones: Euscorpiidae) from Bulgaria. Euscorpius. 2020(326):1-17. [Open Access]

Family Euscorpiidae

An extensive study on foraging and prey capture in Centruroides vittaus

 

In my forthcomming posts I will try to present many studies published in November and December that I never got time to blog about. 

C. N. McReynolds published an extensive study on prey capture and foraging in the buthid Centruroides vittatus  (Say, 1821) in South Texas in November. The study looked on how the taxa of prey captured by this scorpion changed with size of the scorpion and the season of the year. The main conclusion is that the taxa of prey captured by C. vittatus do change with size of the scorpion and the season of the year. This paper has a lot of information and data on foraging in this species and I refer to the abstract and article for further details.

Abstract:
Diet and foraging success of the striped bark scorpion, Centruroides vittatus, in South Texas are influenced by both scorpion size and season of the year. In the ten-year study of the striped bark scorpions in the blackbrush habitat of south Texas, the diet was variable with caterpillars (Lepidoptera) as the main prey for all seasons and all size classes of scorpions. The proportion of caterpillars did vary significantly with size class of scorpion and months of the year with intermediate size scorpions capturing more caterpillars during January–April than other size classes or months of the year. The proportion of orthopteran and intraguild prey was higher during September-December and for large scorpions. The height of scorpions was significantly different among prey types and scorpion size classes or prey types and months of the year. The median height of scorpions with caterpillar prey was significantly higher than scorpions with orthopteran or intraguild prey. The intermediate size scorpions with caterpillar prey and scorpions with caterpillar during January–April were higher in vegetation than scorpions with other prey, other size classes and/or months of the year. The foraging success of scorpions varied significantly with size class and month of the year. The highest foraging success was the intermediate size scorpions during January–April and the lowest was the large scorpions during January–April. However, the larger scorpions had the second highest foraging success during September–December. These results suggest that C. vittatus use both active search and ambush (sit-and-wait) foraging methods. The intermediate size scorpions capture more caterpillars than other size classes of scorpions by actively foraging in vegetation especially during January-April. The larger scorpions do not appear to interfere with the foraging success of intermediate or smaller scorpions even though cannibalism is observed.

References:
McReynolds CN. Effect of seasons and scorpion size on the foraging and diet of the striped bark scorpion, Centruroides vittatus (Buthidae: Scorpiones) in blackbrush habitat of south Texas. Euscorpius. 2020(323):1-16. [Free full text]

Season Greetings from The Scorpion Files

 

Season Greetings to all scorpion enthusiasts around the world from the author anno 1987. Due to the Corona epidemic, home office and an increased workload there have been few posts in the last moths. I hope to get back to a normal post frequency in 2021.

Please stay safe and enjoy the holiday!

Jan Ove Rein

The Scorpion Files

Restoration of the family Scorpiopidae with a major revision of genera and species

 

Subfamily Scorpiopinae has been placed under family Euscorpiidae for many years, but in the last years an increasingly number of authors have treated this subfamily as a family. Frantisek Kovarik and co workers have now published a major revision of the genera and species in this family. The status of Scorpiopidae is not yet clarified, but Kovarik et al. have chosen to use the family group name here only to be consistent with its most recent usage in the literature. I have come to the same decision and Scorpiopidae Kraepelin, 1905 is now restored to family status in The scorpion Files.

These are the major taxonomical deccisions in this article.

The following genera are synonymized with Scorpiops Peters, 1861:

Alloscorpiops Vachon, 1980

Dasyscorpiops Vachon, 1974

Euscorpiops Vachon, 1980

Neoscorpiops Vachon, 1980

Plethoscorpiops Lourenço, 2017

Vietscorpiops Lourenço & Pham, 2015

All valid species in these genera are transferred to Scorpiops.

New species:

Scorpiops bastawadei Kovarik, Lowe, Stockmann & Stahlwasky, 2020 (Thailand)

Scorpiops birulai Kovarik, Lowe, Stockmann & Stahlwasky, 2020 (Thailand)

Scorpiops ciki Kovarik, Lowe, Stockmann & Stahlwasky, 2020 (Myanmar)

Scorpiops dii Kovarik, Lowe, Stockmann & Stahlwasky, 2020 (Thailand)

Scorpiops dunlopi Kovarik, Lowe, Stockmann & Stahlwasky, 2020 (Thailand)

Scorpiops kautti Kovarik, Lowe, Stockmann & Stahlwasky, 2020 (Thailand)

Scorpiops krabiensis Kovarik, Lowe, Stockmann & Stahlwasky, 2020 (Thailand)

Scorpiops pakseensis Kovarik, Lowe, Stockmann & Stahlwasky, 2020 (Laos)

Scorpiops phatoensis Kovarik, Lowe, Stockmann & Stahlwasky, 2020 (Thailand)

Scorpiops prasiti Kovarik, Lowe, Stockmann & Stahlwasky, 2020 (Thailand)

Scorpiops scheibeae Kovarik, Lowe, Stockmann & Stahlwasky, 2020 (Thailand)

Scorpiops schumacheri Kovarik, Lowe, Stockmann & Stahlwasky, 2020 (Thailand)

Scorpiops sherwoodae Kovarik, Lowe, Stockmann & Stahlwasky, 2020 (Thailand)

Scorpiops solegladi Kovarik, Lowe, Stockmann & Stahlwasky, 2020 (Vietnam)

Scorpiops thailandus Kovarik, Lowe, Stockmann & Stahlwasky, 2020 (Thailand)

Species synonymization:

Scorpiops (Vietscorpiops) dentidactylus Lourenço & Pham, 2015 is synonymized with Scorpiops farkaci Kovařík, 1993.

Euscorpiops karschi Lourenço, Zhu & Qi, 2005 is synonymized with Scorpiops novaki (Kovařík, 2005).

Scorpiops atomatus Qi, Zhu & Lourenço, 2005 is synonymized with Scorpiops tibetanus Hirst, 1911.

Scorpiops pococki Zhu, Qi & Lourenço, 2005 is synonymized with Scorpiops tibetanus Hirst, 1911.

Euscorpiops validus Di et al., 2010 is synonymized with Scorpiops vachoni (Zhu et al., 2005).

The article has numerous color pictures and distribution maps for all species.

Abstract:
The scorpiopids comprise a large scorpion family, distributed widely across the Oriental region, that currently encompasses 85 species placed under 8 genera and one subgenus. A variety of morphological characters have been used in the diagnoses of these genera or subgenera. Some characters were introduced by Vachon (1980) and Soleglad & Sissom (2001) when less than a few dozen species were known, while other more recent characters have not been fully evaluated. We critically review all characters that have been applied to generic or subgeneric taxonomy of the family, as well as several others hitherto neglected. We analyze their variation in the context of currently known species, including new species described herein. They are: 1) placement of trichobothrium Eb3 with respect to Db and Dt on the pedipalp chela manus; 2) annular ring on the telson, at juncture between vesicle and aculeus; 3) alignment of trichobothria db and eb on the chela fixed finger; 4) neobothriotaxy on ventral chela manus; 5) number of inner accessory denticles (IAD) on pedipalp chela movable finger; 6) neobothriotaxy on external surface of pedipalp patella; 7) neobothriotaxy on ventral surface of pedipalp patella; 8) apophysis on movable finger of pedipalp chela; 9) sexual dimorphism; 10) number and size of lateral eyes; 11) spination of leg tarsus; 12) pectine morphology; and 13) hemispermatophore morphology. Genera Alloscorpiops Vachon, 1980, Dasyscorpiops Vachon, 1974, Euscorpiops Vachon, 1980, Neoscorpiops Vachon, 1980, Plethoscorpiops Lourenço, 2017, and Vietscorpiops Lourenço & Pham, 2015, and subgenus Alloscorpiops (Laoscorpiops) Lourenço, 2013, are all synonymized under Scorpiops Peters, 1861, syn. n. We describe 15 new species from Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam: Scorpiops bastawadei sp. n., S. birulai sp. n., S. ciki sp. n., S. dii sp. n., S. dunlopi sp. n., S. kautti sp. n., S. krabiensis sp. n., S. pakseensis sp. n., S. phatoensis sp. n., S. prasiti sp. n., S. scheibeae sp. n., S. schumacheri sp. n., S. sherwoodae sp. n., S. solegladi sp. n., and S. thailandus sp. n. Descriptions are complemented with color photographs of both live and preserved specimens, as well as their habitats. In addition to analysis of morphology, we also summarize known data about the cytogenetic characteristics of the Scorpiopidae. Moreover, we supplement this information with the karyograms of 16 species whose karyotypes were previously described without direct visualization. New synonymies proposed at the species level are: Scorpiops (Vietscorpiops) dentidactylus Lourenço & Pham, 2015 = Scorpiops farkaci Kovařík, 1993, syn. n.; Euscorpiops karschi Lourenço, Zhu & Qi, 2005 = Scorpiops novaki (Kovařík, 2005), comb. n., syn. n.; Scorpiops atomatus Qi, Zhu & Lourenço, 2005 = Scorpiops tibetanus Hirst, 1911, syn. n.; Scorpiops pococki Zhu, Qi & Lourenço, 2005 = Scorpiops tibetanus Hirst, 1911, syn. n.; Euscorpiops validus Di et al., 2010 = Scorpiops vachoni (Zhu et al., 2005), comb. n., syn. n. A distribution map of Scorpiopidae (95 species) is included.

Reference:
Kovarik F, Lowe G, Stockmann M, Stahlavsky F. Revision of genus-group taxa in the family Scorpiopidae Kraepelin, 1905, with description of 15 new species (Arachnida: Scorpiones). Euscorpius. 2020(325):1-140. [Open Access]

Family Scorpiopidae

 

 

A new species of Pandinurus from Somaliland and a couple of restored species from synonymization

 Frantisek Kovarik and co-workers recently published an article with the description of a new species of Pandinurus Fet, 1997 (Scorpionidae) from Somaliland.

Pandinurus awalei Kovarik, Lowe & Elmi, 2020

The authors also discuss a couple of the synonymizations done by Prendini & Loria (2020) in their recent revision of parts of the family Scorpionidae. Their conclusion is that Pandinurus intermedius (Borelli, 1919) is restored from synonymy with Pandinurus citernii (Borelli, 1919) and Pandipalpus lowei (Kovařík, 2012) is restored from synonymy with Pandipalpus viatoris (Pocock, 1890).

Abstract:
A new species Pandinurus awalei sp. n. is described from Somaliland. The male of Pandiborellius somalilandus (Kovařík, 2012) is also described for the first time and sexual dimorphism of the species is defined. The habitus, morphology and habitats of both species are illustrated in detail with color and UV fluorescence images, including both live and preserved specimens. The species Pandinurus intermedius (Borelli, 1919) and Pandipalpus lowei (Kovařík, 2012) of Pandininae that were synonymized by Prendini & Loria (2020) are reinstated as valid species.

Reference:
Kovarik F, Lowe G, Elmi HSA. Scorpions of the Horn of Africa (Arachnida: Scorpiones). Part XXV. Description of Pandinurus awalei sp. n. and the male of Pandiborellius somalilandus (Kovařík, 2012), with remarks on recent synonymies (Scorpionidae: Pandininae). Euscorpius. 2020(322):1-21. [Open Access]

Family Scorpionidae

 

Systematic revision of the Asian Forest Scorpions (Heterometrinae simon, 1879) with many taxonomical changes in the family Scorpionidae

 

As I posted in a previous blog post, Lorenzo Prendini and Stephanie Loria published a huge systematic revision of the Asian Forest Scorpions (Heterometrinae Simon, 1879) in October. This revision is mainly focused on the genus Heterometrus Ehrenberg, 1828  which is split into several new genera, but has also taxonomical decisions for other taxa in Scorpionidae.

Here are some of the main higlights from this impressive work.

Rugodentidae Bastawade et al., 2005 is raised to family status (from subfamily status) including the genus Rugodentus Bastawade et al., 2005.

Pandinopsis Vachon, 1974. Raised to genus status.

Pandipalpus Rossi, 2015. Raised to family status.


Chersonesometrus Couzijn, 1978. Raised to genus status.

Chersonesometrus bastawadei Prendini & Loria, 2020. New species from India.

Chersonesometrus hendersoni Prendini & Loria, 2020. New species from India.

Chersonesometrus nathanorum Prendini & Loria, 2020. New species from India.

Chersonesometrus shivashankari Prendini & Loria, 2020. New species from India.

Deccanometrus Prendini & Loria, 2020. New genus.

Deccanometrus obscurus (Couzijn, 1981). Raised to species status.


Gigantometrus Couzijn, 1978. Raised to genus status.

Javanimetrus Couzijn, 1981. Raised to genus status.

Sahyadrimetrus Prendini & Loria, 2020. New genus.

Sahyadrimetrus mathewi Prendini & Loria, 2020. New species from India.

Sahyadrimetrus rugosus (Couzijn, 1981). Raised to species status.

Sahyadrimetrus tikaderi Prendini & Loria, 2020. New species from India.

Srilankametrus Couzijn, 1981. Raised to genus status.

Srilankametrus couzijni Prendini & Loria, 2020. New species from India.

Srilankametrus pococki Prendini & Loria, 2020. New species from Sri Lanka.

There are also several new combinations (species transferred from Heterometrus to one of the new genera) and synonymizations for many species in this article. I will refer to the abstract and appendix 4 (p. 479) in the article for a list of these as it will be too extensive  to list all of these here. Also check out the Scorpionidae family page to see the alle the new taxa and their content.

The article has several identification key for the relevant taxa in Scorpionidae.

Abstract:
[Due to lack of time I have omitted italics for species and genus names as this had to be done manually]
The genera and species of the Asian forest scorpions (Scorpionidae Latreille, 1802) are revised  based on a phylogenetic analysis of 186 morphological characters and 4188 base pairs of concatenated DNA sequence from three mitochondrial loci and two nuclear loci. Revision of the Asian  scorpionids required a critical reappraisal of the suprageneric classification of Scorpionidae, on  the basis of which the monotypic Indian scorpionoid genus, Rugodentus Bastawade et al., 2005, stat.  rev., and its type species, Rugodentus keralaensis Bastawade et al., 2005, stat. rev., are  revalidated, and subfamily Rugodentinae Bastawade et al., 2005, revalidated and elevated to the  rank of fam- ily, Rugodentidae Bastawade et al., 2005, stat. nov. et stat. rev.; Heterometrinae  Simon, 1879, stat. nov., and Opistophthalminae Rossi, 2016, stat. nov., are elevated to the rank of  subfamily; Pandi­ nopsis Vachon, 1974, stat. nov., and Pandipalpus Rossi, 2015, stat. nov., are  elevated to the rank of genus, resulting in two new combinations: Pandinopsis dictator (Pocock,  1888), comb. nov., and Pandipalpus viatoris (Pocock, 1890), comb. nov.; and 10 new synonyms are  presented: Pandinopsini Rossi, 2016 = Pandininae Thorell, 1876, syn. nov.; Protophthalmini Rossi,  2016 = Opistoph- thalminae Rossi, 2016, syn. nov.; Protophthalmus Lawrence, 1969 = Opistophthalmus  C.L. Koch, 1837, syn. nov.; Pandinoides (Dunlopandinoides) Rossi, 2016 = Pandinoides Fet, 2000,  syn. nov.; Pandinurus (Pandicaporiaccous) Rossi, 2015 = Pandiborellius Rossi, 2015, syn. nov.;  Buthus defensor C.L. Koch, 1837 = Pandinurus gregoryi (Pocock, 1896), syn. nov.; Buthus heros C.L. Koch, 1837 = Pandinurus exitialis (Pocock, 1888), syn. nov.; Pandinus lowei Kovařík, 2012 = Pandipalpus viatoris  (Pocock, 1890), syn. nov.; Pandinurus (Pandipalpus) pygmaeus Rossi, 2015 = Pandipalpus viatoris  (Pocock, 1890), syn. nov.; Pandinus intermedius Borelli, 1919 = Pandinurus citernii (Borelli,  1919), syn. nov. The following revisions are implemented to the classification of the Asian forest scorpions (Heterometrinae). Three former subgenera of Heterometrus Ehrenberg, 1828 are revalidated  and elevated to the rank of genus: Chersonesometrus Couzijn, 1978, stat. nov. et stat. rev.;  Javanimetrus Couzijn, 1981, stat. nov. et stat. rev.; and Srilankametrus Couzijn, 1981, stat. nov.  et stat. rev. One subgenus is elevated to the rank of genus: Gigantometrus Couzijn, 1978, stat.  nov. Two new genera and eight new species are described: Deccanometrus, gen. nov.; Sahyadrimetrus,  gen. nov.; Cher­ sonesometrus bastawadei, sp. nov.; Chersonesometrus hendersoni, sp. nov.;  Chersonesometrus natha­ norum, sp. nov.; Chersonesometrus shivashankari, sp. nov.; Sahyadrimetrus mathewi, gen. et sp. nov.; Sahyadrimetrus tikaderi, gen. et sp. nov.; Srilankametrus couzijni, sp.  nov.; Srilankametrus pococki, sp. nov. Heterometrus sensu stricto is restricted to eight species of  the nominotypical subgenus, all other species, formerly placed in Heterometrus, are transferred to  appropriate genera, five species are revalidated, and two subspecies elevated to the rank of  species, resulting in 28 new combinations: Chersonesometrus beccaloniae (Kovařík, 2004), comb.  nov.; Chersonesometrus fulvipes (C.L. Koch, 1837), comb. nov.; Chersonesometrus madraspatensis  (Pocock, 1900), comb. nov.; Chersonesometrus pelekomanus (Couzijn, 1981), comb. nov. et stat. rev.;  Chersonesometrus tristis (Henderson, 1919), comb. nov.; Chersonesometrus wroughtoni (Pocock, 1899),  comb. nov.; Deccanometrus bengalensis (C.L. Koch, 1841), comb. nov.; Deccanometrus latimanus  (Pocock, 1894), comb. nov.; Deccanometrus liurus (Pocock, 1897), comb. nov.; Deccanometrus obscurus  (Couzijn, 1981), comb. et stat. nov.; Dec­ canometrus phipsoni (Pocock, 1893), comb. nov.;  Deccanometrus ubicki (Kovařík, 2004), comb. nov.; Deccanometrus xanthopus (Pocock, 1897), comb.  nov.; Gigantometrus swammerdami (Simon, 1872), comb. nov.; Gigantometrus titanicus (Couzijn, 1981),  comb. nov. et stat. rev.; Heterometrus glaucus (Thorell, 1876), comb. nov. et stat. rev.;  Heterometrus laevigatus (Thorell, 1876), comb. nov. et stat. rev.; Heterometrus silenus (Simon,  1884), comb. nov. et stat. rev.; Javanimetrus cyaneus (C.L. Koch, 1836), comb. nov.; Sahyadrimetrus  barberi (Pocock, 1900), comb. nov.; Sahyadrimetrus kanarensis (Pocock, 1900), comb. nov.;  Sahyadrimetrus rugosus (Couzijn, 1981), comb. et stat. nov.; Sahyadrime­ trus scaber (Thorell,  1876), comb. nov.; Srilankametrus caesar (C.L. Koch, 1841), comb. nov. et stat. rev.;  Srilankametrus gravimanus (Pocock, 1894), comb. nov.; Srilankametrus indus (DeGeer, 1778), comb. nov.; Srilankametrus serratus (Pocock, 1900), comb. nov; Srilankametrus yaleensis (Kovařík et al., 2019), comb. nov. Twenty-seven new synonyms are presented: Scorpio leioderma Dufour, 856 = Sahyadrimetrus scaber (Thorell, 1876), syn. nov.; Palamnaeus costimanus var. β borneensis Thorell, 1876 = Heterometrus longimanus (Herbst, 1800), syn. nov.; Palamnaeus liophysa Thorell, 1888 = Heterometrus longimanus (Herbst, 1800), syn. nov.; Palamnaeus oatesii Pocock, 1900 = Heterometrus petersii (Thorell, 1876), syn. nov.; Palamnaeus swammerdami flavimanus Pocock, 1900 = Gigantometrus swammerdami (Simon, 1872), syn. nov.; Heterometrus liophysa var. madoerensis Kopstein, 1921 = Heterometrus glaucus (Thorell, 1876), syn. nov.; Heterometrus laevifrons Roewer, 1943 = Heterometrus glaucus (Thorell, 1876), syn. nov.; Heterometrus (Chersonesometrus) granulomanus Couzijn, 1981 = Srilankametrus caesar (C.L. Koch, 1841), syn. nov.; Heterometrus (Heterometrus) liophysa separatus Couzijn, 1981 = Heterometrus glaucus (Thorell, 1876), syn. nov.; Heterometrus (Heterometrus) liophysa spartanicus Couzijn, 1981 = Heterometrus glaucus (Thorell, 1876), syn. nov.; Heterometrus (Heterometrus) longimanus bengkalitensis Couzijn, 1981 = Heterometrus longimanus (Herbst, 1800), syn. nov.; Heterometrus (Heterometrus) longimanus marmoratus Couzijn, 1981 = Heterometrus longimanus (Herbst, 1800), syn. nov.; Heterometrus (Heterometrus) petersii mindanaensis Couzijn, 1981 = Heterometrus silenus (Simon, 1884), syn. nov.; Heterometrus (Heterometrus) spinifer solitarius Couzijn, 1981 = Heterometrus spinifer (Ehrenberg, 1828), syn. nov.; Heterometrus (Srilankametrus) indus laevitensus Couzijn, 1981 = Srilankametrus indus (DeGeer, 1778), syn. nov.; Heterometrus (Heterometrus) keralaensis Tikader and Bastawade, 1983 = Sahyadrimetrus rugosus (Couzijn, 1981), syn. nov.; Heterometrus cimrmani Kovařík, 2004 = Heterometrus laevigatus (Thorell, 1876), syn. nov.; Heterometrus mysorensis Kovařík, 2004 = Chersonesometrus tristis (Henderson, 1919), syn. nov.; Heterometrus nepalensis Kovařík, 2004 = Deccanometrus bengalensis (Pocock, 1900), syn. nov.; Heterometrus rolciki Kovařík, 2004 = Sahyadrimetrus scaber (Thorell, 1876), syn. nov.; Heterometrus sejnai Kovařík, 2004 = Javanimetrus cyaneus (C.L. Koch, 1836), syn. nov.; Heterometrus tibetanus Lourenço et al., 2005 = Deccanometrus bengalensis (Pocock, 1900), syn. nov.; Heterometrus liangi Zhu and Yang, 2007 = Heterometrus silenus (Simon, 1884), syn. nov.; Heterometrus telanganaensis Javed et al., 2010 = Deccanometrus xanthopus (Pocock, 1897), syn. nov.; Heterometrus atrascorpius Mirza et al., 2012 = Chersonesometrus beccaloniae (Kovařík, 2004), syn. nov.; Heterometrus minotaurus Plíšková et al., 2016 = Heterometrus laevigatus (Thorell, 1876), syn. nov.; Heterometrus bastawadei Rossi, 2016 = Rugodentus keralaensis Bastawade et al., 2005, syn. nov. Another 25 synonyms by previous authors are confirmed, for a total of 51 synonyms in subfamily Heterometrinae. Revised diagnoses with comparative images, and a key and distributional atlas of the genera and species are provided, along with a summary of available data for their ecology and conservation status, where applicable.

Reference:
Prendini L, Loria SF. Systematic revision of the Asian Forest Scorpions (Heterometrinae simon, 1879), revised suprageneric classification of Scorpionidae latreille, 1802, and revalidation of Rugodentidae Bastawade et al., 2005. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 2020(442):1-480. [Open Access]

Thanks to Gerard Dupre for sending me this article.

Family Scorpionidae