Liocheles

Abstract: A new species of ischnurid scorpion is described. Liocheles longimantls has been collected in Oenpelli Caves and in Kakadu National Park, Northern Territory. The scorpion, found near the mouth of the cave and under a log in Kakadu, appears normally pigmented and has apparently normal eyes. The new species is compared with other Liocheles from Australia; a striking difference from these is the much elongated pedipalps. Scorpions are well known to inhabit caves and some show marked adaptations to this habitat. The earliest record of a cave scorpion is that of Belisarius xambeui, described from Conat and the valley of Queillan, eastern Pyrenees, by Simon (1879), who recorded it from under stones, making no mention of caves. This species occurs within and outside caves (Auber 1959), particularly in the interstices between blocks of limestone beneath a covering of leaves and moss. Though Simon stated that Belisarius lacks eyes, Vachon (1944) found that two pairs of reduced lateral eyes are in fact present. The genus Typhlochactas was described by Mitchell (1968) from eyeless troglobitic, i.e. obligate cave dwelling, species from caves in Mexico. Other species of Typhlochactas have since been described both from caves (Mitchell 1972) and from forest litter (Mitchell and Peck 1977, Sissom 1988). Vaejovis gracilis, probably a true troglobite with reduced eyes and slender appendages, was described from Mexico by Gertsch and Soleglad (1972). Francke (1977, 1978) described troglobitic diplocentrid scorpions, also from Mexico. Of these Diplocentrus anophthalmus is eyeless and pale, D. mitchelli has markedly reduced eyes and minimal pigmentation and D. cueva has apparently normal lateral eyes, reduced median eyes and slightly reduced pigmentation. Francke (1982) also described the deepest living cave scorpion yet recorded, Alacran tartarus, from up to 812m from the cave entrance. South America has yielded two species of the buthid genus Tityus from caves in Venezuela (Gonzalez-Sponga 1974). Louren<;:o (1981) described T. demangei from in and outside Los Tayos caves in Ecuador, and also a chactid, Troglotayosicus vachoni, which he regarded as truly troglobitic, from the same caves. The latter species lacks median eyes, but two pairs of lateral eyes are present. Louren<;:o and Francke (1985) review knowledge of cave scorpions up to that time, listing thirteen species with absent or reduced eyes, indications of the troglobitic habit. Eleven of these are from Mexico, with one each from Ecuador and Sarawak; the latter, Chaerilus chapmani (Vachon and Louren<;:o 1985) is the only non-American species. Exploration of the Australian cave fauna has included work on spiders by Main (1969, 1976), Gray (1973a,b) and Main and Gray (1985). Humphreys (1991) and colleagues have studied the fauna of caves in north-western Australia, to which he has led expeditions. These have yielded 54 species of arachnids and 10 of myriapods, including 16 fully troglobitic species, discussed and compared with those from three other Australian karst systems by Harvey et al. (1993). These lists include no scorpions. During a visit to caves at Oenpelli in the Northern Territory, Dr Alice Wells and Ms Jenni Webber found two scorpions, apparently the first from Australian caves, which they sent to the author for examination. One, of the genus Lychas, will be described in a separate paper. The other, the subject of the present paper, belongs to the genus Liocheles. A second specimen of the latter has since been collected by G.Wallis from under decaying bark in Kakadu National Park.

Abstract: The present communication deals with the first record of scorpion Liocheles nigripes Pocock, 1897 from Andhra Pradesh and also provides an updated checklist of the scorpion fauna of the state based on literature review.

Abstract: Since describing Liocheles Iongimanus Locket, 1995, I have become aware that the name Iongimanus was given to a subspecies of L. australasiae (Fabricius) by Werner (1939), thus causing a nomenclatural problem. Werner (1939) named his new subspecies Hormurus australasiae Iongimanus, which has not been subsequently mentioned in the taxonomic literature, nor formally transferred to the genus Liocheles (Or V. Fet, personal communication), of which Hormurus is now accepted as a junior synonym (e.g., Koch 1977). Therefore, I here transfer Werner's subspecies to the genus LiocheIes: Liocheles australasiae Iongimanus (Werner, 1939), comb. novo LiocheIes Iongimanus Locket, 1995, is therefore a junior secondary homonym of LiocheIes australasiae longimanus (Werner, 1939) and thus requires a replacement name, for which I propose Liocheles extensa nom. novo To establish the identity of LiocheIes australasiae Iongimanus (Werner), I have now examined Werner's types, which came from Montes Battak, Sumatra and are now in the collection of the Zoologisches Forschungsinstitut und Museum Koenig, Bonn. Specimen 110 from that museum is female and 111, male; the latter has been compared with the two specimens, both male, of L. extensa from the Northern Territory. It is plain on inspection that the N.T. specimens have much more elongate pedipalps than Werner's specimen, and measurements of proportions confirm this. In Werner's No. 111 LjW of patella and hand are 2.14 and 3.63 respectively, compared with 2.73, 2.77 and 4.85, 5.0 for the two N.T. specimens. Though Werner's No. 111 is male, examination of the hemispermatophore was not possible, the specimen having been pinned dry originally. The two forms are clearly distinct and it is not necessary to synonymise them. Werner's L. australasiae Iongimanus may be a valid subspecies of L. australasiae, but the present material is not sufficient to determine this for certain.