''Liocheles australasiae'', the dwarf wood scorpion, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

scorpion Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the order Scorpiones. They have eight legs, and are easily recognized by a pair of grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back and always en ...

belonging to the family Hormuridae.

Distribution

This species is present in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, Sri Lanka,

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

Yaeyama Islands The Yaeyama Islands (八重山列島 ''Yaeyama-rettō'', also 八重山諸島 ''Yaeyama-shotō'', Yaeyama: ''Yaima'', Yonaguni: ''Daama'', Okinawan: ''Yeema'', Northern Ryukyuan: ''Yapema'') are an archipelago in the southwest of Okinawa P ...

(Japan), China,

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

, Mariana Islands,

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

, Australia,

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capit ...

, New Caledonia, Fiji,

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); ...

and French Polynesia.

Description

This small scorpion has the total length of 22 to 36 mm. Patella of pedipalps with 3 ventral trichobothria. Body uniformly reddish to yellowish brown. Telson yellow. Median and three lateral pigmented eyes present, which are not troglobitic. Chelicerae are yellowish brown, and reticulated. Carapace without carinae. but punctate and bears a straight median longitudinal groove. There are 4 to 8 pectinal teeth. Metasomal segments are sparsely setose and finely punctate. Pedipalps also covered by granules. Ventrum of pedipalp is punctate. In males, the fingers of chela are conspicuously flexed. Most of the populations are parthenogenetic, where they can produce young without males. In Sri Lanka, three females were discovered from Bentota, Galle, without a male, but all specimens were females or juveniles. Specimens are observed inside a stone wall and under old bark of branches and also in dry leaves and under the flower pots in home garden.

Bibliography

* Yamazaki K, Yahata H, Kobayashi N, Makioka T
Egg maturation and parthenogenetic recovery of diploidy in the scorpion Liocheles australasiae (Fabricius) (Scorpions, ischnuridae).
* TOSHIKI MAKIOK
Reproductive biology of the viviparous scorpion, Liocheles australasiae (Fabricius) (Arachnida, Scorpiones, Ischnuridae) IV. Pregnancy in females isolated from infancy, with notes on juvenile stage duration
* Fabricius, 1775 : Systema entomologiae, sistens insectorum classes, ordines, genera, species, adiectis, synonymis, locis descriptionibus observationibus. Flensburg and Lipsiae. * Monod, 2011 : Taxonomic emendations in the genus Liocheles Sundevall, 1833 (Scorpiones, Liochelidae). Revue Suisse de Zoologie, vol. 118, no 4, p. 723-758.

References

Hormuridae Animals described in 1775 Scorpions of Asia Taxa named by Johan Christian Fabricius Scorpions of Australia {{scorpion-stub

Distribution

Description

Bibliography

See also

References