Hadogenes bicolor

Hadogenes bicolor
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Arachnida
Order: Scorpiones
Family: Hemiscorpiidae
Genus: Hadogenes
Species: H. bicolor
Binomial name
Hadogenes bicolor
Purcell, 1899

Hadogenes bicolor is a species of scorpion endemic to South Africa.

Contents

Description

The legs, tail and chelicerae of H. bicolor are paler than the carapace, forming a marked colour contrast.[1]

Distribution and ecology

Hadogenes bicolor is endemic to Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces, South Africa.[1] It lives only in rocky outcrops along the Drakensberg escarpment at altitudes of 1,200–2,000 metres (3,900–6,600 ft). It lives in crevices in dolerite and granite rocks in areas with an annual rainfall of 600–1,100 millimetres (24–43 in).[1]

Taxonomy

Hadogenes bicolor was first described by W. F. Purcell in 1899, based on material collected by the Reverend J. W. Daneel "about twenty miles east of Pietersburg [now Polokwane], Zoutpansberg Distr., Transvaal".[2] The name Hadogenes bicolor has previously been used to cover animals now recognised as three separate species, H. bicolor, H. longimanus and H. newlandsi.[1] Many of the scorpions sold in the pet trade as H. bicolor are actually H. troglodytes.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Lorenzo Prendini (2001). "Two new species of Hadogenes (Scorpiones, Tschnuridae) from South Africa, with a redescription of Hadogenes bicolor and a discussion on the phylogenetic position of Hadogenes" (PDF). Journal of Arachnology 29 (2): 146–172. doi:10.1636/0161-8202(2001)029[0146:TNSOHS]2.0.CO;2. http://www.americanarachnology.org/JoA_free/JoA_v29_n2/arac_29_02_0146.pdf. 
  2. ^ W. F. Purcell (1899). "New South African scorpions in the collection of the South African Museum". Annals of the South African Museum 1: 433–438. http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/title/6928#page/465/mode/1up.