Heterometrus

Black Scorpion Laos

Heterometrus is a genus of the family Scorpionidae within the scorpions ( Scorpiones ). It includes 30 species.

The largest ever discovered Scorpio is a Heterometrus swammerdami. It has a body length of 26 cm and lives on the Indian subcontinent. The Heterometrus species are less toxic; their sting can however be quite painful for the people. They also respond more often with a tinge than the related Pandinus species from Africa, who defend themselves rather with the pedipalps.

Occurrence

The species of the genus Heterometrus are native to the Indian subcontinent and Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia to the Wallace line. They live in the undergrowth of the tropical rain forests, where they are also active during the day as opposed to the scorpions in the arid climate. On the Indian subcontinent, there was the emergence of numerous species. Species and subspecies are usually distinguished by construction and length of the scissors and the pedipalps and the number of trichobothria present on them.

Types (selection)

• Heterometrus longimanus (Fall, 1800 )
• Heterometrus scaber ( Thorell, 1876)
• Heterometrus spinifer ( Ehrenberg, 1828)
• Heterometrus swammerdami Simon, 1872
• Heterometrus xanthopus ( Pocock, 1897)
• Heterometrus fulvipes (C. L. Koch, 1837)
• Heterometrus indus ( Geer, 1778)
• Heterometrus cyaneus (C. L. Koch, 1836)
• Heterometrus laoticus Couzijn, 1981