Lychas C. L. Koch, 1845

Kovařík, František, Lowe, Graeme, Ranawana, Kithsiri B., Hoferek, David & Š, V. A., 2016, Scorpions of Sri Lanka (Scorpiones Buthidae, Chaerilidae, Scorpionidae) with description of four new species of the genera Charmus Karsch, 1879 and Reddyanus Vachon, 1972, stat n, Euscorpius 220, pp. 1-133 : 47-48

Lychas C. L. Koch, 1845

( Figs. 13 , 152–192 , 198 , 251 , 407–408 , 550 )

Lychas C. L. Koch, 1845: 3 (in part), fig. 962, Tab. CCCXCVIII; Tikader & Bastawade, 1983: 40–107, figs. 9 9–285; Kovařík, 1997: 311–371, figs. 1–116, 122–123; Fet & Lowe, 2000: 158–169 (complete reference list until 1998); Kovařík & Ojanguren, 2013: 194–211, 361–378, figs. 1410–1600 (reference and synonymy list until 2013).

= Archisometrus Kraepelin, 1891: 75 (in part);

type species by subsequent designation (L. E. Koch, 1977: 123) Tityus marmoreus C. L. Koch, 1845 (syn. by Pocock, 1900: 35).

= Lychas (Distotrichus) Tikader & Bastawade, 1983: 41–51 , figs. 99–129 (syn. by Vachon, 1986: 848).

= Lychas (Alterotrichus) Tikader & Bastawade, 1983: 52–71 , figs. 130–184) (syn. by Kovařík, 1995: 188).

= Lychas (Endotrichus) Tikader & Bastawade, 1983: 71–107 , figs. 185–285 (syn. by Kovařík, 1995: 188).

TYPE SPECIES. Lychas scutilus C. L. Koch, 1845 .

DIAGNOSIS. Total length 21.8– 90 mm. Sternum type 1, subpentagonal or subtriangular. Pedipalps orthobothriotaxic, type Aβ; patella trichobothrium d 3 external to dorsomedian carina; chela with 3 Eb trichobothria on manus. Cheliceral fixed finger with a single ventral denticle. Third and fourth legs with tibial spurs. Pectines with conspicuous or inconspicuous fulcra, rarely without fulcra. Pectinal teeth number 8–26. Movable fingers of pedipalps with six rows of granules and external and internal granules and apical row represented by 3 or 4 accessory granules. Total number of terminal granules 6 or 7. Carapace in lateral view with entire dorsal surface horizontal, or nearly so. Telson with distinct subaculear tooth. Fifth metasomal segment with carinae.

DISTRIBUTION. Lychas is one of the most widely distributed genera of the family Buthidae , with species present in Africa and Seychelles, and in the Oriental region from India to Melanesia.

Figures

Figures 12–15: Maps showing the known geographical distribution of the Sri Lankan species.

Figures 152–155: Lychas srilankensis from locality 15CJ. Figures 152–153. Male in dorsal (152) and ventral (153) views. Figures 154–155. Female in dorsal (154) and ventral (155) views.

Figures 156–157: Lychas srilankensis, male from locality 15CO in dorsal (156) and ventral (157) views.

Figures 158–165: Lychas srilankensis from locality 15CJ. Figures 158, 160, 162–165. Male, chelicerae, carapace and tergites I–III (158), sternopectinal region and sternite III (160), and distal segments of legs I–IV (162–165), retroventral view. Figures 159, 161. Female, chelicerae, carapace and tergites I–III (159) and sternopectinal region and sternite III (161).

Figures 166–171: Lychas srilankensis from locality 15CJ. Figures 166–168. Male, metasoma and telson, lateral (166), ventral (167), and dorsal (168) views. Figures 169–171. Female, metasoma and telson, lateral (169), ventral (170), and dorsal (171) views.

Figures 172–182: Lychas srilankensis from locality 15CJ. Figures 174–180, 182. Male. Pedipalp chela, dorsal (174), external (175), and ventral (176) views. Pedipalp patella, dorsal (177) and external (178) views. Pedipalp femur and trochanter dorsal (179) view. The trichobothrial pattern is indicated in Figures 175–179. Pedipalp movable finger (180). Complete pedipalp (182). Figures 172–173, 181. Female. Pedipalp chela, dorsal (172) and external (173) views. Complete pedipalp (181).

Figures 183–186: Right hemispermatophore of Lychas srilankensis from locality 15CN (presented as mirror image for comparison to other species). External (183), dorsal (184), internal (185) and ventral (186) views. Extracted after 3rd ecdysis. Hemispermatophores examined from a second male after 4th ecdysis were similar. Scale bar: 500 µm. Abbreviations: bl, basal lobe; f, flagellum; ml, median lobe; mlc, median lobe carina; pr, pars recta of flagellum; prf, pars reflecta of flagellum; t, trunk.

Figures 187–190: Lychas srilankensis. Figures 187. Male after 5th ecdysis at locality 15CJ. Figures 188. Female after 5th ecdysis at locality 15CO. Figures 189. Male after 3rd ecdysis at locality 15CN. Figures 190. Female after 5th ecdysis at locality 15CJ.

Figures 191–192: Lychas srilankensis, female from locality 15CN with newborns before first ecdysis (191), and with juveniles after first ecdysis (192).

Figures 193–200: Distal segments of leg IV, retroventral view of Sri Lankan Buthidae and Chaerilidae genera. Buthoscorpio sarasinorum, male from locality 15CF (193), Charmus laneus, male from locality 15CO (194), Hottentotta tamulus, male from locality 15CK (195), Isometrus maculatus, female from locality 15CI (196), Isometrus thwaitesi, female from locality 15CO (197), Lychas srilankensis, male from locality 15CJ (198), Reddyanus basilicus, male from locality 15CS (199), and Chaerilus ceylonensis, male from locality 15CD (200).

Figures 241–259: Pedipalp chela dorsal (241), movable finger (242–250), and fixed finger (251–259) of Sri Lankan Isometrus, Lychas, and Reddyanus species. Figures 241–242, 252. Isometrus maculatus, female from locality 15CO (241) and male from locality 15CP (242, 252). Figures 243–244, 253. I. thwaitesi, male from locality 15CH (243) and female from locality 15CO (244, 253). Figures 245, 254. Reddyanus basilicus, male from locality 15CS. Figures 246, 255. R. besucheti, male from locality 15CD. Figures 247, 256. R. ceylonensis sp. n., male holotype. Figures 248, 257. R. jayarathnei sp. n., male paratype. Figures 249, 258. R. loebli, male from locality 15CG. Figures 250, 259. R. ranawanai sp. n., male holotype. Figure 251. Lychas srilankensis, male from locality 15CO.

Figures 403–429: Telson, lateral view of Sri Lankan Buthidae and Chaerilidae species. Figures 403–404. Isometrus maculatus, male from locality 15CP (403) and female from locality 15CI (404). Figures 405–406. I. thwaitesi, male from locality 15CH (405) and female from locality 15CO (406). Figures 407–408. Lychas srilankensis, male (407) and female (408) from locality 15CJ. Figures 409–410. Reddyanus basilicus, male (409) and female (410) from locality 15CR. Figures 411–412. R. besucheti, male holotype (411) and female from locality 15CG (412). Figures 413–414. R. ceylonensis sp. n., male holotype (413) and female paratype (414) from locality 15CI. Figures 415–416. R. jayarathnei sp. n., male (415) and female (416) paratypes. Figures 417–418. R. loebli, male (417) and female (418) from locality 15CG. Figures 419–420. R. ranawanai sp. n., male holotype (419) and female paratype (420). Figures 421–422: Buthoscorpio sarasinorum, male from locality 15CF (421) and female from locality 15CG (422). Figures 423–424. Charmus laneus, male (423) and female (424) from locality 15CO. Figures 425–426. Charmus saradieli sp. n. male paratype (425) (MHNG) and female holotype (426). Figurs 427. Hottentotta tamulus, male from locality 15CK (427). Figures 428–429. Chaerilus ceylonensis, male (428) and female (429) from locality 15CD.

Figures 547–554: The mitotic metaphases of buthid males from Sri Lanka. Buthoscorpio sarasinorum from locality 15CF (2n=14) (547), Charmus laneus from locality 15CO (2n=9) (548), Isometrus thwaitesi from locality 15CF (2n=8) (549), Lychas srilankensis from locality 15CN (2n=16) (550), Reddyanus basilicus from locality 15CS (2n=16) (551), Reddyanus basilicus from locality 15CR (2n=15) (552), Reddyanus ceylonensis from locality 15CI (2n=16) (553), Reddyanus loebli from locality 15CH (2n=17) (554). Arrowheads indicate extra large odd chromosomes. Scale bar = 5 µm for 547–554.