Lychas C. L. Koch 1845
Creators: name: Kovařík, FrantIšek
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Scorpiones
Buthidae
Lychas

description: Genus Lychas C. L. Koch, 1845
(Figures 1–42, Table 1)
Lychas (in part) C. L. Koch, 1845: 3; Tikader & Bastawade, 1983: 40–107, figs. 99–184, 216–239, 256–285; Fet & Lowe, 2000: 158–169 (complete references list until 2000); Kovařík & Ojanguren Affilastro, 2013: 194–210, figs. 1410–1414, 1419–1423, 1434–1436, 1439–1449, 1471–1498, 1509–1555, 1562–1592; Kovařík, 2019: 3–6, figs. 1–9, 13, 18 –36, 46–65, 75–94 (complete list of synonyms).
TYPE SPECIES. Lychas scutilus C. L. Koch, 1845.
DIAGNOSIS. Total length 20 mm (L. rugosus) – 105 mm (L. brehieri). Carapace granular, lacking distinct carinae, flat, subrectangular with concave anterior margin. Median eyes on ocular tubercle in anterior half of carapace; usually with 4, or sometimes 5 pairs of lateral eyes (3 major ocelli, 1–2 minor ocelli). Sternum type 1, triangular in shape. Tergites I–VI granular, with single median carina, tergite VII with 5 carinae. Metasoma elongate, segment I with 10 carinae, II–IV with 8–10 carinae, lateral median carina can be lacking. Telson ellipsoidal in shape, with distinct subaculear tooth. Pectinal tooth counts 8–26. Pectines with conspicuous or inconspicuous fulcra, rarely without fulcra. Chelicerae with typical buthid dentition, fiXed finger armed with single denticle on ventral surface.
Pedipalps orthobothriotaXic, type Aβ, femur trichobothrium d 2 obviously internal, patella d 3 eXternal to dorsomedian carina. Dentate margins of chela movable finger armed with 3 terminal (two subterminal and one distal) denticles, apical row composed of 3–7 denticles, and imbricated overlapping siX rows of denticles, rows 1–5 terminated proXimally flanked by two enlarged outer accessory denticles, and single inner accessory denticle displaced distally. SiXth row with one to four isolated outer accessory denticles midway along its length, no inner accessory denticles. Reduced to moderate tibial spurs present on leg III and leg IV, tibia and tarsus without bristle combs, ventral surfaces of tarsomeres II densely equipped with two rows of setae, ungues stout.
SUBORDINATE TAXA. For a list of taXa described until 2019, of which 32 are cited as valid, see Kovařík (2019: 3–4).
Lourenço (2020) described Lychas kotao from Thailand (Ko Tao Island) and differentiated it from Lychas mucronatus (Fabricius, 1798) from Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam according to three characters: (i) a paler general coloration pattern, and in special a quite distribution of the variegated spots on the chelicerae (this vague definition is not supported by any studies and it is in contradiction with my study of hundreds of specimens, which shows this character varying intraspecifically); (ii) pectines smaller and shorter in size with a slightly number of teeth (another definition lacking substance; in reality, the holotype female of Lychas kotao has 19–20 pectinal teeth and Lychas mucronatus has 16–25 teeth in both seXes (Kovařík & Ojanguren Affilastro, 2013: 205)); (iii) some distinct morphometric values (no specifics are given; in reality, the table published by Lourenço (2020: 60) shows no values out of the range of intraspecific variability for Lychas mucronatus). The inevitable conclusion is that Lychas kotao Lourenço, 2020 is a junior synonym of Lychas mucronatus (Fabricius, 1798), syn. n.
description: Published as part of Kovařík, FrantIšek, 2023, Lychas jakli sp n (Scorpiones: Buthidae) from Indonesia, pp. 1-8 in Euscorpius 367 on pages 1-3, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.7616702