Urodacus yaschenkoi
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Urodacus yaschenkoi | |
|---|---|
_Figure_64_(cropped).jpg) | |
| Here shows a hypotype of a young female and an adult male | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Scorpiones |
| Family: | Urodacidae |
| Genus: | Urodacus |
| Species: | U. yaschenkoi |
| Binomial name | |
| Urodacus yaschenkoi (Brooke, 1903) | |
Urodacus yaschenkoi, also known as the inland scorpion or the desert scorpion, is a species of scorpion belonging to the family Urodacidae. It is native to central Australia. It is also referred as the desert robust scorpion, because of its robust black colour and a long tail lined with a deadly hook.
The genus Urodacus was placed in its own family in 2000. Before this, the group had been a subfamily Urodacinae within the family Scorpionidae.[1]
Description
Measuring up to 7 cm (2.8 in), it is one of largest species of scorpion native to Australia.[2] It has a red-yellow-brown carapace, with tergites, tail and pedipalps a darker red to red-black. Its underside and legs are brown-yellow. The male has a long spiked tail, while the female has a short tail lined with deadly venom.[3]
Distribution and habitat
The species ranges across inland Australia from Birdsville on the border of southwestern Queensland and northwestern New South Wales across South Australia and the southern Northern Territory to Broome and Laverton in Western Australia.[3] It is found in arid regions of inland Australia in habitat such as sand dunes.