The buthid scorpion Janalychas tricarinatusSimon, 1884 is a species distributed in most parts of the Indian peninsula. I assessed morphological and molecular data for representatives of this species from peninsular India, which hints at the presence of multiple species within the broadly distributed J. tricarinatus sensu lato. Conjugation of morphological and molecular data allow me to describe two new species of the genus Janalychas that were, until now, considered conspecific with J. tricarinatus. Re-examination of the type specimens of Lychas aareyensisMirza & Sanap, 2010 revealed the lack of a tibial spur, a character of the genus Reddyanus Vachon, 1972 and not LychasKoch, 1845 or JanalychasKovařík, 2019, which leads me to transfer the species to the genus Reddyanus (Reddyanus aareyensis (Mirza & Sanap, 2010) comb. nov. as db is situated between et and est on the pedipalp manus. Discovery of two new species highlights the need for employing integrated taxonomic approaches to define and delimit species.
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30 March 2020
Two new species of buthid scorpion of the genus Janalychas Kovařík, 2019 (Arachnida: Scorpiones: Buthidae) from the Western Ghats, India
Zeeshan A. Mirza
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Arachnology
Vol. 18 • No. 4
March 2020
Vol. 18 • No. 4
March 2020
COI
cryptic species
ICZN
Lychas
molecular phylogeny
new combination
taxonomy