Recent found during a herping trip - Lychas marmoreus aka Marbled scorpion

lester

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 23, 2009
Messages
67
Hi guys ,

tot i share some of my finds here from my recent herping on local native specimens in singapore and malaysia,




managed to find some Lychas marmoreus scorpion to my surpise which is not a local sp. but believe to be from australia and was "transported via plants import.


one pop while in captivaity ......





so far till now .. 4 nos of the little scorpling make it thru to 2nd instar .. they are sure tiny as compared to my other scoprions and feeds only on pin heads ...


i kept them commual and so far everything is alright...
Some background of this scorpion.


mum comparsion with a normal size lighter


General:
Lychas marmoreus are one of the smaller Australian species and are therefore more likely kept by enthusiasts rather than pet owners.
Most Australian pet shops don't sell them or refuse to sell them.

Approximate size from carapace to aculeus is 35mm in an adult.
Colour may be variable from a dark cream colour to a slate/grey but a prominent feature on all is the raised granules on the tergites, which are in colour contrast to the tergite colours.
Legs and pedipalps variegated in colour with distinctive differentials between the colour changes ie. they don't fade in/out from one colour to another.
Last metasoma segment and vesicle generally the darkest with a prominent subaculear prong.

This species is not commonly kept in captivity but probably the most commonly seen in suburbia and small acreage housing near cities, particularly in the Sydney region.
They appear to be communal. There have been reports in the wild of over 10 sheltering under a single piece of bark.

In captivity they appear communal as long as each is provided with "personnel" space to hide. Two of mine live under the same piece of bark but at either end. Captive birth is not common and it would appear (in my experience) that raising to adulthood is difficult, as humidity is critical when getting them to survive moults. Duration to 2nd instar is approximately 3 days.
Very small crickets are readily taken but better still are small termites which they thrive on.


Common names:
This species is known as Marbled scorpion, Little Marbled Scorpion, and Little Marbled Bark Scorpion.

Distribution:
Asia (New Guinea), Australia (New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia, Victoria).

Habitat:
Habitat appears to be variable as long as seasona l temperatures don't exceed 25 C for prolonged periods.
Rainfall minimum and maximum are highly variable.
Wetter, cooler environments, such as those found in coastal Eucalyptus type forests are ideal, although certainly not exclusive.
Most common habitats are under tree bark high up, leaf litter on the forest floors (particularly around rocky areas) and beneath bark on fallen logs.
As suburbia encroaches on this environment they may also be found in timber piles (especially if termite activity is evident), brick stacks and stacked tin sheeting etc.
They have also been found inside houses that back onto bushland or are on small farm lots.

Venom:
Although LD50 values are not available as LD50 testing has been banned in Australia for over 5 years, these are considered to be the one of the more "venomous scorpion species" in Australia.
There has been one reported death of a infant girl from Pemberton in Western Australia in 1929, "assumed" to be from L. marmoreus, but not confirmed.
One reported sting (person. conv.) revealed severe pain and a burning sensation for approx. 2 hours, with the pain diminishing to a dull ache/throb for about 12 hours.

information from the WWW - google


does anyone else have any experience with this specimens ???



regards
 

cacoseraph

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 5, 2005
Messages
8,325
those sure are nice looking. i don't think they are in the american hobby very often. should be cool to see some ppl local to them chime in
 

AzJohn

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 25, 2007
Messages
2,181
I've raised a few Lychas species from instar to adult. Your info is pretty good. They are commal as instars and adults. Really, all you need to do is keep the humidity up. Babies can be harder to feed. I used prekilled or very small food items.
 

NevularScorpion

Arachnoangel
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 30, 2007
Messages
916
i'm just curious what kind of food items do you feed them for slings that size ?
 

cannabeast

Arachnosquire
Joined
Jun 29, 2010
Messages
143
those are very nice specimens, thabkyou for sharing those. ive never seen them before and some of the photos youve taken are beautiful pictures of these scorpions.
 

deathwing

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 13, 2008
Messages
177
I'm kinda doubtful about it being L. marmoreous... Was the chelae notch present in the male specimens???
 
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