Hemiscorpiinae Pocock, 1893

Soleglad, Michael E. & Fet, Victor, 2003, High-level systematics and phylogeny of the extant scorpions (Scorpiones: Orthosterni), Euscorpius 2003 (11), pp. 1-175 : 113

Subfamily Hemiscorpiinae Pocock, 1893

Type Genus. Hemiscorpius Peters, 1861 .

Composition. This taxon is downgraded here from family to subfamily rank under Liochelidae . The family includes two genera ( Habibiella and Hemiscorpius ).

Distribution. Asia (Middle East), Africa ( Eritrea, Somalia).

Taxonomic history. This subfamily was traditionally listed under Scorpionidae (Fet, 2000c) . Its transfer to Ischnuridae (now Liochelidae ) was first suggested in the unpublished classification of Stockwell (1989). It was elevated to the family level simultaneously by Lourenço (2000a) who did not provide any justification,

and by Prendini (2000) who provided a detailed phylogenetic analysis; both papers were published in March 2000. Prendini (2000) demonstrated that Hemiscorpiidae is a sister group of Ischnuridae .

Diagnosis. See Prendini (2000) for details on the diagnosis of this subfamily (as family Hemiscorpiidae ).

Discussion. Highly derived features of this subfamily include unusually toxic hemolytic venom of Hemiscorpius .