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Above: An example of C. squama from Victoria.

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Above: A Western Australian species.

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Above: An undescribed species from the semi-arid South Australian Mallee region.

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Cercophonius is presently the only recognised Genera in Australia from the Bothriuridae family, with 6 species described, all looking very similar (see below for species names and general distributions). It has close relatives in South America, and is thought to have entered Australia from the southern Gondwanan element.
This scorpion certainly stands out from the crowd, with a very shiny exoskeleton and rather fat tail. Usually a dark reddish/brown in colour with reticulated patterning.
It is often found amongst native pines or gum trees where it lives amongst rotting ground debris and will often inhabit old tree stumps where termites are abundant.

A relatively small scorpion, although more robust than the Buthids, it attains lengths of around 40mm.

Bothriuridae

Cercophonius

* granulosus *
Kraepelin, 1908
Syntypes: Torbay, WA
Dist: WA

* kershawi *
Glauert, 1930
Holotype: Ouyen, VIC
Dist: SA, Victoria

* michaelsoni *
Kraepelin, 1908
Holotype: Boorabbin E of the Darling Range, WA
Dist: NSW, NT, SA, Tas, VIC, WA

* queenslandae *
Acosta, 1990
Holotype: Lamington National Park, Queensland
Dist: NSW, Queensland

* squama *
Gervais, 1843
Holotype: "New Holland" (now Australia)
Dist: NSW, SA, Tas, VIC.

* sulcatus *
Kraepelin, 1908
Syntypes: Moomysonooka, Champion Bay, WA; Collie, Australia; Boyanup, Australia.
Dist: WA

Key to the species of Cercophonius in Australia

1- Sternite VII and metasomal segments I-IV with smooth ventral surface (ventral submedian carinae absent)
--------------------------------- 2

- Sternite VII and metasomal segments I-IV with ventral surface either sparsely granular or with distinct longitudinal carinae
------------ 3

2- Metasoma ventrally with submedian dark stripes well developed, axial dark stripe either vestigial or absent; all metasomal segments dorsally with two dark spots; pectines with 15-20 teeth in males and 13-17 in females
---------------------------------------------------- C. squama

- Metasoma ventrally with axial dark stripe well developed, submedian dark stripes either vestigial or absent (may be confluent with the axial in segment I); metasoma dorsally with two dark spots in segment I and a single dark spot in II-III; pectines with 11-15 teeth in females (males unknown)
--------------------------------------------- C. queenslandae

3- Mesosoma dorsally with a wide axial yellow stripe; metasomal segment I with distinctly smooth to granular ventral submedian carinae
------- 4

- Mesosoma without axial yellow stripe (only a single yellow spot in the center of each tergite), or exceptionally present as a very narrow stripe; metasomal segment I with ventral submedian carinae indistinct, often merged in a sparsely granular area
--------------------------------- 5

4- Axial yellow stripe rates 14-20% of the total width of each tergite; Metasomal segment I with conspicuously granular ventral submedian carinae; hemispermatophore without posterodistal fold, distal lemella short and wide
--------------------------------------------------C. michaelseni

- Axial yellow stripe rates 8-12% of the total width of each tergite; metasomal segment I with less distinct ventral submedian carinae; hemispermatophore with posterodistal fold, distal lamella narrow and apically curved
------------------------------------------C. kershawi

5- Sternite VII and metasomal segment I ventrally with weak, granular to sometimes smooth ventral submedian carinae; all metasomal segments dorsally with a single dark spot; hemispermatophore with S-shaped distal lamella, posterodistal fold well developed
---------------C. sulcatus

- Sternite VII without defined carinae, metasomal segment I ventrally with irregular granulation, ventral submedian carinae either weakly vestigial or indistinct, with 2-3 pairs of elevated tegumentary ridges at the base of setae; all metasomal segments dorsally with two dark spots; hemispermatophore with distal lamella somewhat stright and sharp, posterodistal fold less developed
----------------------C. granulosus