''Srilankametrus indus'', commonly known as the giant forest scorpion, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

scorpion Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the order Scorpiones. They have eight legs, and are easily recognized by a pair of grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back and always endi ...

s belonging to the family

Scorpionidae The Scorpionidae (burrowing scorpions or pale-legged scorpions) make up the superfamily Scorpionoidea. The family was established by Pierre André Latreille, 1802. Genera Scorpionidae contains the following genera: * '' Aops'' Volschenk & Pre ...

. It is native to

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

and

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

Description

This large scorpion has the total length of 90 to 130 mm. Adults are uniformly reddish black to greenish black in color. Both sexes with 10 to 15 pectinal teeth. Pedipalp chela is hirsute, and lobiform. Manus is covered by rounded granules which are appear as rows. Pedipalp patella lacks a pronounced internal tubercle. Carapace smooth, and glossy with some marginal granules. Dorsal and dorsolateral carinae of metasomal segments are smooth. Telson vesicle is longer than aculeus. A voracious predator, it is known to feed on many larger animals.

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Scorpionidae Endemic fauna of India Endemic fauna of Sri Lanka Animals described in 1778 {{scorpion-stub