 "Hadogenes bicolor" was first described by W. F. Purcell in 1899, based on material collected by the Reverend J. W. Daneel "about twenty miles east of Pietersburg [now Polokwane], Zoutpansberg Distr., Transvaal".The name "Hadogenes bicolor" has previously been used to cover animals now recognised as three separate species, "H. bicolor", "H. longimanus" and "H. newlandsi".Many of the scorpions sold in the pet trade as "H. bicolor" are actually "H. troglodytes".