Orthochirus Karsch, 1892

Kovařík, František, Lowe, Graeme & Šťáhlavský, František, 2016, Scorpions of the Horn of Africa (Arachnida: Scorpiones). Part IX. Lanzatus, Orthochirus, and Somalicharmus (Buthidae), with description of Lanzatus somalilandus sp. n. and Orthochirus afar sp. n., Euscorpius 232, pp. 1-38 : 9

Orthochirus Karsch, 1892

( Figs. 41–77, 155, Table 1)

Orthochirus Karsch, 1892: 306 ; Fet & Lowe, 2000: 193–199 (complete reference list until 2000); Kovařík, 2004: 4–23, 25–28, figs. 1–8 (complete reference list until 2004); Kovařík & Fet, 2006: 1– 10, figs. 1–9; Navidpour et al., 2008: 14–20, figs. 19, 23–31.

= Orthodactylus Karsch, 1881: 90 , a junior homonym of Orthodactylus Hitchcock, 1858 (Reptilia) , type species: Orthodactylus olivaceus Karsch, 1881 = Orthochirus scrobiculosus (Grube, 1873) (syn. by Kraepelin, 1895: 84).

= Simonoides Vachon et Farzanpay in Farzanpay, 1987: 162, type species: Simonoides farzanpayi Vachon et Farzanpay, 1987 (syn. by Kovařík & Fet, 2006: 1).

= Afghanorthochirus Lourenço et Vachon, 1997: 330 , type species: Afghanoorthochirus erardi Lourenço et Vachon, 1997 (syn. by Kovařík, 2004: 5).

= Paraorthochirus Lourenço et Vachon, 1995: 299 (nomen nudum see Fet & Lowe, 2000: 211); Lourenço & Vachon, 1997: 329, type species: Paraorthochirus stockwelli Lourenço et Vachon, 1995 (syn. by Navidpour et al., 2008: 17).

Pseudorthochirus [sic]: Lourenço & Vachon, 1995: 304.

TYPE SPECIES. Orthodactylus olivaceus Karsch, 1881 = Orthochirus scrobiculosus (Grube, 1873) .

D IAGNOSIS. Total length under 60 mm. Pedipalps orthobothriotaxic type A (Vachon, 1974); dorsal trichobothria of femur arranged in β -configuration (Vachon, 1 975); trichobothrium d 2 of femur present or absent, either internal or external to dorsointernal carina; d 3 of femur internal to dorsomedian carina, when carina present; V 2 on chela manus located behind V 1 ; it on distal fixed finger. Pectines with fulcra, hirsute. Basal middle lamella of pectines in females not dilated. Males with genital papillae. Hemispermatophore flagelliform with lobes of capsule in 3+1 configuration, basal lobe small, median lobe not fused to base of flagellum. Sternum subpentagonal. Tibial spurs present on third and fourth legs. Cheliceral fixed finger with two ventral denticles, margins of fingers with standard pattern of buthid dentition (Vachon, 1963). Carapace without distinct carinae, in lateral view distinctly inclined downward from median eyes to anterior margin. Pedipalp chela movable finger with distinct granules divided into 7–11 rows, with 2–5 subdistal granules. Tergites I – VI smooth to granulated with one indicated carina or acarinate. Stigmata are narrow slits. Metasomal - I–II with carinae. Metasomal segments IV – V ventrally punctate. Telson elongate, smooth, without subaculear tubercle, aculeus as long as, or longer than vesicle .

COMMENTS. Kraepelin (1903: 563) cited one specimen of Butheolus aristidis (= Orthochirus aristidis (Simon, 1883)) collected in " Somalia, Lasman, Febr. 1900"; Werner (1916: 81) cited a juvenile from Djibouti. These two specimens have not been recently revised and there is a possibility that the specimen from Somalia could be a species of the genus Orthochiroides Kovařík, 1998 which in Somalia is represented by the type species Orthochiroides vachoni Kovařík, 1998 ( Somalia, Sar Uanle, about 20 km south from Chisimaio, 00°29'48"S 42°25'30"E). In contrast, the occurence of the genus Orthochirus in Djibouti is expected, but this population is most probably not O. aristidis . Lourenço & Leguin (2011: 1–4, 13, 14, 15, figs. 1–4, 22, 27, 33) published a redescription of O. aristidis based on the lectotype and paralectotypes from Nubia ( Egypt / Sudan), near the Nile, and a topotype female collected in Sudan (Nubia), Wadi Halfa, X/1975. They also published a photo of live female from Djibouti (Lourenço & Leguin, 2011: 4, fig. 5) without information about whether the specimen was only photographed, or was collected, studied and compared to the types. Lourenço & Leguin (2011: 3) also presumed that O. aristidis could occur in Ethiopia although no Orthochirus from Ethiopia was cited before this paper (Kovařík, 2003: 135). The types of O. afar sp. n. represent the first verified record of the genus Orthochirus from Ethiopia.