Kraepelinia palpator (Birula, 1903)

Vignoli, Valerio, Kovařík, František & Crucitti, Pierangelo, 2003, Scorpiofauna of Kashan (Esfahan Province, Iran) (Arachnida: Scorpiones), Euscorpius 9, pp. 1-7 : 3

Kraepelinia palpator (Birula, 1903)

Specimens. 1 juv. (DP: 25–24), No. 16, Kashan city, 12 August 2000; leg. V. Vignoli & P. Crucitti .

Comments. This scorpion species, which exhibits a highly adapted, peculiar morphology, is easy to distinguish due to its stocky pedipalps and large median eyes (Vachon, 1974). This rare species, endemic to Central Asian and Iranian deserts, was found only in few localities in Turkmenistan and southeastern and eastern Iran (Vachon, 1974; Fet, 1984, 1987, 1989; Fet & Lowe, 2000; Fet et al., 2003); the knowledge of its ecology is very poor (Fet, 1994). One subadult specimen (total length, 17 mm) was collected active between stones on hard soil at the border of Kashan city, where we also collected Compsobuthus kaftani and Mesobuthus vesiculatus . This finding enlarges the geographical distribution from the eastern side of the Kavir desert to the western border of the main desert. The relation of this scorpion with extreme habitats as halophile zones is supported by the presence of a large salt lake (Namak lake), about 50 km more to East; besides, this species could be considered not associated exclusively to salt lake habitats (Fet, 1994).