Orthochirus Karsch, 1892

Kovařík, Baloorthochirus becvari & 1996, 2004, Revision and taxonomic position of genera Afghanorthochirus Lourenço & Vachon, Baloorthochirus Kova ík, Butheolus Simon, Nanobuthus Pocock, Orthochiroides Kova ík, Pakistanorthochirus Lourenço, and Asian Orthochirus Karsch, with descriptions of twelve new species (Scorpiones, Buthidae), Euscorpius 16, pp. 1-33 : 4-6

Orthochirus Karsch, 1892

( Figs. 1–8, Table 1)

Orthochirus Karsch, 1892: 306 ; Kraepelin, 1895: 84; Birula, 1898: 280; Simon, 1910: 77; Werner, 1934: 270; Roewer, 1943: 208; Vachon, 1959: 166; Vachon, 1974: 910, 936; Tikader & Bastawade, 1983: 113; Fet, 1989: 112; Sissom, 1990: 102; Lourenço & Vachon, 1995: 298; Kovařík, 1996: 177; Lourenço & Vachon, 1997: 328; Kovařík, 1998: 117; Fet & Lowe, 2000: 193; Lourenço, 2001: 176; Fet et al., 2003: 69.

= Orthodactylus Karsch, 1881: 90 , a junior homonym of Orthodactylus Hitchcock, 1858 (Reptilia) , TS: Orthodactylus olivaceus Karsch, 1881 = Orthochirus scrobiculosus ( Grube, 1873) ; Kraepelin, 1891: 73; Pocock, 1889: 117 (syn. by Kraepelin, 1895: 84).

Butheolus: Simon, 1889b: 386 ; Pocock, 1890: 121 (in part); Pocock, 1897: 108; Kraepelin, 1899: 34 (in part); Pocock, 1900: 28; Kraepelin, 1913: 131.

= Afghanorthochirus Lourenço & Vachon, 1997: 330 , TS: Afghanorthochirus erardi Lourenço & Vachon, 1997 = Orthochirus erardi (Lourenço & Vachon, 1997) comb. n.; Kovařík, 1998: 120; Lourenço, 2001: 176. Syn. n.

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

DIAGNOSIS: Patella of pedipalp without ventral trichobothria. Dorsal trichobothria of femur arranged in beta-configuration. Trichobothrium d 2 of pedipalp femur absent on dorsal surface. Tibial spurs present on third and fourth legs. Pectines with fulcra and densely hirsute. Movable fingers of pedipalps with 7–10 rows of granules and 2–5 distal granules. Carapace, in lateral view, distinctly inclined downward from median eyes to anterior margin. First and second metasomal segments with carinae. Fourth and fifth metasomal segment ventrally punctate. Telson elongate, aculeus as long or longer than vesicle. Total length under 60 mm.

COMMENTS. The genus was originally described as Orthodactylus Karsch, 1881 . In 1892 Karsch discovered that the name was a homonym of Orthodactylus Hitchcock, 1858 (Reptilia) and proposed Orthochirus as nomen novum. In due time this genus received several species from the genus Butheolus Simon, 1882 , from which were also separated the genera Nanobuthus Pocock, 1895 and Neobuthus Hirst, 1911 . Several related new genera followed, namely Afghanorthochirus Lourenço & Vachon, 1997 ; Baloorthochirus Kovařík, 1996 ; Orthochiroides Kovařík, 1998 ; Pakistanorthochirus Lourenço, 1997 ; and Paraorthochirus Lourenço & Vachon, 1997 . Some of these genera have already been synonymized. A key facilitating recognition of those deemed valid is presented further below in this paper.

Lourenço & Vachon (1997: 327) proposed Afghanorthochirus (with the type species Afghanorthochirus erardi Lourenço & Vachon, 1997 ) on the basis of presence and number of granules on the movable finger. As an example of Orthochirus they used a quite atypical specimen from the Orthochirus innesi group (fig. 1a in Lourenço & Vachon, 1997: 329), without either external or internal granules, and characterized the new genus by their fig. 1c (Lourenço & Vachon, 1997: 329), which includes external as well as internal granules and three distal granules. Most of the Orthochirus innesi group specimens that I have seen do possess external and internal granules. In the Asian species internal granules are present without exception, and only four species ( Orthochirus feti sp. n., O. gromovi sp. n., O. heratensis sp. n., and O. scrobiculosus ( Grube, 1873)) lack external granules. The number of distal granules is of little value on the species level and entirely useless on the generic level. I have seen several dozen of Orthochirus innesi group specimens with three to five distal granules. In Asian species the number of distal granules ranges between three and five (see discussion below).

The above discussed characters cause me to conclude that Afghanorthochirus Lourenço & Vachon, 1997 is a synonym of Orthochirus , in which thus belong the species Orthochirus danielleae (Lourenço & Vachon, 1997) comb. n., Orthochirus erardi (Lourenço & Vachon, 1997) comb. n., and Orthochirus monodi (Lourenço & Vachon, 1997) comb. n.