Orthochirus Karsch, 1892: 306
Birula, 1898: 280
Fet, 1989: 112
Kovařík, 1996: 177
Orthochirus afghanus
Orthodactylus Karsch, 1881: 90
Orthodactylus Hitchcock, 1858 (Reptilia)
Orthodactylus olivaceus Karsch, 1881
Orthochirus scrobiculosus ( Grube, 1873 )
Butheolus : Simon, 1889b: 386
Afghanorthochirus Lourenço & Vachon, 1997: 330
Afghanorthochirus erardi Lourenço & Vachon, 1997
Orthochirus erardi (Lourenço & Vachon, 1997)
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)
Kovařík, Baloorthochirus becvari
1996
Euscorpius
2004
16
1
33
63H4X
Karsch, 1892
Karsch
1892
[979,1292,1581,1609]
Arachnida
Buthidae
Orthochirus
GBIF
Animalia
Scorpiones
5
4
Arthropoda
genus
( 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. Figures 1–6: Orthochirus afghanus sp. n., female paratype. In Figs. 1and 2the first capital letters denote trichobothria situated on the manus, and the first lower-case letters denote those situated on the fixed finger of pedipalp. Figs. 3and 4show the distribution of trichobothria on the patella of pedipalp. Figs. 5and 6show the distribution of trichobothria on the femur of pedipalp.Explanations: First letters: D, dorsal, E, external, I, internal, V, ventral. Second or second plus third letters: b, basal, sb, suprabasal, m, medial, st, subterminal, t, terminal, v, ventral. Numerals distinguish individual trichobothria of the same classification. Designation and description of trichobothria according to Vachon (1974). Morphological terminology according to Stahnke (1970). = Orthodactylus Karsch, 1881: 90, a junior homonym of OrthodactylusHitchcock, 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. = AfghanorthochirusLourenço & Vachon, 1997: 330, TS: Afghanorthochirus erardiLourenço & Vachon, 1997= Orthochirus erardi(Lourenço & Vachon, 1997) comb. n.; Kovařík, 1998: 120; Lourenço, 2001: 176. Syn. n.
TYPESPECIES: 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 2of 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 OrthodactylusHitchcock, 1858 (Reptilia)and proposed Orthochirusas nomen novum. In due time this genus received several species from the genus ButheolusSimon, 1882, from which were also separated the genera NanobuthusPocock, 1895and Neobuthus Hirst, 1911. Several related new genera followed, namely AfghanorthochirusLourenço & Vachon, 1997; Baloorthochirus Kovařík, 1996; OrthochiroidesKovařík, 1998; PakistanorthochirusLourenço, 1997; and ParaorthochirusLourenço & 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 typespecies Afghanorthochirus erardiLourenço & Vachon, 1997) on the basis of presence and number of granules on the movable finger. As an example of Orthochirusthey used a quite atypical specimen from the Orthochirus innesigroup (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 innesigroup 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 innesigroup 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 AfghanorthochirusLourenço & Vachon, 1997is 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.