Two new species in Hottentotta and Vachoniolus from Iran and synonymization of Paraorthochirus with Orthochirus

Two new species have been described from Iran:

Hottentotta khoozestanus Navidpour, Kovarik, Soleglad & Fet, 2008
Vachoniolus iranus Navidpour, Kovarik, Soleglad & Fet, 2008

After analyzing specimens of Orthochirus iranus, Navidpour et al (2008) conclude that the presence or absence trichobothrium d2 on the femur pedipalp is not a generic and perhaps not even a specific character. Since the presence or absence of d2 on the femur of the pedipalp is the only character separating Orthochirus Karsch, 1891 from Paraorthochirus Lourenco & Vachon, 1995, the authors conclude that these two genera are synonyms. This means that the following species from Paraorthochirus now belongs to Orthochirus:

O. blandini (Lourenço & Vachon, 1997)
O. glabrifrons (Kraepelin, 1903)
O. goyffoni (Lourenço & Vachon, 1995)
O. kaspareki (Lourenço & Huber, 2000)
O. kinzelbachi (Lourenço & Huber, 2000)
O. stockwelli (Lourenço & Vachon, 1995)

Reference:
Navidpour S, Kovarik F, Soleglad ME, Fet V. Scorpion of Iran (Arachnida, Scorpiones). Part I. Khoozestan Province. Euscorpius. 2008(65):1-41. [Fulltext freely available, but large file (12 mb)]

Family Buthidae