Accepted by L. Prendini: 6 Mar. 2018; published: 23 Apr. 2018 ZOOTAXA ISSN 1175-5326 (print edition) ISSN 1175-5334 (online edition) Copyright © 2018 Magnolia Press Zootaxa 4413 (2): 339–350 http://www.mapress.com/j/zt/ Article 339 https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4413.2.6 http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:DA5E2680-BC81-4A79-96E2-84AAFDB35A4A Filling the gap of whip spider distribution in Asia: Phrynichus persicus sp.n. (Arachnida, Amblypygi), a new Phrynichidae from Iran GUSTAVO SILVA DE MIRANDA 1,3 & ALIREZA ZAMANI 2 1 Department of Entomology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, USA. 2 School of Biology, College of Sciences, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran. E-mail: zamani.alireza5@gmail.com 3 Corresponding author. E-mail: smiranda.gustavo@gmail.com Abstract The whip spider genus Phrynichus (Phrynichidae, Amblypygi) is widely distributed in Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and Asia with a total of 17 species. No records, however, are known from several countries in the Middle East. Here we pro- vide the first record of a whip spider from Iran (Ilam Province), with the description and illustration of a new species, Phrynichus persicus sp. n. This discovery fills a gap in the distribution of the group that is known from both sides of this biogeographically interesting region and is also the northernmost record of the family Phrynichidae. Moreover, all distri- bution records of the Phrynichus species are mapped (including the first verified record of the order from the United Arab Emirates), an updated key to the species of the deflersi and ceylonicus groups is provided, and Phrynichus andhraensis Bastawade, Rao, Maqsood Javed and Krishna, 2005 (India) is assigned to the ceylonicus group. Key words: Ilam, Middle East, new species, tailless whip scorpions, taxonomy, Zagros Mountains Introduction Whip spiders (Amblypygi) are tropical and sub-tropical arachnids characterized by a flat body, strong raptorial pedipalps and extremely elongate first pair of legs (antenniform legs) (Weygoldt 2000). The order has around 220 species in five families which are commonly found in leaf litter or on tree trunks of forests, inside caves and even in humid micro-habitats of urban areas (Giupponi & Miranda 2016; Miranda et al. 2018a; Miranda & Giupponi 2011; Miranda et al. 2016). Amblypygids have a considerable large body length, ranging from less than 1.0 cm (family Charinidae Quintero, 1986) to more than 4.0 cm (family Phrynichidae Simon, 1900 and Phrynidae Blanchard, 1852) (Giupponi & Miranda 2016; Weygoldt 1998, 2000). The pedipalps are the structures that give amblypygids their unique mien, and, as whip spiders continue to molt and grow after reaching sexual maturity (Weygoldt 1995; Weygoldt & Hoffmann 1995), the pedipalps can reach the length of 20.0 cm when unfolded (Miranda et al. 2018b; Weygoldt 1998, 1999). The sometimes disproportional pedipalp size between females and males is very likely a result of sexual selection (McArthur et al. 2018). Phrynichidae is the third most diverse family of Amblypygi (after Charinidae and Phrynidae), with 35 recognized species in seven genera, distributed in Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, Middle East and Asia, with one species also known from the Neotropics (Mello-Leitão 1935; Miranda et al. 2018b; Weygoldt 1998). With 17 species, the genus Phrynichus Karsch, 1879 is the most diverse within the family, which also has the widest distribution (Miranda et al. 2018b; Weygoldt 1998). The species of Phrynichus can be recognized by the unique combination of palpal patella with three primary dorsal spines shifted to the distal end together with the tarsus forming a prehensile pincer (or “hand”), the presence of two small tubercles above the cleaning organ on palpal tarsus, basitibia of leg IV undivided, and the presence of ventral sacs with well-developed covers (Weygoldt 1998, 2000). Within the 17 Phrynichus species, two groups are recognized (Weygoldt 1998): the P. deflersi species group and P. ceylonicus species group. The first is