Araeoncus banias, V. & Tanasevitch, 2013

Tanasevitch, Andrei V., 2013, On linyphiid spiders (Araneae) from Israel, Revue suisse de Zoologie 120 (1), pp. 101-124 : 103

Araeoncus banias sp. n. Figs 1-7

HOLOTYPE: Ƌ; ISRAEL, Upper Galilee, Banias Nature Reserve, 370 m a.s.l., bank of Guveta stream (33.24839ºN 35.69193ºE), among stones and leaf litter ( Quercus calliprinos and Laurus nobilis ); 15.IX.2011; leg. A. Tanasevitch, T. Piterkina & S. Zonstein.

PARATYPES: 1 ♀; 1 ♀ ( MHNG); from same locality, collected together with the holotype .

ETYMOLOGY: The specific epithet, a noun in apposition, is taken from the name of type locality.

DIAGNOSIS: The new species is characterized by the presence of a thick and long outgrowth on the anterior radical process in the embolic division on the male palp. The female is diagnosed by the presence of a cotter-shaped flat elevation in the median furrow area of the epigyne, as well as by the triangular shape of its dorsal plate.

DESCRIPTION: Male (holotype). Total length 1.88. Carapace dark brown, modified as shown in Figs 1-2, 0.93 long, 0.58 wide. Chelicerae 0.30 long, unmodified. Legs brown. Leg I 2.27 long (0.63+0.20+0.53+0.53+0.38), IV 2.44 long (0.73+0.20+0.63+0.55+0.33). Chaetotaxy: 2.2.1.1, spines on tibiae I-II very small and poor visible, on III-IV about 1-1.5 diameter of segment. TmI 0.40. Metatarsus IV without trichobothrium. Palp as in Figs 3-4: palpal tibia narrow, elongated, with a deep hollow apically. Paracymbium small, simple, hook-shaped. Distal suprategular apophysis narrow, long, V-shaped and curved, regularly tapering towards a pointed tip. Anterior radical process large, semi-lunar, with a thick and long outgrowth rising from its middle part (“X” in Figs 3-4). Embolus long, semi-circular, with a membraneous inner edge. Abdomen 0.95 long, 0.70 wide, grey.

Female. Total length 1.63. Carapace 0.73 long, 0.50 wide. Chelicerae 0.35 long. Leg I 2.01 long (0.55+0.18+0.48+0.45+0.35), IV 2.06 long (0.60+0.18+0.53+0.45- +0.30). Spines on tibiae about 1-1.5 diameter of segment. TmI 0.44. Abdomen 1.03 long, 0.70 wide. Epigyne and vulva as in Figs 5-7: each part of a bisected ventral plate with a cotter-shaped flat elevation in median fissure area, dorsal plate triangular.

TAXONOMIC REMARKS: The new species is very similar to the Eastern Ancient Mediterranean A. caucasicus Tanasevitch, 1987 , but differs well by the shape of the male carapace which resembles that of A. altissimus Simon, 1884a , by the presence of a thick and long outgrowth on the anterior radical process in the male palp, as well as by the presence of a cotter-shaped flat elevation in the median fissure area and of the triangular posterior dorsal plate in the female (Fig. 7 cf. Fig. 8).

DISTRIBUTION: Known from the type locality only.