Laminion birenifer ( Gravely, 1921 ) Sankaran & Caleb & Sebastian, 2020

Sankaran, Pradeep M., Caleb, John T. D. & Sebastian, Pothalil A., 2020, A review of the Indian species formerly assigned to the genus Storena Walckenaer, 1805 (Araneae: Zodariidae) with the description of a new genus, European Journal of Taxonomy 707, pp. 1-23 : 6-10

Laminion birenifer ( Gravely, 1921) gen. et comb. nov.

Figs 1–5 , 9

Storena birenifer Gravely, 1921: 408 , fig. 2a–c.

Storena tikaderi Patel & Reddy, 1989: 223 , fig. 2a–h. syn. nov.

Type material

Syntypes of S. birenifer

INDIA • ♂♀; Odisha (formerly Orissa), Ganjam, Chilika Lake (= Chilka Lake ), Barkuda Island (formerly part of Madras Presidency); 19°33′12.7″ N, 85°08′47.2″ E; 13 m a.s.l.; 15–22 Jul. 1916; F.H. Gravely leg.; NZC-ZSI, Kolkata (no register number specified).

Cotype of S. birenifer

INDIA • ♂; same collection data as for syntypes; NZC-ZSI, Kolkata (no register number specified).

Holotype of S. tikaderi (not examined)

INDIA • ♀; Andhra Pradesh, Visakhapatnam, Araku Valley ; 18°19′38.45″ N, 82°52′39.08″ E; 919 m a.s.l.; 18 Oct. 1986; T.S. Reddy leg.; NZC-ZSI, Kolkata (no register number specified). (The original illustrations of habitus and epigynum are diagnostic and were used for comparison.)

Paratypes of S. tikaderi (not examined)

INDIA • 6 ♀♀; same collection data as for holotype; NZC-ZSI, Kolkata (no register number specified) .

Allotype of S. tikaderi (not examined)

INDIA • ♂; same collection data as for holotype; NZC-ZSI, Kolkata (no register number specified).

Supplementary description

Male (syntype (2914/H2); Figs 1A , C–D, 2A, C, E)

Colour in alcohol: carapace, eye region, clypeus, chilum, chelicerae, fangs, endites, labium, sternum dark reddish-brown; leg and pedipalp segments yellowish-brown; opisthosoma black; dorsum with paired anterior reniform, paired medio-lateral and a posterior transversely oriented diamond-shaped pale blotches, laterally with obliquely oriented posterior pale stripes, venter with paired broad lateral and a narrow median pale blotches. Chelicerae without teeth or denticles. Chilum unipartite, inverted triangular. Sternum posteriorly bluntly pointed, with prominent coxal and intercoxal extensions ( Fig. 2C ). Body length 6.65. Carapace length 3.54, width 2.75. Opisthosoma length 3.11, width 2.21. Eye diameters: ALE 0.14. AME 0.16. PLE 0.15. PME 0.12. Eye interdistances: ALE–AME 0.18. ALE– PLE 0.06. AME–AME 0.08. AME–PME 0.13. PME–PLE 0.36. PME–PME 0.12. Chelicerae length 1.00. Clypeus height at ALEs 0.71, at AMEs 0.88. Measurements of pedipalp and legs. Pedipalp 3.37 [1.22, 0.34, 0.31, 1.50], I 9.17 [2.46, 1.06, 1.92, 2.06, 1.67], II 7.82 [2.22, 1.05, 1.66, 1.66, 1.23], III 8.38 [2.14, 1.07, 1.54, 2.21, 1.42], IV 11.30 [2.81, 1.09, 2.34, 3.19, 1.87]. Leg formula: 4132. Pedipalp as in Figs 3 A–C, 4A–I, 5A–D.

Measurements of cotype male: body length 6.56. Carapace length 3.38, width 2.62. Opisthosoma length 3.18, width 2.34.

Female (syntype (2914/H2); Figs 1B , E–F, 2B, D, F)

Like male except the following: sternum with less developed intercoxal extensions ( Fig. 2D ). Body length 6.75. Carapace length 3.25, width 2.22. Opisthosoma length 3.50, width 2.56. Eye diameters: ALE 0.13. AME 0.15. PLE 0.13. PME 0.11. Eye interdistances: ALE–AME 0.25. ALE–PLE 0.06. AME–AME 0.07. AME–PME 0.10. PME–PLE 0.38. PME–PME 0.11. Chelicerae length 1.05. Clypeus height at ALEs 0.77, at AMEs 0.98. Measurements of palp and legs. Palp 2.64 [0.99, 0.40, 0.46, 0.79], I 6.64 [1.92, 0.86, 1.39, 1.22, 1.25], II 5.73 [1.60, 0.86, 1.22, 1.18, 0.87], III 6.03 [1.63, 0.67, 1.16, 1.64, 0.93], IV (right) 8.27 [2.03, 0.88, 1.79, 2.13, 1.44]. Leg formula: 4132. Epigynum as in Fig. 3D .

Justification of the synonymy

The species S. tikaderi was described on the basis of male and female specimens collected in Andhra Pradesh ( Patel & Reddy 1989). Although we did not examine the types of this species, the habitus and the female genitalia illustrated for this species show similarities with that of L. birenifer gen. et comb. nov., including paired, reniform markings on anterior opisthosoma and the shape of median and lateral plates of epigynum (compare Figs 1B , 3D with Patel & Reddy 1989: fig. 2a, c). Moreover, the type localities of both species are only about 320 km apart along the eastern Coast, which reflects a wide distributional range of L. birenifer gen. et comb. nov. Based on these observations, we propose to consider S. tikaderi as a junior synonym of L. birenifer gen. et comb. nov.

Remarks

The ZSI collection has two glass tubes for S. birenifer . First tube labeled as “ Types ” (2914/H2) contains one male and one female specimens in good condition, with intact genitalia. Second tube labeled as “cotype” (2915/H2) contains one male specimen in good condition. We were unable to trace out the types of S. tikaderi in the arachnid collection of ZSI, even though the authors mentioned that the types would be deposited here ( Patel & Reddy 1989).

Figures

Fig. 1. Laminion birenifer (Gravely, 1921) gen. et comb. nov., ♂♀, syntypes of Storena birenifer Gravely, 1921. A, C–D. ♂ (NZC-ZSI-2914/H2). A. Habitus, dorsal view. C. Prosoma, retrolateral view. D. Same, frontal view. B, E–F. ♀ (NZC-ZSI-2914/H2). B. Habitus, dorsal view. E. Prosoma, prolateral view. F. Same, frontal view. G. Original illustrations of S. birenifer adapted from Gravely (1921). Scale bars: A–B = 2 mm; C–F = 1 mm.

Fig. 2. Laminion birenifer (Gravely, 1921) gen. et comb. nov., ♂♀, syntypes of Storena birenifer Gravely, 1921. A, C, E. ♂ (NZC-ZSI-2914/H2). A. Eye group, fronto-dorsal view. C. Endites, labium and sternum, ventral view. E. Spinnerets, ventral view. B, D, F. ♀ (NZC-ZSI-2914/H2). B. Eye group, fronto-dorsal view. D. Endites, labium and sternum, ventral view. F. Spinnerets, ventral view. G. Type label. Scale bars: A–B = 0.5 mm; C–D = 1 mm; E–F = 0.2 mm.

Fig. 3. Laminion birenifer (Gravely, 1921) gen. et comb. nov., ♂♀, syntypes of Storena birenifer Gravely, 1921 (NZC-ZSI-2914/H2). A. Left pedipalp of male, prolateral view. B. Same, retrolateral view. C. Same, ventral view. D. Epigynum of female, ventral view. Abbreviations: lSP = lateral sclerotised plate; mSP = median sclerotised plate. Scale bars: A–C = 0.5 mm; D = 0.2 mm. Arrows indicate the femoral disto-ventral depression.

Fig. 4. Laminion birenifer (Gravely, 1921) gen. et comb. nov., ♂, syntype of Storena birenifer Gravely, 1921 (NZC-ZSI-2914/H2), left pedipalp. A. Cymbial retrolateral flange, ventral view. B. Distal part of cymbium and bulb, prolateral view. C. Disto-prolateral tegular apophysis, dorso-prolateral view. D–I. Details of retrolateral tibial apophysis, cymbial processes, lamellate extension of tibia and patellar apophysis. D, F. Retrolateral view. E. Ventral view. G. Prolatero-ventral view. H. Dorso-ventral view. I. Ventral view. Abbreviations: C = conductor; CP1 = first cymbial process; CP2 = second cymbial process; CP3 = third cymbial process; dpTA = disto-prolateral tegular apophysis; LTi = lamellate extension of tibia; MA = median apophysis; PA = patellar apophysis; RTA = retrolateral tibial apophysis. Scale bars: A = 0.5 mm; B–I = 0.2 mm. Arrows: 1 indicates cymbial retrolateral flange, 2 indicates dorsal hair mat of cymbium.

Fig. 5. Laminion birenifer (Gravely, 1921) gen. et comb. nov., ♂, syntype of Storena birenifer Gravely, 1921 (NZC-ZSI-2914/H2), details of left pedipalp. A. Bulb, prolatero-ventral view. B–D. Details of conductor, median apophysis and disto-prolateral tegular apophysis. B. Ventro-retrolateral view. C. Oblique ventral view. D. Prolateral view. Abbreviations: C = conductor; dpTA = disto-prolateral tegular apophysis; E = embolus; EB = embolic base; MA = median apophysis; pMA = prolateral branch of median apophysis; rC1 = first retrolateral branch of conductor; rC2 = second retrolateral branch of conductor; rMA = retrolateral branch of median apophysis. Scale bars: A, C = 0.5 mm; B, D = 0.2 mm.

Fig. 9. Currently known distributional records of Laminion gen. nov. Ǫ Laminion arakuensis (Patel & Reddy, 1989) gen. et comb. nov. ● Laminion birenifer (Gravely, 1921) gen. et comb. nov. ♦ Laminion debasrae (Biswas & Biswas, 1992) gen. et comb. nov. ■ Laminion gujaratensis (Tikader & Patel, 1975) gen. et comb. nov.