Poecilochroa jodhpurense ( Gajbe, 1993 ) Sankaran & Caleb, 2021

Sankaran, Pradeep M. & Caleb, John T. D., 2021, On the taxonomic validity of Indian ground spiders: V. Genera Megamyrmaekion Reuss, 1834, Sosticus Chamberlin, 1922 and Gaviphosa gen. nov. (Araneae: Gnaphosidae), Zootaxa 5040 (4), pp. 539-564 : 548-550

Poecilochroa jodhpurense ( Gajbe, 1993) comb. nov.

Figs 44–51

Megamyrmecion jodhpurensis Gajbe, 1993: 231 , figs 1–5 (♀) (lapsus).

Type material. Holotype ♀ and paratypes 2 ♀♀ from INDIA : Rajasthan: Jodhpur: Sangariya / Sangriya (not San- garia, which is in the Hanumangarh district of Rajasthan) (26°11’45’’N, 73°01’21’’E), 204 m alt., Motilal leg., 3.VIII.1962, NZC-ZSI, Kolkata (no register number specified), examined.

Justification of the transfer. The original illustrations of this species ( Gajbe 1993: figs 3–4) clearly indicated that it is misplaced in Megamyrmaekion . Examination of the types of this species revealed that it well corresponds to those in Poecilochroa as illustrated for Poecilochroa senilis (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1872) : epigyne with a median depression and large, bean-like spermathecae (compare Figs 49–51 with Levy 1999: figs 8–9). Based on these observations, we transfer M. jodhpurense to Poecilochroa .

Diagnosis. Females of P. jodhpurense comb. nov. are similar to those of P. senilis as both share anteriorly positioned copulatory openings and large spermathecae, but can be distinguished from the latter by epigynal median depression with a median septum (vs. absence of median septum in P. senilis ) and widely separated copulatory openings (vs. closely spaced copulatory openings in P. senilis ) (compare Figs 49–51 with Levy 1999: figs 8–9).

Supplementary description. Female (holotype, Figs 44, 46 ): body length 6.30. Carapace 2.21 long, 1.62 wide. Opisthosoma 4.09 long, 2.46 wide. Eye sizes and interdistances: ALE 0.13, AME 0.17, PLE 0.12, PME 0.11; AME–AME 0.07, AME–PME 0.17, PME–PLE 0.07, PME–PME 0.10. Length of chelicerae 0.79. Genitalia ( Figs 49–50 ): median depression inverted triangular, with a septum having broad hexagonal posterior and narrow anterior parts ( Fig. 49 ; MS). Copulatory openings oval, situated medially, widely spaced ( Fig. 49 ; CO). Copulatory ducts short, with slight median bend ( Fig. 50 ; CD). Spermathecae large, bean-shaped ( Fig. 50 ; S).

Paratype (female 1). Measurements: body length 5.86. Carapace 2.65 long, 1.96 wide. Opisthosoma 3.21 long, 2.04 wide. Epigyne as in Fig. 51 . Male. Unknown. Remarks. The ZSI collection has two glass tubes for this species.A tube labeled as ‘holotype’ (no register number specified) contains one female specimen in fairly good condition, with broken legs. The same tube has a micro- vial containing the dissected epigyne. A second tube labeled as ‘paratype’ (no register number specified) contains two female specimens in fairly good condition, with broken legs and intact epigynes. Both holotype and paratype labels mention the collecting date as ‘ 3/7/1962 ’.

Figures

FIGURES 44–48. Poecilochroa jodhpurense (Gajbe, 1993) comb. nov., types of Megamyrmaekion jodhpurense Gajbe, 1993. 44 holotype female habitus, dorsal view; 45 paratype female habitus, dorsal view; 46 eyes of holotype female, dorsal view; 47–48 labels from type tubes. Scale bars: 44–45, 2 mm; 46, 0.5 mm.

FIGURES 49–51. Poecilochroa jodhpurense (Gajbe, 1993) comb. nov., types of Megamyrmaekion jodhpurense Gajbe, 1993. 49–50 genitalia of holotype female (49 epigyne, ventral view, 50 vulva, dorsal view); 51 epigyne of paratype female, ventral view. Abbreviations: CD, copulatory duct; CO, copulatory opening; MS, median septum; S, spermatheca. Scale bars: 49–51, 0.2 mm.