Drassodes luridus (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1874 )

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

publication ID	https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5040.4.5
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:310C2BAC-958A-4F78-BF7C-5D60946721B2
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5531795
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/1B3187DA-FFB2-FFAF-3FC9-FC4AFB56FBFD
treatment provided by	Plazi (2021-09-27 13:49:48, last updated 2023-11-08 03:55:34)
scientific name	Drassodes luridus (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1874 )
status

Treatment

Drassodes luridus (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1874) View in CoL

Figs 38–43 View FIGURES 38–43

Drassus luridus O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1874: 396 , plate 52, fig. 21 (♂ ♀).

Scopodes maitraiae Tikader & Gajbe, 1977: 14 , fig. 1A–E (♂ ♀).

Drassodes luridus Tikader, 1982: 409 View in CoL , figs 260–263 (♂ ♀) (for complete list of references, see World Spider Catalog (2021)). Megamyrmecion kajalae Biswas & Biswas, 1992: 430 , figs 39–41 (♀) (lapsus). New synonymy

Type material of M. kajalae . Holotype ♀ from INDIA : West Bengal: North 24 Parganas: Palta : Santi Nagar (22°46’57.51’’N, 88°22’50.46’’E), 12 m alt., Bijan Biswas leg., 11.VIII.1987, NZC-ZSI, Kolkata (5408/18), examined GoogleMaps . Paratype 1 ♀, same data as holotype except 5409/18, examined GoogleMaps .

Justification of the transfer and synonymy. This species possesses diagnostic features of Drassodes : trochanters notched, epigyne with curved lateral margins and vulva consists of primary and secondary spermathecae (compare Figs 40–42 View FIGURES 38–43 with Platnick & Shadab 1976: figs 31–32, 35–36). Study of the types of M. kajalae revealed that it well fits to the diagnostic characters of D. luridus : inverted pyriform epigynal plate with antero-laterally thickened rims and small, sclerotised, horizontally oriented primary spermathecae with large, hyaline, inflated balloon-like secondary spermathecae (compare Figs 40–42 View FIGURES 38–43 with Tikader 1982: figs 261–262 and Caleb et al. 2014: fig. 1e–f). Based on these observations, we propose to consider M. kajalae as a junior synonym of D. luridus .

Remarks. The ZSI collection has two glass tubes with ‘ M. kajalae ’. There is a common label for both these tubes that mentions as ‘ holotype and paratype’ with registration numbers ‘5408/18’ and ‘5409/18’ respectively. A tube contains one female specimen in good condition. The same tube has a micro-vial containing the dissected epigyne. The other tube contains one female specimen in good condition, with intact epigyne.

References

Biswas, B. & Biswas, K. (1992) Araneae: Spiders. State Fauna Series, 3, Fauna of West Bengal 3, 357 - 500.

Caleb, J. T. D., Karthikeyani, R. & Muthuchelian, K. (2014) Description of Drassodes luridus O. P. Cambridge (Araneae: Gnaphosidae): First record from Tamil Nadu, India. Journal of Entomology and Zoology Studies, 2, 135 - 138.

Pickard-Cambridge, O. (1874) On some new species of Drassides. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 42, 370 - 419, pls. LI - LII. https: // doi. org / 10.1111 / j. 1096 - 3642.1874. tb 02495. x

Platnick, N. I. & Shadab, M. U. (1976) A revision of the spider genera Drassodes and Tivodrassus (Araneae, Gnaphosidae) in North America. American Museum Novitates, 2593, 1 - 29.

Tikader, B. K. & Gajbe, U. A. (1977) Studies on some spiders of the genera Scopodes Chamberlin, Megamyrmecion Reuss, Scotophaeus Simon and Liodrassus Chamberlin (family: Gnaphosidae) from India. Records of the Zoological Survey of India, 73, 13 - 22.

Tikader, B. K. (1982). Part 2. Family Gnaphosidae. In: The fauna of India. Spiders: Araneae. Vol. II. Zoological Survey of India, Calcutta, pp. 295 - 536.

World Spider Catalog (2021) World Spider Catalog. Version 22.5. Natural History Museum Bern. Available from: http: // wsc. nmbe. ch (accessed 12 August 2021) https: // doi. org / 10.24436 / 2

Figures

FIGURES 38–43. Drassodes luridus (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1874), types of Megamyrmaekion kajalae Biswas & Biswas, 1992. 38 holotype female habitus, dorsal view; 39 paratype female habitus, dorsal view; 40–41 genitalia of holotype female (40 epigyne, ventral view, 41 vulva, dorsal view); 42 epigyne of paratype female, ventral view; 43 label from type tube. Abbreviations: PS, primary spermatheca; SS, secondary spermatheca. Scale bars: 38–39, 2 mm; 40–42, 0.2 mm.