Titanoeca lehtineni Fet, 1986

Omelko, Mikhail M., 2011, Redescription of the poorly known Central Asian Titanoeca lehtineni Fet, 1986 (Araneae, Titanoecidae), ZooKeys 144, pp. 81-85 : 81-83

Titanoeca lehtineni Fet, 1986 Figs 1-10

Titanoeca lehtineni Fet, 1986: 65, f. 1-3 (♂♀).

Material examined.

TURKMENISTAN: 2♂ 16♀ (ZMMU), Mary Area, Kushka (now = Serhetabad) Distr., ca 18 km S of Kyzyldzhar kordon (=field station), ca 1 km ESE of Eroilanduz Salt Lake, 375 m, 35°39'40"N, 61°50'13"E, 7.04.2002 (A.V.Gromov); 1♂ (SZM), Kopetdagh Reserve, Kalinskiy Zakaznik, 18.05.1987 (V.Dubatolov).

Note.

According to the original description the types were deposited in the Zoological Institute in Sankt Petersburg (ZISP) and in the Zoological Museum of the Moscow State University (ZMMU). Paratypes in ZMMU were not found (Mikhailov, personal communication) and were not searched for in ZISP. I am sure about the current identification because the material studied was collected from within the same area that the type series originated.

Diagnosis.

This species can be easily recognized from all other congeners and even all species of Titanoecidae by its very long embolus which forms several coils (Figs 2, 5), and the weakly sclerotized epigyne (Fig. 9) with extremely long insemination ducts (Figs 6-8, 10).

Description.

Total length (♂/♀) 3.25 –3.5/3.5– 4.6. Carapace: 1.45/1.68 long, 1.13/1.23 wide. Males (Fig. 4) and females uniformly brown, without any pattern. Tibiae and metatarsi in male with ventral spines (Fig. 4).

Palp as in Figs 1-3, 5. Femur shorter than cymbial length and even shorter than tegulum (Fig. 2). Tibial apophysis large on dorsal and prolateral sides. Tegulum wider than long (Fig. 1), embolus well visible in ventral, pro- and retrolateral views.

Epigyne as in Figs 6-10. Epigyne is weakly sclerotized and has no distinct margins. It is also lighter than other parts of the abdomen. Therefore, the adult female could ea sily be mistaken for a juvenile specimen. Vulva complicated, with relatively small round receptacula in the anterior part, long insemination ducts forming at least seven coils and strongly sclerotized fertilization ducts.

Comments.

The specimens examined are slightly smaller than the specimen measured by Fet (1986): 3.75/5.0 total length, 1.75/2.0 long, 1.38/1.0 wide. It seems that the width of the female carapace was measured incorrectly in the original description. None of Titanoecidae have the carapace twice as long as it is wide. Although the type series of this species is fairly large, variation in size was not mentioned by Fet (1986).

This species has exceptionally long insemination ducts compared to other species in this family. They appear to correspond to the very long embolus in the male. Insemination ducts in Titanoeca lehtineni are longer than in Nurscia sequerai (Simon, 1892) (cf. fig. 6 in Hubert 1966). Titanoeca lehtineni also has an unusual position of the receptacula in the anterior part of epigyne, far from epigastric furrow.

Distribution.

So far this species is known from southern and southwestern Turkmenistan and southwest Kazakhstan. Its occurrence in western Uzbekistan and northeastern Iran is highly likely.