Bassaniodes pseudorectilineus (Wunderlich, 1995)

Seropian, Armen, Bulbulashvili, Natalia, Krammer, Hans-Joachim, Thormann, Jana, Hein, Nils, Karalashvili, Elisabeth, Kachlishvili, Nino & Datunashvili, Anastasia, 2024, Picking pearls from the Silk Road: Insights into the spider (Arachnida, Araneae) diversity in Georgia from the Caucasus Barcode of Life (CaBOL) project. Part III, Caucasiana 3, pp. 89-118 : 89

** Bassaniodes pseudorectilineus (Wunderlich, 1995)

Figs 45-46

Psammitis pseudorectilineus Wunderlich, 1995: 764, figs 52-53 (♂).

Xysticus pseudorectilineus Demir, Aktaş & Seyyar, 2008: 65, figs.1-7 (♂♀).

Material examined.

GEORGIA - Tbilisi • 1♀ ; Dighomi Vill. ; N41.7816°, E44.6906°; 797 m a.s.l.; Paliurus spina-christi dominated shrubland, under rocks; leg. A. Seropian; 24 Sep. 2021; CaBOL-ID 1010063 • 2♂♂ ; Tbilisi; N41.7701°, E44.7669°; 436 m a.s.l.; under rocks in heathland; leg. A. Seropian; 01 Sep. 2023; CaBOL-IDs 1035912, 1035913 . Kakheti • 1♀ ; Dedoplistskaro mun., Vashlovani NP, Lekistskali ( Mlashetskali ) R. bank; N41.1394°, E46.5808°; 213 m a.s.l.; semidesert, under rocks leg. A. Seropian; 17 Apr. 2021; CaBOL-ID 1010431 .

Genetics. Two barcodes were obtained from the specimens with CaBOL-IDs 1010063 and 1035912 (BOLD:AAO1746, p -distance 1.06%), with the nearest neighbor in BOLD Systems B. pseudorectilineus (Wunderlich, 1995) from Turkey (BOLD:AAO1746, mean p -distance 0.47%).

Remarks.

This species is very close to B. loeffleri (Roewer, 1955) found in Georgia ( Otto 2023), from which the males of B. pseudorectilineus differ in the presence of an ovate-shaped translucent apophysis in front of the embolus tip with a club-shaped outgrowth ( Wunderlich 1995), while the females of these species are indistinguishable (see figures and colored photos in Nentwig et al. 2023). Considering the relatively poor details of B. loeffleri palp drawings, the extreme (and suspicious) similarity of females’ epigynes and endogynes, as well as the sympatry ( Nentwig et al. 2023), additional study of the type specimens of these two species is required for potential synonymy confirmation, with B. pseudorectilineus being the junior synonym. Until then, this is the first record of this species in the Caucasus, unless otherwise stated. In addition, the previous record of B. loeffleri in Georgia requires validation since no drawings were provided by Pkhakadze (2006).

Genus Tmarus Simon, 1875

Figures

Figures 45 - 48. Bassaniodes pseudorectilineus, male (45: left palpus, ventral view; 46: same, retrolateral view). Tmarus piochardi, male (47: left palpus, ventral view; 48: tibial apophysis, dorsal view). Scale bars: 0.2 mm (45 - 47); 0.1 mm (48).