Pterotricha esyunini Zamani, 2018

Ali Al-Yacoub, Ghassan A. & Fomichev, Alexander A., 2023, First description of the female of Pterotricha esyunini Zamani, 2018 (Araneae: Gnaphosidae) from Iraq, Ecologica Montenegrina 70, pp. 183-187 : 184

Pterotricha esyunini Zamani, 2018 ( Fig. 1 a-d, g)

Material examined. 2♀ ( NHMB), Iraq, Thi-Qar Province , Al-Nasiriyah City, the Archaeological Ziggurat of Ur, 30°58'10.0"N, 46°06'53.0"E, semi-desert, 20 August 2021 (leg. G. A. Al-Yacoub), ( Fig. 1g ) .

Diagnosis. The female of Pterotricha esyunini closely resembles Pterotricha lesserti Dalmas, 1921 which is widespread in the Middle East. Both species have trapezoidal anterior (widened) part of fovea (Af) with unpaired anterior hood (Ah) and short copulatory ducts (Cd) tightly pressed to the receptacles (Re). The female of Pterotricha esyunini can be distinguished from that of P. lesserti by the lateral margins (Lm) converging anteriorly (vs. subparallel), undivided anterior part of fovea (vs. anterior part of fovea divided by median septum) and by relatively longer accessorial glands (Ag), which surpass the anterior edges of receptacles (vs. accessorial glands not surpass the anterior edges of receptacles) (cf. Figs 1c–d and 1e–f ). For diagnosis of the male see Zamani (2018).

Description. Female. Total length: 5.6. Carapace: 2.3 long, 2 wide. Abdomen: 3.3 long, 1.9 wide. Carapace, sternum, chelicerae, and labium light brown without distinct patterns. Abdomen beige-colored with light gray patterns forming a longitudinal line crossed by three transverse lines. Legs light brown. Measurements of legs: I: 9.0 (2.5, 1.0, 2.0, 2.0, 1.5). II: 8.7 (2.2, 1.0, 2.0, 2.0, 1.5). III: 8.9 (2.2, 1.0, 2.0, 2.2, 1.5). IV: 11.4 (3.0, 1.0, 2.5, 3.0, 1.9). Leg spination: I: Fe d1-1-1 p0-1-1; Ti p0-1-0 v2-2-1; Mt v2-2-2. II: Fe d1-1-1 p0-1-1; Ti p1-1-1 v2-2-1 Mt p0-1-0 v2-2-2. III: Fe d0-1-1 p0-1-1 r0-1-1; Pa p1 v1; Ti d1-0-1 p1-1-1 r1-1-1 v2-2-2. IV: Fe d1-0-1 p0-1-1 r0-1-1; Ti d1-0-1 p1-1-1 r1-1-1 v0-2-2; Mt d1-0-1 p1-1-1 r1-1-1 v2-2-1.

Epigyne as in Figs 1b–d . Anterior part of the fovea 2.3 times wider than long. Anterior hood very deep. Lateral margins touch each other anteriorly and smoothly diverge posteriorly. Median septum (Ms) triangular, not reaching the anterior (widened) part of fovea. Copulatory ducts short, forming tight loops. Receptacles oval, not well distinguished from copulatory ducts. Accessorial glands long, stick-like, diverging at a right angle.

Male. See Al-Yacoub et al. (2021a).

Distribution. Known only from the type locality ( Fig. 2 ).

Figures

Figure 1. Habitus (a), intact epigyne (b, e), macerated epigyne (c–d, f) and habitat (g) of Pterotricha esyunini (a–d, g) and P. lesserti (e–f). a, d, f – dorsal; b, c, e – ventral. Scale bars: a = 2 mm; b = 0.25 mm; c–d = 0.1 mm. e–f after Levy (1995). Abbreviations: Af – anterior part of fovea, Ag – accessorial gland, Ah – anterior hood, Cd – copulatory duct, Lm – lateral margin, Ms – median septum, Re – receptacle.

Figure 2. Distributional records of Pterotricha esyunini. Black circle – new collecting locality in Iraq; red circle – previous record in Iraq; green circle – localities in the United Arab Emirates.