Epeus khandalaensis (Tikader, 1977) Sudhin & Jwala & Sen & Hegde, 2024

Sudhin, Puthoor Pattammal, Jwala, Ramankutty, Sen, Souvik & Hegde, Vishwanath D., 2024, Taxonomic notes on the genus Epeus Peckham & Peckham, 1886 (Araneae, Salticidae) from India, Zoosystematics and Evolution 100 (2), pp. 447-455 : 447

Epeus khandalaensis (Tikader, 1977) comb. nov.

Figs 6A-D , 7

Phidippus khandalaensis Tikader, 1977: 98, figs 6-8.

Type material.

Holotype female of Phidippus khandalaensis from India, Maharashtra: Poona District, Khandala Rest House, Khandala Ghat, 04.xii.1963, NZC-ZSI-5391/18-B.K. Tikader-coll. Examined.

Justification of the transfer.

Tikader (1977) described this species, based on a female specimen collected from Poona, Maharashtra. The ZSI collection has a single glass bottle for this species, containing a female specimen (labelled as ‘holotype’) in good conditions with detached abdomen and broken legs. The genitalia of the female was dissected, but was not found inside the bottle and is perhaps lost. The general morphology shows that this species shares the features of Epeus Peckham & Peckham, 1886: carapace high and elevated, AME much larger than ALE and the latter slightly behind AME ( Patoleta et al. 2020) and the abdomen dorsally with indistinct black markings and white spots (Fig. 6A-C ). Based on these observations, we are provisionally transferring it to Epeus .

Distribution.

India: Maharashtra (Fig. 7 ).

Figures

Figure 6. Epeus khandalaensis (Tikader, 1977) comb. nov. A. Holotype female, dorsal view; B. Same, ventral view; C. Female, frontal view; D. Original label. Scale bars: 1 mm.

Figure 7. Map showing the distributional records of Epeus species in India.