Nihonhimea indicum ( Tikader, 1977 ) Prasad & Tyagi & Caleb & Kumar, 2019

Prasad, Priya, Tyagi, Kamoud, Caleb, John T. D. & Kumar, Vikas, 2019, A new species of the cob web spider genus Theridion from India (Araneae: Theridiidae), Ecologica Montenegrina 26, pp. 108-117 : 115-116

Nihonhimea indicum ( Tikader, 1977) comb.n.

Figs 7-13 .

Theridion indica Tikader, 1977: 168 , f. 5A-C (description of female)

Theridion indicum Brignoli, 1983: 416 ; Sen et al., 2015: 85, figs 499-503, pl. 19 (description and illustration of female). Material examined: Holotype female (5352/18), Neil Island , South Andaman, India, 13 April 1970, coll.

B.K. Tikader. Paratypes (3♀♀) (5353/18), (same data as holotype) .

Remarks. Theridion indicum Tikader, 1977 was originally described based on four female specimens from South Andaman, India ( Tikader, 1977) and subsequently reported from West Bengal ( Sen et al., 2015). However, Ganeshkumar & Siliwal (2007) reported Achaearanea brookesiana Barrion & Litsinger , from mainland India and mentioned that this species could be the synonym of T. indicum , without examining the type material. Later on, A. brookesiana was transfeered to the genus Parasteatoda based on genitalia characters ( Yoshida 2008). We have studied the genitalia of the paratype female of T. indicum from National Zoological Collections of Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata. The epigynum have thick and short ducts, globular spermathecae and two openings on both sides of the depression ( Figs.12-13 ). The abdomen is having a median cardiac pattern with lateral light lines ( Fig.7 ). These characters are showing the affinity of T. indicum towards the genus Nihonhimea . Further, based on descriptions and illustrations provided by Chrysanthus (1963), it is certain that T. indicum , A. brookesiana may be junior synonyms of the very variable and widespread species Nihonhimea mundula (L. Koch, 1872) , which was already known from India. So, on the basis of external morphology and the structure of the genitalia, this species can be transferred to the genus Nihonhimea .

Figures

Figures 7–13. Nihonhimea indicum (Tikader, 1977) comb.n., type material (NZC-ZSI-5352/18). 7, female holotype, habitus, dorsal view. 8, same, ventral view. 9, same, lateral view. 10-11, epigyne, dorsal view. 12-13, vulva, dorsal view. Scale bars, 7-9, 1mm; 10-11, 0.2mm; 12-13, 1mm.