Key to the Filistatidae of Israel and Palestine

The key below can be used to identify known species of crevice weavers from Israel and Palestine. For more information, readers are referred to recent taxonomic revisions of Zaitunia Lehtinen, 1967 (Zonstein & Marusik 2016), Filistata (Zonstein & Marusik 2019; Zamani & Marusik 2020) and Sahastata Benoit, 1968 (Magalhaes et al. 2020; Gavish-Regev et al. 2022). Although Pritha Lehtinen, 1967 has not been thoroughly revised, valuable taxonomic information for several species is available in scattered works (Brignoli 1982; Marusik & Zamani 2015b; Legittimo et al. 2017; Zonstein & Marusik 2019).

1. Tarsi without macrosetae; abdomen dorsally with white setae (in males, in one or two large patches) (Fig. 10H, I); female with calamistrum with three rows of inconspicuous setae (Fig. 10B); males with rigid leg tarsi, not flexible; male cymbium shorter than wide (Fig. 10L); male sperm duct with a single coil (Fig. 10L)............. Prithinae: Pritha Lehtinen, 1967 [three described species in Israel: Pritha albimaculata (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1872), Pritha hirsuta (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1872) and Pritha tenuispina (Strand, 1814), in addition to undescribed species; genus in need of revision].

– Tarsi with macroseta (Fig. 10A; difficult to see in Zaitunia); white setae absent from abdomen; female calamistrum with conspicuous setae (Fig. 10C–E); males with flexible leg tarsi (Fig. 10F); male cymbium longer than wide (Figs 10M, N, 8); male sperm duct with at least two coils (Figs 10M–N, 8)............................................................................................................ 2 ( Filistatinae Simon, 1864)

2. Females with continuous calamistrum, with three rows with many setae (15 or more) (Fig. 10C); large spiders (females with body length around 10 mm); females dark brown to black (Fig. 10G) and males light cream; males of Israeli species unknown, but based on congeners, should have pedipalpal femur with dorsal and ventral macrosetae ......................................................................... ...................................... Sahastata Benoit, 1968 [a single known species in Israel, known currently only from females, Sahastata aravaensis Ganem, Magalhaes, Zonstein & Gavish-Regev, 2022].

– Females with discontinuous calamistrum interrupted by a medial gap, with staggered rows with few setae (10 or less) (Fig. 10D–E); small to medium spiders (adults with body length around 3–6 mm); females brown or light cream (Figs 7, 10J); males with pedipalpal femur without dorsal macrosetae (ventral macrosetae present in Filistata, difficult to see in Zaitunia)................................................ 3

3. Brown spiders, with subrounded carapace (Fig. 10J); steep clypeus with strong, erect setae (Fig. 10P); females with two separate pairs of spermathecae (Fig. 10K); male cymbium without two strong and elongated prolateral setae; male pedipalpal tibia short, at most 2 times as long as wide (Fig. 10N) ... Zaitunia Lehtinen, 1967 [a single known species in Israel, Zaitunia schmitzi (Kulczyński, 1911)].

– Light cream spiders, with carapace longer than wide (Fig. 7); flat clypeus, without particularly strong setae (Fig. 10Q); females with a single pair of spermathecae (Fig. 9), or if with two pairs, these are partly fused (Fig. 3B–C); male cymbium with two strong prolateral setae (Fig. 8B); male pedipalpal tibia long, at least three times as long as wide (Fig. 8A)..................................................................... ........................................................................................ 4 ( Filistata Latreille, 1810) [four described species in Israel, of those four species, only the females of F. insidiatrix and F. betarif are known, and are not morphologically diagnosable; thus, the remainder of the key refers only to males].

4. Male copulatory bulb short and stout, with long and coiled embolus (Fig. 10M); carapace subrounded..................................................................... Filistata lubinae Zonstein & Marusik, 2019

– Male copulatory bulb subconical (Figs 8, 10O), embolus not coiled; carapace longer than wide.... 5

5. Sperm duct loosely packed, with space between coils; copulatory bulb shorter (ca 80% of cymbium length), with ventral side nearly straight (Fig. 10O) ....... Filistata albens Zonstein & Marusik, 2019

– Sperm duct tightly packed (Fig. 8), without space between coils; copulatory bulb longer (almost as long as cymbium), with ventral side curved inwards ........................................................................ 6

6. Embolic keel conspicuous (Figs 3H, 8G, 5A) .............................................. Filistata betarif sp. nov.

– Embolic keel inconspicuous (Fig. 3I, 8H, 5B) .......................... Filistata insidiatrix (Forsskål, 1775)