Nodocion solanensis Sankaran & Caleb & Sebastian, 2020

Sankaran, Pradeep M., Caleb, John T. D. & Sebastian, Pothalil A., 2020, On the taxonomic validity of Indian ground spiders: II. Genera Drassyllus Chamberlin, 1922 and Nodocion Chamberlin, 1922 (Araneae: Gnaphosidae), European Journal of Taxonomy 673 (673), pp. 1-14 : 10-13

“ Setaphis ” solanensis ( Tikader & Gajbe, 1977) comb. nov.

Fig. 5

Nodocion solanensis Tikader & Gajbe, 1977: 73 , fig. 6A–D.

Nodocion solanensis – Tikader 1982: 456, figs 363–367.

Diagnosis

“ Setaphis ” solanensis comb. nov. resembles Setaphis subtilis (Simon, 1897) in having a large, flat proximal part of the copulatory ducts, but can be distinguished by the narrow, highly twisted distal part of the copulatory ducts (copulatory ducts of S. subtilis with broad, uncoiled distal part) (compare Fig. 5 C–D with Platnick & Murphy 1996: fig. 24).

Material examined

Holotype

INDIA • ♀; Himachal Pradesh, Solan, Kasauli (= Kasoli); 30°54′04.64″ N, 76°57′53.55″ E; 1817 m a.s.l.; 22 Dec. 1972; H.P. Agarwal leg.; NZC-ZSI, Kolkata 5002/18 .

Supplementary description

Female (holotype, Fig. 5 )

Body length 7.54. Prosoma: length 2.97, width 2.20. Opisthosoma: length 4.57, width 2.77. Eye diameters: ALE 0.17, AME 0.16, PLE 0.16, PME 0.14. Eye interdistances: AME–AME 0.08, AME– PME 0.16, PME–PLE 0.12, PME–PME 0.08. Chelicerae length 0.90. Measurements of palp and legs. Palp (right) 2.97 [1.08, 0.53, 0.51, 0.85], III (right) 6.30 [1.78, 1.02, 1.23, 1.53, 0.74], IV 9.00 [2.32,

1.33, 2.01, 2.37, 0.97]. Epigyne (holotype, Fig. 5 C–D): Epigynal plate sclerotized, with nearly M-shaped anterior ridge ( Fig. 5C ). Copulatory openings indistinct. Copulatory ducts long, highly twisted, with large, flat proximal part and narrow, tubular distal part ( Fig. 5D ). Receptacles small, oval, obliquely placed, diverging, lying adjacent to posterior epigynal margin ( Fig. 5D ). Fertilization ducts narrow, diverging.

Male

Unknown.

Justification of the transfer

Tikader & Gajbe (1977) described this species on the basis of a female specimen collected in Himachal Pradesh. The original illustration of the epigyne of this species ( Tikader & Gajbe 1977: fig. 6b) clearly deviated from the epigyne of Nodocion mateonus Chamberlin, 1922 ( Platnick & Shadab 1980: figs 3–4), indicating its misplacement under Nodocion Chamberlin, 1922 . Detailed examination of the holotype of N. solanensis revealed that its features do not fit those of any known gnaphosid genera, indicating that this species probably represents an unknown Indian gnaphosid genus. However, this will not be confirmed until the male pedipalp of this species will have been examined. Until then, we tentatively place this species in Setaphis due to the distant similarities in the following features: PMEs irregular, epigyne with a mid-piece and highly twisted internal ducts with wide proximal part ( Fig. 5 B–D).

Remarks

The ZSI collection has one glass bottle for this species labeled as ‘holotype’ (5002/18), containing a female specimen in fairly good condition, with broken legs and detached opisthosoma. The same bottle has a small glass vial containing the dissected epigyne.

Figures

Fig. 5. “Setaphis” solanensis (Tikader & Gajbe, 1977) comb. nov., ♀, holotype of Nodocion solanensis Tikader & Gajbe, 1977 (NZC-ZSI-5002/18). A. Habitus, dorsal view. B. Eyes of the same, dorsal view. C. Epigyne, ventral view. D. Same, dorsal view. E. Label from type bottle. Scale bars: A = 2 mm; B = 0.2 mm; C–D = 0.5 mm.