Metellina Chamberlin & Ivie, 1941

Marusik, Yu. M. & Larsen, N., 2018, A Synopsis Of African Metellina (Aranei, Tetragnathidae, Metainae) With Description Of A New Species From South Africa, Vestnik Zoologii (Vestn. Zool.) 52 (3), pp. 205-216 : 207-208

Metellina Chamberlin & Ivie, 1941

Metellina Chamberlin & Ivie, 1941: 14 ; Levi, 1980: 32; Álvarez-Padilla & Hormiga, 2011: 779 .

Type species: Pachygnatha curtisi McCook, 1894 (from California).

Comments. Seven species were considered to belong in this genus ( WSC, 2017). All of them are known from the Holarctic: Western and Central USA and Europe to Central Asia. None were reported from Africa or adjacent islands. Before the revision by Levi (1980), all species of the genus were considered in Meta .

Diagnosis. Metellina can be distinguished from Meta by an oval abdomen vs. a subglobular abdomen, the ventral position of conductor hiding the embolus vs. the prolateral conductor not hiding the embolus and a lack of a ventral projection of epigyne covered by hairs vs. presence. The copulatory organs suggest that Metellina is most similar to Menosira Chikuni, 1955 , a monotypic genus known from Far East Asia. The two genera well differ by the abdominal pattern: Menosira has 2 longitudinal white spots on the abdomen that are lacking in Metellina . In addition, Menosira has a thick embolus vs. a gradually tapering embolus in Metellina , and the epigyne lacks the membranous part present in all Metellina .

Remarks. When trying to identify our specimens, we checked all Meta species known from Africa and adjacent islands and recognized that none are congeneric with Meta menardi (Latreille, 1804) , the type species of the genus. Below, we list these species. Eight of nine species found in the region are known by a single taxonomic entry, and six are known from the type locality only. A survey of these species (in alphabetic order of the specific names) is given below.