Duninia baehrae, Marusik & Fet, 2009

Marusik, Yuri & Fet, Victor, 2009, A survey of East Palaearctic Hersiliola Thorell, 1870 (Araneae, Hersiliidae), with a description of three new genera, ZooKeys 16 (16), pp. 75-114 : 96-97

Duninia baehrae sp. n.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:1DD0B4E4-BFD2-4E35-B05C-BDC1EF3A9923

Figs 3 .3, 4 .5, 5 .5, 6 .8, 8 .6, 11 .1-4

Hersiliola pallida: Ovtsharenko and Fet 1980: 443 ( Turkmenistan: Badghyz). Misidentification.

Hersiliola afghanica: Fet 1983: 837 (in part; Turkmenistan: Kopetdagh; see also Deltshevia danovi sp. n.); Kuznetsov and Fet 1984: 52 ( Turkmenistan: Central Kopetdagh); Mikhailov and Fet 1994: 504. Misidentification.

Hersiliola afghana: Fet 1984: 259 (misspelling). Misidentification.

Type material (6 specimens): Holotype: ♁ ( ZMMU), TURKMENISTAN: Ahal Province, Central Kopetdagh, Kopetdagh State Reserve, Kurkulab , 7- 24.05.1978, G.T. Kuznetsov coll. Paratypes: TURKMENISTAN: 1♀, Ahal Province, Central Kopetdagh, Gaudan , 26- 27.07.1895, O. von Rosen coll. ( ZMMU, Ta-4009) ; 1♁, Ahal Province,

Central Kopetdagh, Kopetdagh State Reserve, Bolshie Katranki , 9- 16.09.1978, G.T. Kuznetsov coll. ( SMF) ; 1♀, Mary Province, Serhetabad (=Kushka) District, Morgunovka , 29.06.1975, V. Fet coll. ( SMF) ; 2♀, Balkan Province, Bolshoi Balkhan Mts., 6 km from Nebit-Dagh (now Balkanabat), 4.04.1993, S.V.Ovtchinnikov coll. ( ZMMU) .

Etymology. The species name is a patronym honoring our colleague Barbara Baehr (Brisbane, Australia), for her contributions to in-depth modern studies of Hersiliidae .

Diagnosis. From its sibling D. rheimsae sp. n., females can be easily distinguished by a larger body and epigyne, diverging spermathecae, and deep pockets longer than the lateral ones.

Description. Male (holotype from Kurkulab, abdomen and most of legs are missing): Carapace 2.12 long, 2.25 wide, femur I 5.0 long, leg I/carapace length ratio 2.36. Palp as in Figs 3.3, 4.5, 5.5, 6.8, bulbus globular, basal portion of seminal duct thick; embolus very massive, flat and short, twice shorter than the apical portion of the cymbium, opening large and clearly visible, tegular apophysis claw-like, large, located on the apical part of tegulum, extends parallel to cymbial axis, its terminal part much thinner than embolus.

Female: epigyne as in Figs 8.6, 11.1-4, lacks windows and distinct openings; medi- an plate twice as wide as high; translucent spermathecae round, separated from median plate by more than one diameter; lateral sides of epigynal plates with “arches” clearly visible on dissected epigyne; vulva with two round spermathecae separated by one diameter and large lateral wings. Lateral arches lead to small pockets, and large wings correspond to large and deep pocket that seems to correspond to copulatory opening. It is not clear which structures of the vulva correspond to fertilization ducts, and also not clear whether the fertilization duct has accessory glands.

Comments. Kuznetsov and Fet (1984: 52) recorded this species (as Hersiliola afghanica ) for several localities in Central Kopetdagh ( Turkmenistan, bordering with Iran) within the territory of Kopetdagh State Reserve as well as its office in Berzengi, suburb of Ashgabat. These records were based on six specimens, all captured in pitfall traps by Gennady Kuznetsov. In addition to Kurkulab, and B[olshie] Katranki localities (see labels above), Kuznetsov and Fet (1984) listed two specimens from Berzengi (05-06.1980, 1♀) and M[alyi] Dashtoi (22- 29.07.1981, 1♁). Three reported localities within the Kopetdagh State Reserve lie at 900-2000 m a s.l (Kurkulab, 900-1000 m; Bolshie Katranki and Malyi Dashtoi, 1500-2000 m) (G. T. Kuznetsov. pers. comm. 2008). An additional, previously unpublished, specimen from Gaudan (ZMMU) was collected by an early local naturalist, Baron O. von Rosen, in 1895. The species undoubtedly will be found in neighboring northeastern Iran (Khorassan Province) and northern Afghanistan. It is an element of the not yet fully explored mountainous fauna of the Turkmeno-Khorassan region, a transitional zoogeographic area between the western mountains of the Mediterranean / Iran and eastern mountains of Central Asia / Himalayas ( Fet 1994). This area consistently yields interesting new spider taxa such as e.g. Paracedicus gennadii (Fet, 1993) , P. ephthalitus (Fet, 1993) (Desidae) , Synaphris orientalis Marusik & Lehtinen, 2003 (Synaphridae) , or a hersiliid Deltshevia danovi gen. n. sp. n. (see below).

Distribution. Turkmenistan (Bolshoi Balkhan, Central Kopetdagh, Badghyz).

Figures

Figure 3. Retrolateral view of the male palp of Hersiliola esyunini sp. n. (1), H. sternbergsi sp. n. (2), Duninia baehrae sp. n. (3), Deltshevia danovi sp. n. (4), D. gromovi sp. n. (5), and Ovtsharenkoia pallida (6). Scale = 0.5 mm.

Figure 4. Retrolateral view of the male palp of Hersiliola macullulata (1), H. simoni (2), H. sternbergsi sp. n. (3), H. esyunini sp. n. (4), Duninia baehrae sp. n. (5), Deltshevia danovi sp. n. (6), D. gromovi sp. n. (7), and Ovtsharenkoia pallida (8). Scale = 0.5 mm.

Figure 5. Prolateral view of the male palp of Hersiliola macullulata (1), H. simoni (2), H. sternbergsi sp. n. (3), H. esyunini sp. n. (4), Duninia baehrae sp. n. (5), Deltshevia danovi sp. n. (6), D. gromovi sp. n. (7), and Ovtsharenkoia pallida (8). Scale = 0.5 mm.

Figure 6. Male palp of Hersiliola macullulata (1), H. simoni (2-3), H. sternbergsi sp. n. (4-5), H. esyunini sp. n. (6-7), Duninia baehrae sp. n. (8), and Ovtsharenkoia pallida (9). 1-2 ventral 3-4, 6 from below 5, 7,‹ from above 8 retrolateral. Scale = 0.5 mm.

Figure 8. Epigynes, ventral view, of Hersiliola afghanica (1), H. sternbergsi sp. n. (2), H. lindbergi sp. n. (3), H. esyunini sp. n. (4), H. foordi sp. n (5), Duninia baehrae sp. n. (6), and D. rheimsae sp. n. (7).

Figure 11. Epigynes of Duninia baehrae sp. n. (1-4), and D. rheimsae sp. n. (5-7). 1-2, 5 ventral 3 dorsal 4, 6-7 caudal. Scale = 0.5 mm.