Tmeticus tolli Kulczynski , 1908

Marusik, Yuri M. & Koponen, Seppo, 2010, A review of the Holarctic genus Tmeticus Menge, 1868 (Araneae, Linyphiidae), with a description of a new genus, ZooKeys 59, pp. 15-37 : 17-22

Tmeticus tolli Kulczynski, 1908 Figs 15-16, 2025345056

Gongylidium vile Kulczyński 1885: 37, pl. 10, f. 16 (♀), syn. n.

Tmeticus tolli Kulczyński 1908: 15, pl. 1, f. 3, 7-8, 22-23 (♂♀).

Tmeticus difficilis Kulczyński 1926: 50 (♀), syn. n.

Tmeticus dubius Kulczyński 1926: 49 (♀), syn. n.

Centromerus tolli : Sytshevskaja 1935: 90.

Tmeticus tolli : Holm 1973: 89.

Tmeticus tolli : Eskov 1994: 107.

Tmeticus tolli : Hormiga 2000: 56, f. 29A-I, pl. 67A-F, 68A-F (♂♀).

Tmeticus affinis : Marusik and Logunov 1999: 245 (misidentification).

Material examined.

RUSSIA: Krasnoyarsk Province: 1♂ 2♀ (ZMMU), Mirnoye, Yenisei River left bank, 23.06.1978 (K.Yu. Eskov). Evenkiya: 40♂♀ (ZMMU), Taimura River, Neptene River mouth, riparian spruce forest with alder, Summer 1982 (K.Yu. Eskov); 2♀ (ZMMU), Chambe River mouth, meteorological station “Kerbo”, floodplain willow stand, litter, 21.08.1982 (K.Yu. Eskov). Khabarovsk Province: 2♀ (IBPN), Okhotski Dist., Gyrbykan R. ( Ul’ya River basin), 20.08-15.09.1986 (I.D. Sukatcheva); 1♂ 3♀ (IBPN), Khetana River (tributary of Amka River, Ulya River basin), Agust 1985 (V.V. Zherikhin). Maritime Prov.: 3♂ 2♀ (IBPN), [05], Khanka Lake CW shore, Sosnovy Isl & peninsula nearby, 44°52N; 132°07E, 17.07.1998 (Yu.M. Marusik). 1♀ (IBPN), [03], Khanka Lake, CE shore, 44°39N; 132°34E, 15-16.07.1998 (Yu.M. Marusik). Magadan Area: 3♂ 2♀ (IBPN), Motykley Bay, 59°30N; 148°50E, Summer 1994 (E. Izergina); 1♂ 1♀ (IBPN), 137th km of Kolyma Hwy, 60°25N; 151°30E, Ola River, valley forest, 28.09.1994 (Yu.M. Marusik); 1♂ 2♀ (IBPN), ca 50 km N of Magadan, Khasyn River, environs of Splavnaya Vil., 28.05.1988 (Yu.M. Marusik); 25♂♀ (IBPN), 30km N of Magadan, Snow Valley Vil., Dukcha River valley, 7.10.1984 (Yu.M. Marusik). Sakhalin Island: 1♂ 6♀ (IBPN), Okha Dist., Ten’ga River, May 1987 (A.M. Basarukin); 4♀ (IBPN), Tomari Dist., Ainskoye Lake, Ptichya river, 24.05.-10.06.1984 (A.M. Basarukin); 1♀ CE part, Leonidovka River, 8 km SE of Leonidovo Vil., 49°16.506N; 142°58.390E, 9.08.2001 (Yu.M. Marusik). Kamchatka Peninsula: 2♀ (ZMMU), 40 km from Ust’ -Kamchatsk, 09.1973 (A.S. Glikman); 1♂ 4♀ (IBPN), 10-12 km N of Paratunka Vil., Yelizovo Forestry, 53.050°N; 158.225°E, 15-28.07.2004 (A.S. Ryabukhin). MONGOLIA: Arkhangai Aimak: 2♂ 2♀ (IBPN) [12], Ondrer-Ulaan, Tsakhir, Chulut gorge 48°07N; 100°22E, 2100 m, 10-13.06.1997 (Yu.M. Marusik). Central (=Tov) Aimak: 1♀ (IBPN), Terelzh Mt., south exposed slope (about 80 km NE of Ulan-Bator, 1988 (S. Heimer).

Diagnosis.

Tmeticus tolli is easily distinguished from the similar Tmeticus ornatus and Tmeticus nigriceps by having a uniformly coloured carapace in both sexes.

Description.

Both sexes were described in detail by Hormiga (2000). ♀ 2.8-4.1, ♂ 2.5-3.1. TmI 0.68-0.8. Carapace from orange to pale yellow with black median stripe. Abdomen from light brown to blackish. Legs coloured as carapace. Palp as in Figs 27-30, 32, 50, 56, epigyne as in Figs 20, 31, 33-34.

Comments.

Tmeticus difficilis Kulczyński, 1926 was described on the basis of the female holotype from Lake “Kurarotschnoje” (=Kurazhechnoye, ca. 56°10N; 161°45E, collected 9.06.1909) and Tmeticus dubius Kulczyński, 1926 was described on the basis of two females from Lake “Klutschevskoje” (= maybe Klyuchi Vil., c. 60 km from Kurarochnoye Lake). In his descriptions Kulczyński (1926) compared both species with Tmeticus tolli . Both species were transferred to Centromerus (a member of the Micronetinae , a different subfamily) by Reimoser (1919) and this transfer was not contested by Charitonov (1932). Sytschevskaya (1935), who collected in the same places, suggested that both species, in addition to Gongylidium vile Kulczyński, 1885 (from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatski) maybe conspecific with Tmeticus tolli . Holm (1973) agreed with Sytschevskaya (1935). Eskov (1994) and Mikhailov (1997) listed the threespecies as synonyms of Tmeticus tolli , but formal synonymies were not proposed. In addition, Gongylidium vile (listed as Oedothorax vilus in Platnick’s (2010) catalogue has date priority over Tmeticus tolli .

Although Kulczyński (1885) compared Gongylidium vile with European Oedothorax (the epigyne of Tmeticus tolli is very similar to those in Oedothorax ), he mentioned the colour of the carapace “flavido-rufo” (yellow-red = orange), which is typical for Tmeticus tolli and such coloration is absent from Oedothorax species. Furthermore, no Oedothorax species has been recorded from Kamchatka. In order to retain stability we suggest suppression of the name Gongylidium vile Kulczyński, 1885, because it does not appear in the literature (except for catalogues and nomenclatorial notes), whereas Tmeticus tolli has been used in more than 25 publications by more than 10 different authors during the past 50 years ( Holm 1973; Eskov 1988, 1994; Koponen and Marusik 1992; Marusik et al. 1992, 1993, 2002; Marusik 1993, 2005a - b; Rybalov et al. 2002; Hormiga 2000; Tanasevitch 2006; Trilikauskas and Tanasevitch 2006; etc.). We agree with Eskov about the status of these species and here formally propose three new synonymies: Gongylidium vile Kulczyński, 1885, syn. n. = Tmeticus difficilis Kulczyński, 1926, syn. n. and Tmeticus dubius Kulczyński, 1926, syn. n. = Tmeticus tolli Kulczyński, 1908.

Distribution.

This species is distributed east of Yenisei ( Eskov 1994) to Chukotka and southward to central Mongolia ( Marusik and Logunov 1999: sub. Tmeticus affinis ), Maritime Province of Russia (present data) and northern Sakhalin ( Eskov 1994). Tmeticus tolli also occurs in northeastern China. YM saw one female specimen of this species in the collection of Baoding University (China).