Clubiona melanothele Thorell, 1895

Jäger, Peter & Dankittipakul, Pakawin, 2010, Clubionidae from Laos and Thailand (Arachnida: Araneae), Zootaxa 2730, pp. 23-43 : 31-32

Clubiona melanothele Thorell, 1895

Figs 26, 34-36, 71

Material examined. LAOS: Bolikhamsay Province: 1 female, Lak Sao , shrubs, at night, by hand, 2 March 2010, P. Jäger & J. Martens leg. ( SMF 60280 , L90) .

Material examined for comparison. 1 female syntype of C. melanothele , BURMA: Tharrawaddy , Oates leg., 1895/217 ( NHM 1895.9.21.75-6 ) .

Gravely (1931: fig. 16 B) and Deeleman-Reinhold (2001: figs 53-54) illustrated the female epigyne, the latter author included additionally a dorsal view of the vulva, but without the membranous posterior bursae (see Fig. 26) shown for a group of related species in Dankittipakul and Singtripop (2008a: C. suthepica , fig. 60; C. octoginta , fig. 47; C. campylacantha , fig. 40). Characteristic for C. melanothele are the two dark sclerotised circular areas around the copulatory openings and the V-shaped structure in the centre of the epigyne (Figs 35-36). The three species from Thailand, listed above, do not show any of these characteristics, but a distinct anterior margin. Whether or not this species is a junior synoym of C. melanosticta Thorell, 1890 , as supposed by Deeleman-Reinhold (2001) and mentioned in Dankittipakul and Singtripop (2008a) remains questionable. According to a comparison of illustrations in Zhang and Yin (1998: figs 1-5), Deeleman-Reinhold (2001: figs 51-54) and Dankittipakul and Singtripop (2008a: fig. 52-54), a species apparently close to C. melanothele and C. melanosticta is C. cirrulata Zhang and Yin, 1998 from China (Yunnan: Mengla). Another specimen probably belonging to this species-group is the female paratype of C. transversa Zhang & Yin, 1998 ( Zhang & Yin 1998: figs 16-17) (see also note under C. kuu spec. nov.).

First record for Laos (Fig. 71: 7).