Eusparassus doriae ( Simon, 1874 ) Moradmand & Jäger, 2012

Moradmand, Majid & Jäger, Peter, 2012, Taxonomic revision of the huntsman spider genus Eusparassus Simon, 1903 (Araneae: Sparassidae) in Eurasia, Journal of Natural History 46 (39 - 40), pp. 2439-2496 : 2462-2466

Eusparassus doriae ( Simon, 1874) stat. nov.

( Figures 9 , 10 )

Sparassus doriae Simon, 1874: 254 , pl. 5, fig. 6 (description of male and female; syntypes, one male and female, examined).

Sparassus tersa – Simon, 1880: 291 (Simon listed Sparassus doriae as synonym of S. tersa , material from Iran).

Eusparassus tersus – Roewer, 1955: 775 (misidentification; one male, one female and two juveniles examined, from Iran, Roewer collection, SMF).

Type material

Syntypes: 1 male, 1 female, IRAN: Tehran Province: Tehran, 1862–63, G. Doria leg. [(label: Jar n. 1663, Simon n. 1.557–Tehran (Doria) sub Eusparassus tersa ] ( MNHN).

Other material examined

1♂ and 4♀♀, IRAN: Kerman Province : 1♂, 1♀, 2 juveniles, Jiroft, Maskun, [(label: Arachn. Coll. Rwr. - Ltd. No. 11454, Eusparassus tersus (C. L. Koch, 1838) , Iran, Sabzawaran, Roewer det.1955), “ Osterreichische Iran-Expedition 1949 / 50”], F. Starmühlner, H. Löffler and P. Kaltenbach leg. ( SMF RII / 11454); IRAN: Yazd Province: 2♀♀, 10 km northeast of Bafq, Bafq , 1258 m, 10 April 2004, V. Vignoli and P. Crucitti leg. ( SMF) ; 1♀, west of Baghdad-Abad, Taft , 1502 m, 9 April 2004, V. Vignoli and P. Crucitti leg. ( SMF) . 1 subadult ♀, 5 km southwest of Taft , 1556 m, 13 April 2004, V. Vignoli and P. Crucitti leg. ( SMF) .

Diagnosis

Males differ from other congeneric males by tip of embolus leaf-like and directed retrolatero-proximad in left palp, ventral view ( Figure 9E ), dRTA compared with E. walckenaeri is slimmer and bent proximally, dRTA and vRTA are more widely spaced ( Figure 9C,D ). Females can be distinguished by epigynal field as long as wide (longer than wide in E. mesopotamicus sp. nov.) and AMLL are not extended anteriorly ( Figure 10A,C ) (in E. walckenaeri extended).

Description

Male (n = 2) [syntype first]. Prosoma length 6.7 (6.2), prosoma width 5.6 (4.7), anterior width of prosoma 3.1 (2.8), opisthosoma length 7.0 (6.7), opisthosoma width 4.5 (4.2). Eyes diameters: AME 0.40, ALE 0.35, PME 0.33, PLE 0.36; eye interdistances: AME–AME 0.20, AME–ALE 0.05, PME–PME 0.37, PME–PLE 0.37, AME–PME 0.37, ALE–PLE 0.25, clypeus height at AME 0.18, clypeus height at ALE 0.27.

Chelicerae with two anterior and three posterior teeth; cheliceral furrow without denticles ( Figure 9B ). Leg formula: 2 4 1 3. Measurements of palp and legs: Palp 8.5 [2.6, 1.2, 1.4, 2.9], I 30.4 [8.4, 3.1, 8.1, 8.2, 2.6], II 32.6 [9.3, 3.2, 9.0, 8.6, 2.5], III 27.7 [8.3, 2.9, 7.3, 7.1, 2.1], IV 32.2 [9.3, 2.7, 8.5, 9.2, 2.5].

Spination. Palp 131, 101, 1111; Legs: Femur I–III 323, IV 322; Patella I–IV 101; Tibia I–IV 2224; Metatarsus I–III 2024, IV 3034.

Palp. As in diagnosis with cymbium longer than tibia, vRTA developed ( Figure 9C,D ).

Female (n = 5). Total length: 11.8–15.2, prosoma length 6.5–8.7, prosoma width 5.3–6.5, anterior width of prosoma 3.3–4.5, opisthosoma length 8.0–11.2, opisthosoma width 3.5–7.5. Eye diameters (syntype): AME 0.44, ALE 0.40, PME 0.36, PLE 0.38; eye interdistances: AME–AME 0.20, AME–ALE 0.05, PME–PME 0.36, PME–PLE 0.42, AME–PME 0.40, ALE–PLE 0.23, clypeus AME 0.24, clypeus ALE 0.35.

Chelicerae with two anterior and three or four posterior teeth, cheliceral furrow without denticles; Leg formula: 2 4 1 3. Measurements of palp and legs: Palp 7.4 [2.2, 1.1, 1.6, 2.5], I 22.8 [6.5, 2.8, 6.0, 5.8, 1.7], II 25.6 [7.7, 3.2, 6.7, 6.2, 1.8], III 21.6 [6.6, 2.7, 5.6, 5.2, 1.5], IV 25.5 [7.8, 2.7, 6.6, 6.7, 1.7].

Spination. Palp 131, 001, 1111, 1013; Legs: Femur I–III 323, IV 322; Patella I–IV 000; Tibia I–IV 2024; Metatarsus I–III 2024, IV 3034.

Epigyne / vulva. Epigyne as in diagnosis, EFB wide, MS wider than long ( Figure 10A,C ); vulva as in diagnosis with glandular pores situated at distal end of glandular process ( Figure 10B,D ).

Colouration [in ethanol]. Cream to pale orange, dorsal opisthosoma with a patch and series of small chevron-like patterns and additional dots, ventral opisthosoma pale.

Remarks

Eusparassus doriae stat. nov. is re-established here. The species was described by Simon (1874) based on material obtained by the Italian naturalist Giacomo Doria from Tehran (1862–63). Unfortunately, types in MCSN could not be traced and were most probably destroyed by two floods in 1970 and 1990 (M.L. Tavano, personal communication). However, in the Simon collection (MNHN) we found one male and one female (syntypes) of the same expedition material, which were taken by Simon to Paris. After the original description by Simon (1874), he himself in 1880 mistakenly synonymized the species with Sparassus tersa (C.L. Koch) , currently a junior synonym of E. walckenaeri . Following Simon, Roewer (1955) working on material of “Austrian Iran-Expedition (Österreichische Iran-Expedition 1949 / 50)” from central Iran, Kerman Province misidentified the material as E. tersus . Subsequently, Levy (1989) moved this species to E. walckenaeri . Sparassus fontanieri Simon, 1880 is another nominal species for which the type material was probably collected from Iran. The type material was collected by M. Fontanier but the type locality is not clear: “... origin uncertain, probably from Persia (= Iran)... ”, Simon (1880: 75) stated. Despite not locating the type specimen, Levy (1989) synonymized E. fontanieri with E. walckenaeri . The holotype male was recovered by us from MNHN and proved to be a synonym of E. walckenaeri , as Levy (1989) clarified. However, we found that E. doriae stat. nov. is the only widespread Eusparassus in central Iran.

Known geographical distribution and habitat

This species is distributed in Central Iran (Tehran, Kerman and Yazd Provinces). It occurs under large flat stones in dry mountainous areas (V. Vignoli personal observation) and near orchards under stones (first author personal observation).

Figures

Figure 9. Eusparassus doriae (Simon, 1874) stat. nov., male from Jiroft, Kerman Province, Iran: (A) eye arrangement; (B) left chelicera, ventral; (C) left palp, ventral; (D) left palp, retrolateral; (E) tip of embolus and conductor, ventral. Scale bars: (A–D) 1 mm, (E) 0.5 mm.

Figure 10. Eusparassus doriae (Simon, 1874) stat. nov., (A, B) syntype female from Tehran, Iran: (A) epigyne; (B) left vulva, anterio-dorso-lateral; (C, D) female from Bafq, Yazd Province, Iran: (C) epigyne; (D) left vulva, anterio-dorso-lateral. Scale bars: (A, C) 1 mm, (B, D) 0.5 mm.