Palliduphantes corfuensis ( Wunderlich, 1995 ), 2019

Tanasevitch, Andrei V., 2019, Notes on some Palliduphantes Saaristo & Tanasevitch, 2001, with the description of a new species from the Iberian Peninsula (Araneae: Linyphiidae), Revue suisse de Zoologie 126 (2), pp. 203-208 : 207

Palliduphantes corfuensis ( Wunderlich, 1995) comb. nov.

Figs 8-16

Remarks: This species was described from Corfu, Greece by Wunderlich (1995), and, apart from a record from the same island by Lecigne (2013), not reported since the original description. A few specimens of this species, collected by Antoine Senglet in 1972 from Corfu, were recently found in the MHNG and are described below.

Material examined: 4 males, 6 females [7281]; GREECE, Corfu, Loutses ; 20.IX.1972; leg. A. Senglet.

Description: Male. Total length 2.05. Carapace unmodified, 0.88 long, 0.70 wide, yellow. Chelicerae 0.33 long. Legs pale yellow. Leg I 4.78 long (1.20+0.28+1.30+1.20+0.80), IV 4.70 long (1.15+0.30+1.25+1.25+0.75). Chaetotaxy. FeI: 0-1-0-0, II-IV: 0-0-0-0; TiI: 2-1-1-0, TiII: 2-0-1-0, TiIII-IV: 2-0- 0-0; MtI-III: 1-0-0-0, MtIV spineless. Length of spines 3-3.5 diameters of corresponding leg segment. TmI 0.16. Metatarsus IV without trichobothrium. Palp ( Figs 8-12 ): Patella with a stout dorsal spine. Tibia short, unmodified. Paracymbium relatively large, its posterior and anterior pockets (sensu Saaristo & Tanasevitch, 1996) tooth-shaped, dark. Lamella characteristica deeply bifurcate distally, its main trunk with a flat triangular outgrowth at bifurcation and with a long, sable-shaped branch in the middle. Embolus small, weakly sclerotized, embolus proper bifid. Terminal apophysis bipartite. Abdomen 1.18 long, 0.70, pale grey. Female. Total length 2.00. Carapace 0.80 long, 0.65 wide, yellow, with a narrow grey margin and indistinct, grey, radial stripes. Chelicerae 0.35 long. Leg I 4.34 long (1.13+0.30+1.13+1.03+0.75), IV 4.07 long (1.08+0.28+1.03+1.00+0.68). TmI 0.19. Abdomen 1.35

long, 0.90 wide, dark grey, with pale herring-bone pattern dorsally. Epigyne ( Figs 13-16 ): Distinctly protruded, surface of lateral walls adjacent to proscape slightly swollen and lacking spines (“bald swelling”). Proscape thin, long, somewhat narrowing distally. Distal part of scape gradually widening, lateral lobes very small, rounded. Stretcher short and wide. Posterior median plate small, with a notch in distal margin. Receptacles small, rounded. Body coloration and chaetotaxy as in male.

Variability: Dark-colored specimens have a dorsal abdominal pattern composed of pale transverse stripes on a grey background. The shape of the posterior median plate in females is also slightly variable: Fig. 14 cf. Fig. 16 .

Taxonomic remarks: This species is similar to P. khobarum ( Charitonov, 1947) and P. istrianus ( Kulczyński, 1914) , distributed in the Eastern Mediterranean. The male of P. corfuensis comb. nov. differs by the much more deeply divided lamella characteristica, and by the bipartite terminal apophysis (vs. fan-shaped). The female of P. corfuensis comb. nov. is distinguished by the distinctly longer distal part of the scape, and by the shape of the posterior median plate, namely by the presence of a notch in its distal margin. This notch is absent in the oval posterior median plate of P. khobarum and P. istrianus .

Distribution: So far this species is known only from the island of Corfu, Greece.

Figures

Figs 8-16. Palliduphantes corfuensis (Wunderlich, 1995) comb. nov., details of palp and epigyne structure; male (8-12) and female (13-16). (8) Right palp, retrolateral view.(9) Paracymbium, retrolateral view.(10) Paracymbium and lamella characteristica, ventral view. (11) Lamella characteristica, ventral view. (12) Embolus, ventro-retrolateral view. (13-15) Epigyne, ventral, dorsal and lateral view, respectively. (16) Distal part of scape and posterior median plate, ventral view.