Psechrus mimus Chamberlin, 1924

Bayer, Steffen, 2012, The lace-sheet-weavers — a long story (Araneae: Psechridae: Psechrus), Zootaxa 3379 (1), pp. 1-170 : 145-151

Psechrus mimus Chamberlin, 1924

Figs 63h–i

Psechrus mimus Chamberlin 1924: 2 (Description of p.s.a. ♀). [Holotype p.s.a. ♀ (SB 191, label marked with ‘TYPE’) from CHINA: Jiangsu Province: Suzhou (‘Suchan’); N. Gist Gee leg.; Type No. 863; |A31|; USNM 1054; Paratypes: 1 p. s.a. ♀ (SB 603), 1 juv. (SB 723), with same data as for holotype; USNM (p.s.a. ♀), MCZ 1025 (juv.), all type material examined]. Lehtinen 1967: 261 (Syn. with P. torvus , rejected by subsequent authors). Levi 1982: 123 (Syn. with P. sinensis ). Xu and Wang 1983: 35, figs 1–7 (Illustration of ♂ and ♀). Song 1987: 68, fig. 34 (Illustration of ♂ and ♀). Song 1988: 133. Song et al. 1999: 397, figs 232E–F, Q–R (Illustration of ♂ and ♀). Wang and Yin 2001: 337 (Removed from syn. with P.sinensis , considered as nomen dubium).

Psechrus sinensis — Levi 1982: 123, figs 34–39, ad part, figs 36–39 misidentified (figs 36–37: illustration of p.s.a. ♀).

Remark: Wang and Yin (2001) considered P. mimus as nomen dubium giving the reason that “Chamberlin described P. mimus from an unidentifiable female juvenile...”. The holotype ( Figs 63h–i ) as well as one paratype (SB 603) are herein considered pre-subadult females. Therefore, it is indeed very complicated, if not impossible, to assign these specimens to a particular species. In Psechrus females the pre-epigynes mostly show already speciesspecific characters, but the pre-pre-epigynes (of antepenultimate instar females) are hard to characterise. Hence, for now I agree with Wang and Yin (2001) in regarding P. mimus as nomen dubium. Nevertheless, it cannot be excluded, that P. senoculatus , which is regarded as valid species in the present study, is a synonym of P. mimus as proposed by Song (1988); however, there is no clear evidence for that. With additional material (including p.s.a. ♀♀, s.a. ♀♀ and adults) from the type locality, Suzhou, this problem may be solved.

m–o: Photos by Ping Feng, Dali, China.

Figures

FIGURES 63a–i. Psechrus spp., ♀ adult and primordial copulatory organs. a–g Psechrus senoculatus. h–i Psechrus mimus (nomen dubium). a–c ♀ paratype SB 538 of Psechrus senoculatus from China, Hunan Prov. d–e s.a. ♀ SB 190 from China, Sichuan Prov. f–g ♀ SB 236 from China, Jiangsu Prov. h–i p.s.a. ♀ holotype SB 191 of Psechrus mimus from China, Jiangsu Prov. a, g Epigyne, ventral view. b, f Vulva, dorsal view. c Schematic course of internal duct system. d Pre-epigyne, ventral view. e Pre-vulva, dorsal view. h Pre-pre-epigyne, ventral view. i Pre-pre-vulva, dorsal view.