Thelcticopis kirankhalapi Ahmed, Sumukha, Khalap, Mohan & Jadhav, 2015

Sankaran, Pradeep M., Sherwood, Danniella & Jäger, Peter, 2024, On the identity of species of the huntsman spider genus Thelcticopis Karsch, 1884 (Araneae: Sparassidae: Sparianthinae) from India, Myanmar, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, Zootaxa 5463 (3), pp. 301-338 : 313-314

Thelcticopis kirankhalapi Ahmed, Sumukha, Khalap, Mohan & Jadhav, 2015

Fig. 26

Thelcticopis kirankhalapi Ahmed et al., 2015: 11 , figs 1–3, 4A–B (♀).

Type material. Holotype ♀, INDIA: Karnataka: Shivamogga: Hosanagara taluka [13°92’N, 75°07’E; 615 m a.s.l.], 18 October 2015, J.N. Sumukha leg. ( FTIA; not examined as the type was not available for the present study). The images presented in Ahmed et al. (2015: figs 1–3, 4A–B) are diagnostic and are used for a comparison here.

Diagnosis. Females of T. kirankhalapi are similar to those of T. folia Jäger & Praxaysombath, 2009 , T. pinmini Cai & Zhong, 2021 and T. zhengi Liu et al., 2010 in sharing a simple median septum (i.e., a thin, flat laminate structure with straight or slightly curved margins) and simple copulatory ducts without any windings or coils. It can be distinguished by its ovate median septum 1.75 times longer than wide (vs. circular to sub-circular in T. folia , T. pinmini and T. zhengi ), and broad spermathecae (vs. narrow in T. folia , T. pinmini and T. zhengi ) (cf. Ahmed et al. 2015: figs 4A–B vs. Jäger & Praxaysombath 2009: figs 106–107; Liu et al. 2010: figs 4F–G; Cai et al. 2021: figs 1D–E).

Description. For female, see Ahmed et al. (2015).

Male. Unknown.

Distribution. India (Karnataka) ( Ahmed et al. 2015) ( Fig. 26 ).

Remarks. The validity of this species is doubtful. The authors did not compare the holotype female with all known Indian congeners, most of which are known only from males or juveniles.

Figures

FIGURE 26. Distribution of species of the genus Thelcticopis Karsch, 1884 in Myanmar, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. For species in southern India and Sri Lanka (except for T. kirankhalapi), see Fig. 27.