Berlandina spasskyi Ponomarev, 1979

Marusik, Yuri M., Fomichev, Alexander A. & Omelko, Mikhail M., 2014, A survey of East Palaearctic Gnaphosidae (Araneae). 1. On the Berlandina Dalmas, 1922 (Gnaphosinae) from Mongolia and adjacent regions, Zootaxa 3827 (2), pp. 187-213 : 200-202

Berlandina spasskyi Ponomarev, 1979

Figs 57–68

B. s. Ponomarev 1979: 922, f. 7 (♀).

B. xinjiangensis Hu & Wu 1989: 253 , f. 207.1–4 (♂♀). B. s.: Eskov & Marusik 1995: 70.

B. xinjiangensis: Song et al. 2004: 30 , f. 15A–E (♂♀). B. s.: Tuneva 2005: 327, f. 28–29 (♀).

B. xinjiangensis: Marusik & Logunov 2006: 49 . B. s.: Ponomarev & Tsvetkov 2006: 7, f. 4–5 (♂).

Material examined: RUSSIA, Kalmykia: Holotype ♀ ( ZISP № 17), Chernozemelski Distr., Rybachiy Village (ca. 44°59′28″N 45°50′56″E), plain semidesert with Artemisia -herb vegetation, 20.06.1974 (A.V. Ponomarev). CHINA, Xinjiang: allotype ♂ & paratype ♀ of B. xinjiangensis ( HUB), Urumqi City, 20.05.1984 (Zhibing Liu).

Diagnosis. Males of this species differ from all other congeners in East Palaearctic by having two tibial apophyses. Females of B. spasskyi differ from all other species by the characteristic shape of epigynal fovea and very small receptacles separated by one radius.

Comments. This species is well described in above mentioned papers and here we provide only comparative figures. We are not absolutely sure if B. spasskyi and B. xinjiangensis were synonymisied correctly by Tuneva (2005). She had not studied types or topotypes of these two species (type localities are over 2500 km apart). Side by side comparison of the holotype female of B. spasskyi and paratype female of B. xinjiangensis reveals small differences in the course of insemination duct (cf. Figs 63–65 & 67–68 ). Unfortunately we had no opportunity to compare males from distant populations.

Distribution. This species has the widest range and known from two distant areas (Map 1): Kalmykia and West Kazakhstan and East Kazakhstan to Central Mongolia.

Figures

FIGURES 57 – 62. Male palp and chelicerae of Berlandina spasskyi. 57 – 58 palp, ventro-retrolateral and ventral; 59 – 60 palp, retrolateral, and dorso-retrolateral; 61 – 62 chelicerae, ventral and dorsal.

FIGURES 63 – 68. Epigyne and habitus of Berlandina spasskyi. 63, 64, 67 epigyne, ventral; 65, 68 epigyne, dorsal; 66 habitus. 63 – 66 holotype; 67 – 68 specimen from Xinjiang (paratypes of B. xinjiangensis).