A survey of spider taxa new to Israel (Arachnida: Araneae)
Author
Zonstein, Sergei
Author
Marusik, Yuri
Author
Omelko, Mikhail
text
Zoology in the Middle East
2015
61
4
372
385
journal article
10.1080/09397140.2015.1095525
a55cada0-a34a-4733-ba22-22c096b3c07b
807961
Phyxelida anatolica
Griswold, 1990
(
Figure 4
)
Phyxelida anatolica
Griswold, 1990
: 167, f. 90c‒d (♀);
Thaler & Knoflach, 1998
: 36, f. 1‒16, 18‒23 (♂♀).
Figure 4. Female of
Phyxelida anatolica
. –
a.
habitus, lateral;
b.
abdomen, ventral. Scale = 0.2 mm if not otherwise indicated.
Material.
ISRAEL
:
Mt. Meron
area, Ziv’on.
773 m
,
33°02’N
35°25’E
,
16.iv.2005
(
A. Timm & T. Assmann
) ‒
1♂
(
TAU
)
;
Carmel Ridge
,
Shuni Park
1 km
N
Binyamina
,
32°32’N
34°57’E
,
60 m
,
27.xii.2010
(
YM
) ‒
1♀
(
ZMMU
)
.
Comment.
Phyxelida anatolica
is the only species of the entire family known from the Palaearctic. Although it is somatically rather similar to
Mesiotelus
Simon, 1897 (Liocranidae)
and some other genera of other families, it can be easily recognised by having a cribellum, a calamistrum and light colouration. It differs from the cribellate family
Titanoecidae
by its light colouration (Israeli
Titanoecidae
are black). It differs from the cribellate
Dictynidae
by its larger size (over
4 mm
). This species differs from other cribellate spiders occurring in Israel, such as
Zoropsis
,
Uloboridae
and
Oecobius
, by habitus. Here, we only provide a figure of the female because the males are easily distinguished from other cribellates by the palp. Until recently,
P. anatolica
was known from two localities, Cyprus and Antakya, in Southern Turkey (type locality). This species is a new record for Israel. The record from Ziv’on is the easternmost in the entire range, and the record from Shuni Park is the southernmost locality of the species.