Macrothele indicola (Tikader, 1969) comb. nov.

Fig. 13

Ischnothele indicola Tikader, 1969: 160, figs 25–29 (♂ ♀).

Type material examined

Holotype

INDIA • ♂; Meghalaya; Shillong (previously located in the state of Assam, as mentioned in original description, now the capital of the state of Meghalaya), Kench’s trace; 3 Aug. 1966; S. Biswas leg.; NZC-ZSI 3833/18.

Paratype

INDIA • 1 ♀, same data as for holotype; NZC-ZSI 3835/18 .

Allotype

INDIA • 1 ♂, same data as for holotype; NZC-ZSI 3835/18.

Rationale for transferral

Tikader (1969) described this species based on specimens of both sexes, collected from Shillong, Meghalaya. Detailed examination of the type images of Ischnothele indicola shows that it has diagnostic features of Macrothele Ausserer, 1871, including the male palpal bulb with a long and slender embolus, and the female spermathecae with long receptacles and globular apical lobes, as well as the labium of both sexes bearing several cuspules (Fig. 13D, H) (see also Shimojana & Haupt 1998; Xu & Yin 2001; Xu et al. 2002). Therefore, based on the above characters, we transfer Ischnothele indicola to the genus Macrothele, creating the new combination Macrothele indicola comb. nov.

Remarks

The specimen is in bad condition and fragile, with broken legs and palp, the abdomen shows noticeable shrinking from probable historic desiccation.