Lephthyphantes [sic!] istrianus Kulczyński, 1914

Bosmans, Robert & Trotta, Alessio, 2021, On two rare Italian Palliduphantes, including the description of a new species (Araneae: Linyphiidae), Fragmenta entomologica 53 (1), pp. 9-12 : 10-11

Lephthyphantes [sic!] istrianus Kulczyński, 1914 :

363, pl. 16, figs 9–10 (descr. ♀); Polenec & Thaler 1980: 106, figs 8–15 (descr. ♂ ♀); Deeleman-Reinhold 1986: 42, figs 1c–d, 10–15 (descr. ♂ ♀).

Lephthyphantes [sic!] serratistylus Roewer, 1931:

8, figs 5–6 (descr. ♂ ♀).

Lepthyphantes slivnensis Drensky, 1931 :

16, 44, fig. 2 (descr. ♂).

Lepthyphantes strandi Kolosváry, 1934 :

10, figs 2–4 (descr. ♂).

Lepthyphantes korculensis Miller, 1978 :

60, pl. III, figs 1–7 (descr. ♀).

Palliduphantes istrianus ; Saaristo & Tanasevitch 2001: 6, fig. 2E

Comments. Palliduphantes species are generally hard to identify. Valuable diagnostic characters are represented, in males, by the serrated terminal apophysis in the embolic division of the male palp, and, in females, by the shape of the triangular distal part of the scape of the epigyne. In respect to this general pattern, P. istrianus is an exception, as specimen are characterized by high intraspecific variability of these characters, which could explain the long list of synonyms in its taxonomy ( World Spider Catalog 2020). In fact, this species has been described under 5 different names: Lepthyphantes istrianus Kulczyński, 1914 from Grotta delle Druse (NE Italy, Sgonico, Trieste province), L. serratistylus Roewer, 1931 from Grotta dei Colombi (Gabria jama) near Basovizza (NE Italy, Trieste province), L. slivnensis Drensky, 1931 from Bulgaria, L. strandi Kolosváry, 1934 from Hungary and L. korculensis Miller, 1978 from Croatia. All these taxa are pale yellowish to whitish, and mostly collected in caves, but, as is often the case in several other troglophilic arthropods, Palliduphantes istrianus actually exhibits a large geographic range. In more recent times, two excellent redescriptions of this species were published by Polenec & Thaler (1980) and by Deeleman-Reinhold (1986).

Material examined. ITALY: Campania (Avellino province), Montella, Grotta del Caprone (N40°48’17.98’’ E15°00’22.88’’), 835m, 1 ♂, 31.XII.2015, 2 ♀♀, 6.VIII.2018, 1 ♂, 1 ♀, 6.VIII.2019, L. Petruzziello leg. (CRB) .

Previous Italian records [grotta = cave; pozzo = karstic deep well]. ITALY: Friuli Venezia Giulia, Trieste province, Carso Triestino, Grotta delle Druse (Kulczyński 1914, as Lephthyphantes [sic!]; Polenec & Thaler 1980;

Gasparo 1995; Gasparo & Thaler 2000); Grotta dei Colombi (Gabria jama) near Basovizza ( Roewer 1931, as Lephthyphantes [sic!] serratistylus Roewer ; Gasparo & Thaler 2000); Pozzo dei Colombi near Bassovizza ( Roewer 1931; Polenec & Thaler 1980; Gasparo & Thaler 2000); Duino-Aurisina, Grotta della Fornace ( Gasparo & Thaler 2000); Duino-Aurisina, Grotta A. F. Lindner ( Gasparo & Thaler 2000); Duino-Aurisina, found in a cave east of Aurisina ( Gasparo & Thaler 2000); San Servolo near Trieste ( Roewer 1931); San Dorligo della Valle, Grotte delle Gallerie ( Gasparo 1993; Gasparo & Thaler 2000); Sgonico, Grotta C. Doria ( Gasparo & Thaler 2000); Sgonico, Grotta Gigante ( Gasparo 1998; Gasparo & Thaler 2000); Sgonico, Grotta Romana ( Gasparo & Thaler 2000). Veneto: Venezia province, Venezia, urban park ( Hansen 1995); ibidem, S. Giorgio Island, Parco Fondazione Cini ( Hansen 1996); municipality of Marghera, overwhelmed case near Fusina ( Celano & Hansen 1999). Emilia Romagna: Forlì-Cesena province, Forlì, San Martino di Villafranca ( Paoletti et al. 1993). Toscana: Pisa province, Monte Pisano area ( Picchi 2020). Lazio: Viterbo province, olive grove near Viterbo ( Thaler & Zapparoli 1993).

Geographic distribution. Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Montenegro, Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, Greece. In Italy, the species was so far recorded from the Northern and central parts of the country. The above cited locality represents the first record for Southern Italy.

Acknowledgements – Luigi Petruzziello [Remedello, Italy] collected all the material and is here thanked for sending it to us for study. Pierre Oger took care of the excellent photos.