Poecilochroa loricata Kritscher, 1996

Bauer, Tobias, 2022, Remarks on the type material of Poecilochroa loricata Kritscher, 1996 (Araneae: Gnaphosidae), Zootaxa 5169 (1), pp. 97-100 : 97-100

Poecilochroa loricata Kritscher, 1996

( Figs 1–2 )

Type material examined. Holotype: male ( NHMW), dry stone wall, pine forest, east of Marsaxlokk, Malta, 8 June 1990, leg. Erich Kritscher & Karl Bilek. Paratypes: 2 males ( NHMW), idem .

Further material: 1 subadult female ( NHMW), same locality and date as holotype ; 1 male ( NHMW), sandstone hill, under single stones, northwest of Marsalforn , Gozo ( Republic of Malta), 31 May 1990, leg. Erich Kritscher & Karl Bilek.

Diagnosis: Membraneous CD, absence of median bulbus apophysis and uniform coloration similar to Macarophaeus Wunderlich, 2011 , but separated from all current species of the latter genus by the bifid RTA with two large apical extensions ( Wunderlich 2011, Denis 1962). Differs from Poecilochroa furcata ( Simon, 1914) by the longer and thinner embolus, which appears to be as long as the conductor (embolus thicker and not as long as the conductor in P. furcata ), as well as the structure of the RTA with a more pointed and longer ventral extension in P. furcata ( Simon 1914; Di Franco 2001). Differs from other European species currently belonging to the genus Poecilochroa Westring, 1874 by the long, bifid and similarly sized extensions of the apical part of the RTA. Appears to be similar, if not identical, to Poecilochroa antineae Fage, 1929 ( Fage 1929) , described from Mali, which also possesses a scutum on the dorsal side of the opisthosoma. Compared with fig. 1 in Fage (1929), P. antinae differs by an embolus not entwined in a membraneous conductor from retrolateral view.

Description of holotype: Pr, sternum and legs pale yellowish-brown. No teeth present on chelicerae. Eight eyes of about the same size in two rows, anterior eye row recurve. Scutum on dorsal side of Op, covering slightly less than half of Op in length. Op proximally with a cluster of long hairs. RTA bifid, with two long extensions ( Fig 2c ). E long, without apophyses, slightly curved and entwined by a membraneous CD. Distal part of CD lobe-like and apically rounded. Median apophysis of the bulbus absent. Pr length 2.45 (PT 2.65, 2.7), width 1.7 (PT 1.8, 1.85), Op length 2.9 (PT 2.75, 2.7). Leg measurements (Fe, Pt, Ti, Mt, Ta) as follows: I 1.6, 1, 1.2, 1.05, 0.65; II 1.55, 1.05, 1.1, 1.0, 0.65; III 1.4, 0.85, 0.95, 1.1, 0.7; IV 1.8, 1.05, 1.3, 1.7, 0.8. Leg formula (IV-I-II-III). Further details see Kritscher (1996).

Distribution. Only known from the type locality (Marsaxlokk, Malta) and from Marsalforn, Gozo ( Kritscher 1996).

Comment. Although Kritscher gave a very detailed description of several somatic characters, he only provided a sketch of the left pedipalp in retrolateral view ( Kritscher 1996, fig. 7). However, the specimen in the vial labelled “Typus” (holotype) contains a male from which only the right pedipalp is separated. It seems possible that this is the palp illustrated (which is also illustrated here), and that the drawing was later mirrored for publication. In one of the male paratypes the right pedipalp is separated as well, while the other specimen is intact. In the male from Gozo, the left pedipalp is separated, but its RTA is slightly damaged and both legs III are missing. The possibly subadult female (mentioned as “inadult” by Kritscher), stored together with the male paratypes, does not have a scutum, but a paler cardiac mark. In the original description, Kritscher (1996) also described the dorsal extension of the bifid RTA as being half as long as the part that points towards the bulbus. (“ […] wobei der Fortsatz, der dem Palpentarsus aufliegt, spitz zuläuft und nur halb so lang ist wie jener Apophysenteil, der zum Bulbus zeigt ”). As shown in Figs 1 and 2 , this only appears so when the pedipalp is shown in retrolateral view. Shown from a retrolateral-dorsal angle, it becomes clear that both extensions of the RTA are of similar length and shape. In addition, some of the taken measurements differ slightly from those given by Kritscher, e.g. the length of Pr of the holotype.

Wunderlich (2011) provisionally erected the genus Macarophaeus for three species formerly treated in Scotophaeus Simon, 1893 and endemic to the Macaronesian Islands. While the validity of the genus and the generic placement of P. loricata is outside the scope of this note and should be addressed in a genus-wide revision including genetic analyses, it can be stated that P. loricata shares several characteristics of this genus: a uniform coloration, a membraneous conductor that entwines the embolus and the absence of a median bulbus apophysis.

A possible synonymy with the similar Poecilochroa antineae , collected at the former military post Asselar in Mali (formerly French Sudan; Fage 1929), would extend the known distribution of the species into the more southern regions of the Sahara. However, only a re-examination of the type material would allow such an assessment .

I am very grateful to Christoph Hörweg ( NHMW) for his efforts to locate the type material of the species and the possibility to examine it. Rainer Breitling (Manchester, UK) kindly helped with translations, the editor Guilherme Azevedo and the reviewers provided valuable comments and corrections .

Figures

FIGURE 1. Poecilochroa loricata Kritscher, 1996, male holotype. a) habitus dorsal and separated leg I retrolateral, b) habitus ventral, c) right pedipalp retrolateral, d) right pedipalp ventral, e) retrolateral tibialapophysis, retrolateral-dorsal

FIGURE 2. Poecilochroa loricata Kritscher, 1996, male holotype, right pedipalpus, drawing (setae omitted). a) ventral, scale bar = 0.5 mm b) retrolateral, scale bar = 0.5 mm c) retrolateral tibial apophysis from retrolateral—dorsal. RTA = retrolateral tibial apophysis, E = embolus, CD = conductor.