Cryptodrassus mahabalei ( Tikader, 1982 ) Sankaran & Caleb & Sebastian, 2020

Sankaran, Pradeep M., Caleb, John T. D. & Sebastian, Pothalil A., 2020, On the taxonomic validity of Indian ground spiders: II. Genera Drassyllus Chamberlin, 1922 and Nodocion Chamberlin, 1922 (Araneae: Gnaphosidae), European Journal of Taxonomy 673 (673), pp. 1-14 : 5-7

Cryptodrassus mahabalei ( Tikader, 1982) comb. nov.

Fig. 3

Drassyllus mahabalei Tikader, 1982: 510 , figs 485–489.

Drassyllus mahabalei – Gajbe 2007: 490, figs 213–217.

Diagnosis

Cryptodrassus mahabalei comb. nov. resembles C. khajuriai comb. nov. in having a large, epigynal atrium and copulatory ducts with thick proximal and thin distal parts, but differs from the latter by the following combination of characters: epigyne with wide circular atrium (epigyne of C. khajuriai comb. nov. with triangular atrium), less coiled copulatory ducts (copulatory ducts of C. khajuriai comb. nov. highly coiled) and oval receptacles ( C. khajuriai comb. nov. with globular receptacles) (compare Figs 1 C–D, 2C–D with Fig. 3 C–D).

Material examined

Holotype

INDIA • ♀; Maharashtra, Pune (formerly Poona), Sindhi Colony ; 18°33′32.29″ N, 73°48′39.70″ E; 571 m a.s.l.; 4 Apr. 1976; B.K. Tikader leg.; NZC-ZSI, Kolkata 5044/18 .

Supplementary description

Female (holotype, Fig. 3 )

Body length 6.29. Prosoma: length 1.90, width 1.52. Opisthosoma: length 4.39, width 2.39. Eye diameters: ALE 0.12, AME 0.13, PLE 0.10, PME 0.17. Eye interdistances: AME–AME 0.06, AME– PME 0.09, PME–PLE 0.02. Chelicerae length 0.57. Measurements of palp and legs. Palp 1.82 [0.69, 0.34, 0.26, 0.53], I 6.01 [1.61, 0.94, 1.31, 1.25, 0.90], II 4.29 [1.17, 0.65, 0.80, 0.96, 0.71], III 3.92 [1.03, 0.58, 0.71, 0.99, 0.61], IV 7.74 [1.97, 0.93, 1.69, 2.01, 1.14]. Leg formula: 4123. Palpal tarsus bears spines. Epigyne (holotype, Fig. 3 C–D): Epigynal plate moderately sclerotized, nearly rectangular, with wide circular atrium with anterior hood ( Fig. 3C ). Copulatory openings indistinct. Copulatory ducts long, tubular, narrowed medially and thick distally, weakly twisted ( Fig. 3D ). Receptacles small, reniform, obliquely placed, lying adjacent to posterior epigynal margin ( Fig. 3D ). Fertilization ducts narrow, diverging ( Fig. 3D ).

Male

Unknown.

Justification of the transfer

Tikader (1982) described this species on the basis of a female specimen collected in Maharashtra. Like the former species, it has resemblance to Drassyllus spp. only in the posterior median eyes ( Fig. 3B ). A detailed examination of the holotype of D. mahabalei revealed that it has all of the characteristic features of Cryptodrassus spp. as noted in the case of previous species. Thus we propose to transfer D. mahabalei to Cryptodrassus .

Remarks

The ZSI collection has one glass bottle for this species, labeled as ‘holotype’ (5044/18), containing a female specimen in good condition, without right leg IV only. The same bottle has a small glass vial containing the dissected epigyne.

Figures

Fig. 3. Cryptodrassus mahabalei (Tikader, 1982) comb. nov., ♀, holotype of Drassyllus mahabalei Tikader, 1982 (NZC-ZSI-5044/18). A. Habitus, dorsal view. B. Eyes of the same, dorsal view. C. Epigyne, ventral view. D. Same, dorsal view. E. Label from type bottle. Scale bars: A = 2 mm; B = 0.5 mm; C–D = 0.2 mm.

Fig. 1. Cryptodrassus khajuriai (Tikader & Gajbe, 1976) comb. nov., ♀, holotype of Drassyllus khajuriai Tikader & Gajbe, 1976 (NZC-ZSI-5043/18). A. Habitus, dorsal view. B. Eyes of the same, dorsal view. C. Epigyne, ventral view. D. Same, dorsal view. E. Label from type bottle. Scale bars: A = 1 mm; B = 0.5 mm; C–D = 0.2 mm.