Tmeticus maximus, EMERTON, 1882

Lin, Shou-Wang, Lopardo, Lara & Uhl, Gabriele, 2022, Evolution of nuptial-gift-related male prosomal structures: taxonomic revision and cladistic analysis of the genus Oedothorax (Araneae: Linyphiidae: Erigoninae), Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 195, pp. 417-584 : 537

TMETICUS MAXIMUS EMERTON, 1882

Tmeticus maximus Emerton, 1882: 55 , pl. 16, fig. 5 (Dm).

Gongylidium maximum Simon, 1884: 500 .

Erigone maxima Marx, 1890: 534 .

Oedothorax maximu Crosby, 1905: 311 .

Unexamined material: USA: New Hampshire, Mt. Washington, half way up, in moss, 1♂ ( Emerton 1882). No type was designated.

Diagnosis:

Males: This species is characterized by the large body size (nearly 3 mm long), the presence of cheliceral mastidia and the palpal morphology, including the short, rough-ended tibial apophysis and the bifurcated paracymbium tip. According to figure 5 in plate 16 in Emerton (1882), this species seems not to have the pointed, prolaterally spiral anterior radical process similar to Oedothorax , and the curvature of the embolus does not resemble that of Oedothorax , either. Females: Unknown.

Distribution: USA: Mt. Washington.

Remarks: One drawing of a male pedipalp in retrolateral view was provided in Emerton (1882), which shows a bifurcated tip of the paracymbium and the curvature of the embolus, both features significantly different from Oedothorax s.s.. We thus propose its transfer back to its original combination until further investigation is conducted. Due to the unavailability of specimens and the limited information from the original description, the relationship of this species to other erigonines remains unclear.