Mesiotelus iranicus Zamani & Marusik, 2023

Zamani, Alireza, Darvishnia, Hamid & Marusik, Yuri M., 2023, New data on cave spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) of Iran, with new species and records, Zootaxa 5361 (3), pp. 345-366 : 358-359

Mesiotelus iranicus Zamani & Marusik , sp. n.

Fig. 14A–D

Type material. Holotype ♀ ( ZMUT), IRAN: Lorestan Province: Kuhdasht, Mir Melas Cave , 33°39'07.9"N, 47°32'16.7"E, 1708 m, 23.V.2016 (H. Darvishnia).

Etymology. The specific epithet is an adjective, referring to the type locality of the new species in Iran.

Diagnosis. The new species differs from all of the congeners by having fenestra (Fe, = windows) on lateroposterior part of the epigyne (vs. lacking).

Description. Female. Habitus as in Fig. 14A . Total length 6.53. Carapace 2.33 long, 1.83 wide. Eye sizes: AME 0.19, ALE 0.13, PME 0.11, PLE 0.12. Carapace, chelicerae, sternum, labium and maxillae light yellowish brown. Chelicerae with 2 pro- and 2 retromarginal teeth. Legs slightly lighter than carapace. Abdomen beige, without any pattern. Spinnerets uniformly light brown. Measurements of legs: I: missing, II: 7.82 (2.06, 1.05, 2.02, 1.65, 1.04), III: 6.34+missing tarsus (1.94, 0.95, 1.60, 1.85, missing), IV: 10.70 (2.72, 1.23, 2.60, 3.00, 1.15). Spination: Palp: Fm: 2d; Ti: 2d, 4pl; Ta: 1d, 3pl, 2v. Legs: I: missing. II: Fm: 2d, 1pl; Ti: 2-2v; Mt: 2v. III: Fm: 2d, 1pl, 1rl; Ti: 1d, 2pl, 2rl, 4v; Mt: 3pl, 3rl, 6v. IV: Fm: 2d, 1pl, 1rl; Ti: 4d, 2pl, 2rl, 7v; Mt: 15t.

Epigyne as in Fig. 14B–D ; epigynal plate ca. 1.3 times longer than wide; anterior hood (Ah) as long as wide; fovea (Fo) diamond-shaped; receptacles (Re) oval, spaced by 0.5 of their width, as wide as fenestra (Fe) posteriorly; copulatory ducts (Cd) short and wide, slightly longer than wide, ca. 0.5 of receptacle’s length, spaced by 0.5 of their width.

Male. Unknown.

Distribution. Known only from the type locality in Mir Melas Cave ( Fig. 16B ), Lorestan Province, southwestern Iran ( Fig. 17 ).

Figures

FIGURE 14. Mesiotelus iranicus sp. n., female.A habitus, dorsal view; B intact epigyne, ventral view; C vulva, dorsal view; D macerated epigyne, ventral view. Scale bars: 0.2 mm, unless stated otherwise.Abbreviations: Ah—anterior hood, Cd—copulatory duct, Co—copulatory opening, Fe—fenestra, Fo—fovea, Re—receptacle.

FIGURE 16. Some of the collection localities of the material reported in this study. A Markhareil; B Mir Melas; C Mooly; D Raad-e Gharbi. Photos by Mohammad Javad Malek-Hosseini.

FIGURE 17. Partial map of Iran, showing the collection localities of the material reported in this study. 1 Ali Sheikh Cave; 2 Barreh Zard Cave; 3 Chehel Sotoon Cave; 4 Darreh-ye Ashkaft Cave; 5 Dengezlu Cave; 6 Gakal Cave; 7 Gelim Goosh Cave; 8 Hamzeh Zendan Cave; 9 Jabiglu Cave; 10 Kabootarlan Cave; 11 Kahman Cave; 12 Kerend Cave; 13 Khoffash Cave, Mar Kelga Cave; 14 Malek Cave, Markhareil Cave; 15 Mir Melas Cave; 16 Mooly Cave; 17 Pir Morad Cave; 18 Raad-e Gharbi Cave; 19 Tang-e Kaboutari; 20 Tang-e-Lor Cave; 21 Tang-e Zendan Cave; 22 Tashan Cave; 23 Torang Cave; 24 Var-e-Zamin Cave; 25 Yaran Cave.