Mermessus denticulatus (Banks)

Cokendolpher, James C., Torrence, Shannon M., Smith, Loren M. & Dupérré, Nadine, 2007, New Linyphiidae spiders associated with playas in the Southern High Plains (Llano Estacado) of Texas (Arachnida: Araneae), Zootaxa 1529, pp. 49-60 : 56

Mermessus denticulatus (Banks)

Tmeticus denticulatus Banks 1898 , 243, pl. 14, fig. 29; see Platnick (2007) for further literature records. Centromerus denticulatus: Roewer 1942 , 532.

Erigone eschatologica Crosby in Chamberlin 1924, 643, figs 85–88.

Eperigone eschatologica: Crosby & Bishop 1928 , 51, figs 113–116; Millidge 1987, 37, figs 132–136; Platnick (2007). Mermessus denticulatus (Banks) : Miller 2007, 132, fig. 92(G, H).

Material Examined.— U.S.A.: Texas: Floyd County: Mitchell East Playa , N33°58’ W101°29', 20 Sept. 1994, Jim Anderson (TTU-Z 13,377).

Comments.—Although this spider was not collected in the present study in Briscoe and Swisher Counties, a male voucher from Anderson’s (1997) study of playas in Floyd County (the county immediately south of Briscoe County) revealed this species. This specimen was collected in the emergent vegetation in a playa . The new county record for this spider fills a blank in its recorded range. When Millidge (1987) revised the genus and updated the species description and distribution, he listed samples from Potter, Knox, and Lipscomb Counties from northwestern Texas, but did not provide specifics on the localities. Platnick (2007) listed the range of this species as U.S.A. to Colombia, introduced to Europe. The only natural history information provided by Millidge (1987) was that adults were collected from throughout the year and the only habitat mentioned was “crevices in a clay bank in Georgia.”