Poecilochroa taborensis ( Levy, 1999 )

Sankaran, Pradeep M., Caleb, John T. D. & Sebastian, Pothalil A., 2020, On the taxonomic validity of Indian ground spiders: III. Genus Phaeocedus Simon, 1893 (Araneae: Gnaphosidae), Journal of Natural History 54 (21 - 22), pp. 1325-1336 : 1329-1331

Poecilochroa taborensis ( Levy, 1999)

( Figure 3 (a,b,c,d))

Poecilochroa taborensis Levy, 1999: 436 , figs 17–18 (for complete list of references, see World Spider Catalog 2020).

Phaeocedus poonaensis Tikader, 1982: 362 , figs 158–163. New synonymy

Type material of P. poonaensis

Holotype female from INDIA: Maharashtra: Pune (formerly Poona): Sakal Nagar near Pune University (18°32 ʹ 49.83 ʹ ’N, 73°49 ʹ 12.79 ʹ ’E; 582 m alt), U.A. Gajbe leg., 22 March 1975, repository NZC-ZSI (4493/18), Kolkata, examined.

Justification of the synonymy

Tikader (1982) described P. poonaensis based on a single female specimen collected in Maharashtra. The epigyne with a median depression and large, bean-like spermathecae of this species clearly indicates that it is a member of Poecilochroa Westring, 1874 (compare Figure 3 (b,c) with Chatzaki et al. 2002a: figs 10–11; Paik 1992: figs 26–27). Detailed examination of the holotype of this species revealed that it has all the diagnostic features of P. taborensis : epigyne with a median triangular depression with straight lateral margins and large, bean-like spermathecae (compare Figure 3 (b,c) with Levy 1999: figs 17–18; Lissner and Chatzaki 2016: figs 4A–E, 5A–B). Based on these observations, we propose to consider P. poonaensis a junior synonym of P. taborensis .

Supplementary description

Female ( Figure 3 (a)): sternum with extensions to and between coxae. Cheliceral promargin with a low keel. Tarsi scopulated. Body length 6.76. Prosoma length 2.41, width 1.67. Opisthosoma length 4.35, width 2.55. Eye diameters: ALE 0.10. AME 0.14. PLE 0.13. PME 0.13. Eye interdistances: AME–ALE 0.03. AME–AME 0.09. AME–PME 0.14. PME–PLE 0.09. PME–PME 0.08. Clypeus height at AMEs 0.09, at ALEs 0.09. Length of chelicerae 0.68. Measurements of legs: I 4.73 [1.40, 0.92, 1.03, 0.87, 0.50], II 4.47 [1.35, 0.89, 0.96, 0.81, 0.46], III 3.77 [1.14, 0.69, 0.69, 0.80, 0.45], IV 4.72 [1.47, 0.82, 0.93, 1.05, 0.46]. Leg formula: 4123.

Remarks

The ZSI collection has one glass bottle for P. poonaensis labelled as ‘holotype’ (4493/18), containing one female specimen in good condition. The same bottle has a small glass vial containing the dissected genitalia. There seems to be inconsistency in the registered number of this species: holotype label mentions ‘4493/18 ʹ, while the original literature indicates the registered number as ‘4993/18 ʹ.

Figures

Figure 3. Phaeocedus poonaensis Tikader, 1982 (NZC-ZSI-4493/18), holotype (=Poecilochroa taborensis Levy, 1999). (a) female, dorsal view. (b) epigyne. (c) vulva. (d) label from type bottle. Scale bars a = 2 mm; b, c = 0.2 mm.