Tylorida Simon, 1894

Sankaran, Pradeep M., Malamel, Jobi J., Joseph, Mathew M. & Sebastian, Pothalil A., 2017, On the genus Tylorida Simon, 1894 with the first record of the genus Atelidea Simon, 1895 from India (Araneae: Tetragnathidae, Leucauginae), Zootaxa 4353 (2), pp. 294-326 : 295-296

Tylorida Simon, 1894

Type species: Tylorida striata ( Thorell, 1877) , originally described as Meta striata Thorell, 1877 .

Rediagnosis. Genus Tylorida can be separated from other described tetragnathid genera by the following combination of characters: femora IV with smooth trichobothrial shaft, cymbial dorso-basal process shorter than half the cymbial width and perpendicular to the cymbium longitudinal axis, short, acute embolus with a broad, twisted embolic base, short, lamelliform conductor lying dorsal to embolus, ventrally swollen tegulum with a distomedian triangular process, long, tubular fertilization ducts connected to both copulatory ducts and spermathecal bulb, copulatory and fertilization ducts running parallel before entering into spermathecal bulb ( Álvarez-Padilla & Hormiga 2011: figs 115F, 116C, 117A, B, F; present data: Figs 4H , 8A–H , 10A–H , 11B, D, E–F , 14A–D, F , 17A– D, F–I, K–N , 18 C, F, I, L, O ).

Relationship. Genus Tylorida is closely allied to the genus Orsinome ( Álvarez-Padilla et al. 2009; Álvarez- Padilla & Hormiga 2011; Dimitrov & Hormiga 2011). Members of both these genera are similar in size, colouration (compare Figs 5A–F , 6A–D , 15A–F with 20A–F) and web building behaviour ( Álvarez-Padilla & Hormiga 2011: fig. 5C, E), making them misplaced within both the genera. Females of both genera share similar cheliceral dentition: three promarginal and four retromarginal teeth (compare Fig. 12B, D, G, I with K). Male chelicerae of Orsinome spp., however, significantly differ from that of Tylorida spp. In the former, the male chelicerae are massive, nearly as wide as long with cheliceral apophysis and less number of teeth, while in the latter, it is longer than wide with numerous teeth and without any apophysis (compare Fig. 12A, C, F, H with J and Álvarez-Padilla & Hormiga 2011: fig. 101D, H).

Members of both the genera differ significantly in male and female genitalia. Whereas in Tylorida spp., the pedipalp possesses a short embolus, short, lamelliform conductor, that clearly separated from embolus, distomedian triangular process of tegulum and basally placed cymbial dorso-basal process, the pedipalp of Orsinome spp. share features such as long embolus, long conductor, which appears contiguous to embolus, tegulum without disto-median triangular process and a more or less distally placed cymbial dorso-basal process (compare Figs 10A– I , 14A–D , 17A–D, F–I, K–N , with 21A–E, Álvarez-Padilla & Hormiga 2011: fig. 103A, F). In contrast to the epigyna of Tylorida spp., which have prominent epigynal plate, widely separated copulatory openings and very long, tubular fertilization ducts, the epigyna of Orsinome spp. are characterised by less prominent epigynal plate, short, thick fertilization ducts and having closely placed/contiguous copulatory openings placed in a common chamber (genital opening) at the centre of the epigynal plate (compare Figs 11A–F , 14E–F , 18A–O with Fig. 21F– G , Zhu et al. 2003: fig. 164D, E, Álvarez-Padilla & Hormiga 2011: figs 102A, 104E).

Taxonomic significance of male chelicerae of Tylorida . Most tetragnathid males are characterised by conspicuously enlarged chelicerae, often armoured with numerous teeth and specialized cheliceral apophyses, which are used for cheliceral clasp during courtship and mating ( Bristowe 1958; Eberhard & Huber 1998). Like members of the genus Tetragnatha Latreille, 1804 , whose chelicerae are taxonomically significant in systematics, the chelicerae of male Tylorida spp. are useful in species identification and in the case of Tylorida , it is particularly significant as the members are extremely similar to each other in both male ( Figs 8A–H , 14A–D , 17A–D, F–I, K– N ) and female ( Figs 9A–D , 14E–F , 18A–O , Jäger & Praxaysombath 2009: fig. 25) genitalic aspects and exhibiting intense intraspecific variations, both somatic as well as genitalic ( Figs 1E–F , 5A–F , 6A–D , 8A–H , 9A–D , 10A–H , 11A–F , 12A–D , 16A–J , 17A–D, F–I, K–N , 18A–O , Jäger & Praxaysombath 2009: figs 24, 28–31, 33, 36–37), which will make species identification hard. We have examined 4 male specimens of T. marmorea , 1 male specimen of T. striata and twenty one male specimens of T. ventralis . Despite the small sample size, it was found that the male chelicerae of all the Indian Tylorida spp. lack specialized apophysis/apophyses, but possess teeth and tubercles that are varying in number, shape, size and mutual spacing from species to species ( Figs 12A, F, H ). Unlike males, females have chelicerae armed with similar number of teeth: three promarginal teeth, which are slightly larger than the four retromarginal teeth ( Figs 4D , 12B, G, I ).

Figures

FIGURE 1A–F. Field photographs of Tylorida spp. A Female Tylorida flava sp. nov. from Illithodu, Ernakulam (ADSH100454); B–C Tylorida marmorea (Pocock, 1901) comb. nov. from Ponmudi, Trivandrum (ADSH100458): B Male; C Female;D Femaleof Tylorida striata (Thorell, 1877)from MuriyadKol Wetland, Thrissur,Kerala (CATE99462); E–FFemales of Tylorida ventralis (Thorell, 1877): E Silver morph from Pathiramanal Island, Alappuzha (ADSH1004515); F Yellow morph from Kanakappalam, Kottayam (ADSH1004518). Photo credit A & E, Pradeep M. Sankaran; B & C, Jimmy Paul; D, Nafin K.S.; F, Dhruv A. Prajapati.

FIGURE 4A–H. Tylorida flava sp. nov.. A Subadult male prosoma, retrolateral; B Female prosoma, retrolateral; C Subadult male left chelicera, prolateral; D Female left chelicera, prolateral; E–F Epigynum, ventral; G–H Internal female genitalia, dorsal.Abbreviations:CD copulatory duct, EP epigynal plate,FD fertilization duct,ll lateral lobeof thepostero-median lobeof epigynal plate, ml median lobe of the postero-median lobe of epigynal plate, pEP postero-median lobe of epigynal plate, SB spermathecal bulb.Scale bars A–B, 1 mm; C–D, 0.5 mm; E–H 0.2 mm.

FIGURE 5A–F. Tylorida marmorea (Pocock, 1901) comb. nov. from Ponmudi (High altitude form). A–C Male habitus: A dorsal; B ventral; C prolateral; D–F Female habitus:D dorsal; E ventral; F prolateral.Scale bar A–F,2 mm.

FIGURE 8A–H. Tylorida marmorea (Pocock, 1901) comb. nov., male left pedipalp. A–D Specimen from Ponmudi (High altitude form): A prolateral; B ventral; C retrolateral; D dorsal; E–H Specimen from Akambadam (Low altitude form): E prolateral; F ventral; G retrolateral; H dorsal.Scale bar A–H, 1 mm.

FIGURE 9A–D. Tylorida marmorea (Pocock, 1901) comb. nov., female genitalia. A–B Specimen from Ponmudi (High altitude form): A Epigynum, ventral; B Internal genitalia, dorsal; C–D Specimen from Akambadam (Low altitude form): C Epigynum, ventral; D Internal genitalia, dorsal.Scale bars A–B, 1 mm; C–D, 0.5 mm.

FIGURE 10A–I. Tylorida marmorea (Pocock, 1901) comb. nov., male left pedipalp. A–D Specimen from Ponmudi (High altitude form): A prolateral; B ventral; C retrolateral; D dorsal; E–I Specimen from Akambadam (Low altitude form): E prolateral; F ventral; G & I retrolateral; H dorsal.Abbreviations: C conductor,CDBP cymbial dorso-basal process, dmtT distomediantriangular process of tegulum, E embolus,EB embolicbase, P paracymbium, ST subtegulum, T tegulum, Tr trochanter. Scale bar A–I, 1 mm.

FIGURE 11A–F. Tylorida marmorea (Pocock, 1901) comb. nov., female genitalia. A–B, E Specimen from Ponmudi (High altitude form): A Epigynum, ventral; B & E Internal genitalia, dorsal; C–D, F Specimen from Akambadam (Low altitude form): C Epigynum, ventral; D & F Internal genitalia, dorsal. Abbreviations: CD copulatory duct, EP epigynal plate, FD fertilization duct, pEP postero-median lobe of epigynal plate, SB spermathecal bulb.Scale bar A–F, 1 mm.

FIGURE 12A–K. Left chelicerae of Tylorida spp. and Orsinome cf. vethi (Hasselt, 1882). A–E Left chelicerae of Tylorida marmorea (Pocock, 1901) comb. nov.: A Male (High altitude form), prolateral; B Female (High altitude form), prolateral; C Male (Low altitude form), prolateral; D Female (Low altitude form), prolateral; E Orginal drawings of male and female cheliceraeadopted from Gravely(1921) without modification; F–G Left chelicerae of Tylorida striata (Thorell, 1877):F Male, retrolateral; G Female, prolateral; H–I Left chelicerae of Tylorida ventralis (Thorell, 1877): H Male, prolateral, arrow indicates tiny tubercle; I Female,ventro-retrolateral;J–K Left cheliceraeof Orsinome cf.vethi: J Male, retrolateral; K Female,prolateral. Scale bars A–B, H–I, 1 mm; C–D, 0.5 mm; F–G, 0.2 mm; J–K, 0.5 mm; E, not to scale.

FIGURE 14A–F. Tylorida striata (Thorell, 1877) from Thalacode, Ernakulam. A–D Male left pedipalp: A prolateral; B ventral; C retrolateral; D dorsal; E–F Female genitalia: E Epigynum, ventral; F Internal genitalia, dorsal; G Original drawings of Tylorida nicobarensis (Tikader,1977) (=Tylorida striata (Thorell, 1877)) adopted from Tikader(1977) without modification. Scale bars A–D, 0.5 mm; E–F, 0.2 mm.

FIGURE 15A–F. Tylorida ventralis (Thorell, 1877): variety I, female with indistinct caudal tubercle from Edappady, Kottayam.A–C Male habitus: A dorsal; B ventral; C retrolateral; D–F Female habitus:D dorsal; E ventral, F retrolateral.Scale bar A–F, 2 mm.

FIGURE 16A–J. Tylorida ventralis(Thorell, 1877):variety II, female with distinct caudal tubercle (Figs A–E) and variety III, female without caudal tubercle (Figs F–J).A–B, F–G Male habitus:A, F dorsal; B,G retrolateral; C–E, H–J Femalehabitus:C, H dorsal; D prolateral;E, I–J retrolateral.A–Dfrom Pathiramanal Island, Alappuzha, Efrom Kumarakom,Kottayam, F–Ifrom Perumbalam, Alappuzha, J from Kulathupuzha, Kollam.Scale bar A–J, 2 mm.

FIGURE 17A–O. Tylorida ventralis (Thorell, 1877): male left pedipalp illustrating intraspecific variations and left chelicerae. A–E variety I from Edappady, Kottayam:A–D Left pedipalp:A prolateral; B ventral; C retrolateral; D dorsal; E Left chelicera, prolateral; F–J variety II from Pathiramanal Island, Alappuzha: F–I Left pedipalp: F prolateral; G ventral; H retrolateral; I dorsal; J Left chelicera, prolateral; variety III from Perumbalam, Alappuzha: K–N Left pedipalp: K prolateral; L ventral; M retrolateral; N dorsal; O Left chelicera, prolateral. Scale bars A–D, 0.5 mm; E, 1 mm;F–O, 0.5 mm.

FIGURE 18A–O. Tylorida ventralis (Thorell, 1877): female genitalia illustrating intraspecific variations. A–F variety II, female with distinct caudal tubercle (A–C from Kumarakom, Kottayam and D–F from Kulathupuzha, Kollam): A–B, D–E Epigyna, ventral; C, F Internal female genitalia, dorsal; G–I, M–O variety III, female without caudal tubercle (G–I another female from Kulathupuzha, Kollam and M–O from Perumbalam, Alappuzha): G–H, M–N Epigyna, ventral; I, O Internal female genitalia, dorsal; J–L variety I, female with indistinct caudal tubercle (from Edappady, Kottayam): J–K Epigyna, ventral; L Internal female genitalia, dorsal. Scale bars A–C, J–L, 0.2 mm; D–I, M–O, 0.5 mm.

FIGURE 21A–G. Orsinome cf. vethi (Hasselt, 1882). A–E Male left pedipalp: A prolateral; B ventral; C, E retrolateral; D dorsal; F–G Female genitalia: F Epigynum, ventral; G Internal genitalia, dorsal. Abbreviations: C conductor, CD copulatory duct, CDBP cymbial dorso-basal process, CO copulatory opening, E embolus, EB embolic base, FD fertilization duct, GO genital opening, P paracymbium, SB spermathecal bulb, ST subtegulum, T tegulum, Tr trochanter.Scale bar A–G 0.5 mm.

FIGURE6A–D. Tylorida marmorea (Pocock,1901) comb.nov. from Akambadam (Low altitude form).A–B Male habitus:A dorsal; B prolateral; C–D Femalehabitus:C dorsal; D retrolateral. Scale bar A–D, 2 mm.