Hersilia talebii, Mirshamsi & Zamani & Marusik, 2016

Mirshamsi, Omid, Zamani, Alireza & Marusik, Yuri M., 2016, A survey of Hersiliidae (Arachnida: Araneae) of Iran with description of one new genus and two new species, Journal of Natural History (J. Nat. Hist.) 50, pp. 1447-1461 : 1454-1455

Hersilia talebii sp. nov.

Figure 3A – E

Type material

Holotype ♀ and paratype juvenile ♀ ( ZMFUM), Iran: Hormozgan Province, Kish Island , September 1994 (A. Savoji).

Etymology

This species is named after the late Amir Talebi Gol (1980 – 2014), a wildlife photographer who passed away because of an unfortunate accident during fieldwork. The gender is masculine.

Diagnosis

The shape of the epigyne places this species in the pectinata group. It is closely related to H. orvakalensis Javed, Foord and Tampal, 2010 from eastern India, from which it can be distinguished by a lack of abdominal lateral humps, smaller median plate with almost straight posterior edge (middle part of posterior edge convex in H. orvakalensis ), larger ripple pads and larger and more widely positioned receptacles. In addition, the lateral margins of the epigynal plate in the new species are almost parallel, while in H. orvakalensis margins are slanting.

Description

Female. General habitus and colouration as shown in Figure 3A and B ; carapace yellowish-brown without distinct markings, with marginal creamy band; ocular area dark brown; clypeus and chelicerae yellowish-brown; sternum, labium and endites yellow coloured without distinct colour pattern; legs yellowish-brown with distinct annulations on tibia and tarsus of each leg; patella and distal end of tibia dark brown; femur I and II with ventral longitudinal dark brown band; abdomen ventrally cream coloured; dorsally yellowish-brown with dark brown cardiac mark extending in upper half of the abdomen; spinnerets yellow. Total length 8.5; carapace 2.00 long, 2.20 wide, femur I 3.82 long, femur I length/carapace length ratio 1.91, carapace length/width ratio 0.90; eye sizes: AME 0.124, ALE 0.09, PME 0.104, PLE 0.124; clypeus 0.25 high. Epigyne as illustrated in Figure 3C – E ; with thin septum rippled posteriorly surrounded by weakly sclerotised rippled pads; receptacles elongated and with three lobes, with short fertilisation duct and longer insemination duct.

Male. Unknown.

Distribution

Hersilia talebii sp. nov. represents the first record of the genus in Iran. This species is known only from the type locality in Kish Island , Hormozgan Province .

Figures

Figure 3. Female holotype of Hersilia talebii sp. nov. (A) habitus, dorsal; (B) habitus, ventral; (C, D) epigyne, dorsal; (E) Epigyne, ventral. ID, insemination duct; RE, receptacle; MP, median plate; RP, ripple pad; FD, fertilisation duct; LB, lateral border.