Trygetus Simon, 1882

Zamani, Alireza & Marusik, Yuri M., 2022, New taxonomic data on Zodariinae (Araneae: Zodariidae) of Azerbaijan, Iran Afghanistan and Pakistan, Zootaxa 5155 (3), pp. 423-438 : 428

Genus Trygetus Simon, 1882

Trygetus: Jocqué 1991: 147 ; Levy 1992: 62.

Type species. Palaestina sexoculata O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1872 , from Egypt .

Diagnosis. The members of this genus can be recognized from all genera of Zodariinae occurring east of Turkey by having only six eyes (although rarely vestiges of AME are present, see Fig. 5E ), and the presence of a dorsal scutum in males (except for Palaestina O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1872 and some species of Zodarion Walckenaer, 1826 ).

Comments. Currently eight species are considered in the genus, distributed in Morocco (one species) and from Egypt to Turkmenistan. Three of the easternmost species are known only from females, while the westernmost one is known only from the holotype male. Considering the shape of the epigynes, species occurring in Azerbaijan, Iran and Turkmenistan seem to be misplaced, albeit being similar in habitus to those known from Africa, Israel and Saudi Arabia (cf. Fig. 5A– H and Ono & Jocqué 1986: fig. 5; Levy 1992: figs 27–33, 39–41). The males described here also differ from the generotype in several characters (e.g. the shape of RTA, much shorter and not filamentous embolus, etc.). The Moroccan species ( T. berlandi Denis, 1952 ) also appears to be misplaced in the genus, accounting the morphology of the male palp. This matter should be fully investigated in a thorough revision of Trygetus and its related genera.

Distribution. Morocco, Egypt, the Caucasus, the Middle East, south to Djibouti, east to Turkmenistan ( WSC 2022).

Figures

FIGURE 5. Habitus of Trygetus gromovi Marusik, 2011 (A–D), T. susianus Zamani & Marusik, 2021 (E), T. cyrus sp. n. (F) and T. nakhchivanicus sp. n. (G, H). A, F female, dorsal; B same, lateral; C female’s abdomen and posterior part of cephalothorax, ventral; D female’s cephalothorax, anterior; E, H male, dorsal; G same, ventral. Scale bars = 0.2 mm, unless stated otherwise.