PROCHORINI

Wunderlich, Joerg, 2011, On European Spiders Of The Nominal Families Liocranidae, Miturgidae And Zoridae (Araneae), With Descriptions Of New Taxa, Beiträge zur Araneologie 6 (1), pp. 108-120 : 114-115

PROCHORINI n. trib. ( figs. 13-15 )

Type genus (by monotypy): Prochora SIMON 1885.

Diagnosis: GNATHOCOXAL SERRULA ABSENT, praecoxal triangles absent, trochanters strongly notched, posterior eye row fairly procurved; ♂ -pedipalpus ( figs. 13-14 ): Cymbium with a long and wide retrolateral depression/furrow. Epigyne ( fig. 15 ) anteriorly with a small sclerotized helm-shaped structure, vulva with long, thick and tangled ducts.

Further characters/description: Body length about 1 cm, colour of body and legs medium brown, prosomal cuticula finelly furrowed, eye field narrow, posterior median eye lenses circular, clypeus short, labium free, about as long as wide, gnathocoxal depressions absent, fangs long, basal cheliceral articles large, number of the teeth of its anterior/posterior margins 3/2, leg bristles numerous but absent on the patellae, tibiae l-ll bear two ventral pairs (thin in the female), and short apical bristles, tarsal and metatarsal scopula dense and undivided, dense claw tufts of thin hairs exist, tarsal trichobothria in two irregular rows, feathery (branched) hairs absent, apical article of the posterior spinnerets about as long as the basal article, colulus strongly reduced or even absent, several longer hairs exist in this area, ♂ -pedipalpus ( fig. 13-14 ): Retrolateral tibial apophysis bifurcate, bulbus with complicated structures, the embolus describes a wide loop in a counterclockwise position of the right pedipalpus.

Relationships: Prochora has been regarded as a member of the Liocranidae by SIMON (1897) and was transferred to the family Miturgidae by LEHTINEN (1967) without a stringent foundation. The “diagnoses” of the Miturgidae given by JOCQUE & DIPPENAAR-SCHOEMAN (2007: 174) and in UBICK et al. (2004: 173) do not indicate significant differences to the diagnosis of the Zoridae / Liocranidae besides the posterior spinnerets. In Prochora and Teminius the apical article of the posterior spinnerets is about as long as the basal article. Relatively long apical articles of the posterior spinnerets (they are long in the Miturginae) exist in Zora , too (I found the apical article about half of the length of the basal article in males), and the shape of the spinnerets is quite variable within families like Clubionidae , Gnaphosidae and Zoridae / Liocranidae . A retrolateral cymbial furrow ( fig. 14 ) exists in certain Miturgidae s. str. but it evolved convergently in numerous spider families like Clubionidae , Corinnidae , Gnaphosidae , Thomisidae , Salticidae , and Zoridae / Liocranidae ; compared to Prochora it is less developed in Liocranum and Teminius . Thick and heavily sclerotized ducts of the vulva exist in Prochora and Teminius like in most Miturgidae but exist quite similar in related taxa as well, e. g., in Agroeca (Liocraninae) . A helm-shaped anterior structure of the epigyne (existing or absent within several families) exists in several genera of the Zoridae / Liocranidae but - so far known to me - not in the Miturginae. Therefore - with little hesitation - I regard the Prochorini as a member of the Zoridae s. I. A gnathocoxal serrula exists in the remaining Zoridae / Liocranidae / Miturginae which are known to me. - According to the absence of praecoxal triangles, the existence of thin hairs of the claw tufts, and - less distinct - to the position of the eyes (the posterior row may be only slightly procurved in the Agroecini) the Agroecini may be most related but in the Agroecini the apical article of the posterior spinnerets is short, trochanteral notchs are absent, the claw tufts are less developed, and the genital organs - e.g. cymbium, embolus, epigyne, vulva - are distinctly different.

Distribution: Palaearctic: Mediterranean.

Figures

fig. 12 a) Mesiotelus grancanariensis WUNDERLICH 1992, ♀, epigyne. Scale 0.1 mm; fig. 12 b) Liocranum rupicola (WALCKENAER 1928), ♀, epigyne. Taken from GRIMM (1986). figs. 13 - 15: Prochora lycosiformis (O. PICKARD-CAMBRIDGE 1872); 13 - 14: Ventral and retrolateral aspect of the left ♂ - pedipalpus; 15) ♀, epigyne; figs. 16 - 16 a: Apostenus sp. indet., ♂ (Tenerife, Anaga mountains); 16) retrolateral aspect of the right pedipalpal tibia; 17) ventral aspect of the right pedipalpus. The bulbus is slightly expanded. Scale bars 0.2 mm.