Deltshevia gromovi, Marusik & Fet, 2009

Marusik, Yuri & Fet, Victor, 2009, A survey of East Palaearctic Hersiliola Thorell, 1870 (Araneae, Hersiliidae), with a description of three new genera, ZooKeys 16 (16), pp. 75-114 : 102-103

Deltshevia gromovi sp. n.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:D7FA30A6-E286-4A5A-9C33-D799D815E437

Figs 3 .5, 4 .7, 5 .7, 9 .6-7, 10 .4-5

Hersiliola macullulata: Zyuzin et al. 1994: 6 ( Kazakhstan) . Misidentification.

Note: Much new material from Central Asia reached us, due to the efforts of Alexan- der Gromov and Dmitri Logunov, when this paper was already finalized; therefore the following description and figures of a male are based on a subadult with welldeveloped palp.

Type material ( 49 specimens): Holotype: ♀ and paratype subadult ♁ (with well-developed palp) ( ZMMU), UZBEKISTAN: Surkhandarya Province , Kattakum Sands, ca. 4 km NE of Uchkyzyl, ca. 330 m a.s.l., 37°22’33”N 67°16’38”E, 27.04.2002, A.V. Gromov coll.

Paratypes. UZBEKISTAN: 1♀ Uzbekistan, Surkhardarya Province, Uzun District, Babatagh Mt. Range, environs of Akmechet’ 12- 20.04.1994, O. Lyakhov coll. ( ZMMU) ; 4 ♁, 4♀ ( SMF), 4♁, 3♀, 3juv ( ZMMU), Uzbekistan, Surkhardarya Province, Babatagh Mt. Range , 25.04.1994, S.V. Ovtchinnikov coll. ; 3♀, 3♀, Surkhardarya Province, Uzun District, E slope of Babatagh Mt. Range , ca 5.5 km WSW of Akmechet’, 38°01’34”N 68°15’22”E, 696 m, 3.05.2002, A.V. Gromov coll. ( ZMMU) ; 1♀, Surkhardarya Province, Uzun District, E slope of Babatagh Mt. Range , ca 5.5 km WSW of Akmechet’, 38°01’42”N 68°14’48”E, 766 m, 4.05.2002, A.V. Gromov coll. ( ZMMU) ; 1♀, Surkhardarya Province, Uzun District, E slope of Babatagh Mt. Range , ca 4.5 km WSW of Akmechet’, 38°01’34”N 68°15’22”E, 706 m, 21.05. 2003, A.V. Gromov coll. ( ZMMU) ; 1♀?, Surkhardarya Province, Uzun District, E slope of Babatagh Mt. Range , ca 5 km WSW of Akmechet’, 38°01’20”N 68°15’08”E, 769 m, 23.05.2003, A.V. Gromov coll. ( ZMMU) ; 1♁, 1♀, Surkhardarya Province, Uzun District, E slope of Babatagh Mt. Range , ca 4.5 km WSW of Akmechet’, 38°01’28”N 68°15’17”E, 700 m, 23.05.2003, A.V. Gromov coll. ( ZMMU) ; 2♁, 2♀, Buxoro (= Bukhara) Province , Gizhduvan District , SW foothills of Karaktau Mt. Range , ca 14.5 km N of Kanimekh, 40°24’51”N 65°08’57”E, 392 m, 5.06.2003, A.V. Gromov coll. ( ZMMU) ; 1♁, 1♀, Navoi Province, Kanimekh District, Kyzylkum Desert, ca 65 km W of Chengel’dy, near Darvazatepa Mt. , clay hills, 211 m, 40°57’26”N 64°07’51”E, 4.06.2003, A.V. Gromov coll. ( ZMMU) ; 1♀, Kyzylkum Desert, Kuldzyktau Mt., Dzhengeldy , 22.05.1994, S.V. Ovtchinnikov coll. ( ZMMU) . KAZAKHSTAN: 2♁, 3♀, South Kazakhstan Province, Chimkent (now Shimkent) District , Kyzylkum Desert , Karaktau Mt. Range , Karamola Mt. , 8.06.1989, A.A. Zyuzin coll. ( ZMMU) ; 4♀, Kazakhstan, South Kazakhstan Province, Kyzylkum Desert, Karaktau Mt. Range, Karamola Mt. , 29.05.1993, A.A. Zyuzin coll. ( ZMMU) ; 1♀, Kyzylkum Desert, Karamola Mt. , 42°14’57.2”N 67°48’21.1”E, 228 m, 3.07.2006, A.V. Gromov coll. ( ZMMU) .

Etymology. The species name is a patronym honoring its collector, our friend and colleague Alexander V. Gromov of Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Diagnosis. Deltshevia gromovi sp. n. is similar to D. danovi sp. n., from which it can be easily distinguished by the shape of the embolus, tegular apophysis and epigyne. Deltshevia gromovi sp.n has a shorter and screw-shaped embolus, while D. danovi sp. n. has a longer, non-screw-shaped embolus. The apical portion of the tegular apophysis in D. gromovi sp. n. has subparallel margins, while the apical portion of the tegular apophysis in D. danovi sp. n. is triangular, with slanting margins. Openings of the epigyne in D. gromovi sp. n. are bell-shaped but not round, copulatory ducts are much longer than in the sibling species, and accessory glands are much larger in comparison to the spermathecae.

Description. Male (subadult, but with well-developed palp). Total length 5.6. Carapace 2.0 long, 2.2 wide, femur I 2.75 long. Carapace with 4 pairs of dark marginal spots, 2 pairs of lateral spots in anterior half and unpaired median spot in thoracic part. Legs with distinct annulations. Palp as in Figs 3.5, 4.7, 5.7, with a long, non-screwshaped embolus, which almost reaches the cymbium tip; tegular apophysis large, its apical part has almost parallel sides.

Female. Total length 5.0. Carapace 2.1 long, 2.35 wide, femur I 3.25 long, epigynal plate 0.71 wide, fovea 0.36 wide, ratio 0.5. Colouration as in male. Epigyne as in Figs 9.6-7, 10.4-5, with distinct large bell-shaped copulatory openings, thin tapering septum, and thin edge of median plate; openings leads to voluminous copulatory ducts, their height is about three times longer than their diameter and two times longer than height of copulatory openings; spermathecae small, oval; accessory glands globular, large (about half the size of a spermatheca)

Comments. It is possible that in mature males the embolus is screw-shaped, as in D. danovi sp. n. The single male that we studied was subadult, and its embolus was straightened being pressed between the cymbium and cuticle. It is possible that after the final molt the embolus would become partially screw-shaped. 1

Distribution. Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan (south).

1 shape of embolus in adult males studied when manuscript was in review is the same as in subadult male.

Figures

Figure 3. Retrolateral view of the male palp of Hersiliola esyunini sp. n. (1), H. sternbergsi sp. n. (2), Duninia baehrae sp. n. (3), Deltshevia danovi sp. n. (4), D. gromovi sp. n. (5), and Ovtsharenkoia pallida (6). Scale = 0.5 mm.

Figure 4. Retrolateral view of the male palp of Hersiliola macullulata (1), H. simoni (2), H. sternbergsi sp. n. (3), H. esyunini sp. n. (4), Duninia baehrae sp. n. (5), Deltshevia danovi sp. n. (6), D. gromovi sp. n. (7), and Ovtsharenkoia pallida (8). Scale = 0.5 mm.

Figure 5. Prolateral view of the male palp of Hersiliola macullulata (1), H. simoni (2), H. sternbergsi sp. n. (3), H. esyunini sp. n. (4), Duninia baehrae sp. n. (5), Deltshevia danovi sp. n. (6), D. gromovi sp. n. (7), and Ovtsharenkoia pallida (8). Scale = 0.5 mm.

Figure 9. Somatic characters of Deltshevia danovi sp. n. (1-5), and D. gromovi sp. n. (6-7). 1, 7 female carapace, dorsal 2-3 abdomen of female, ventral and dorsal respectively 4-5 male carapace, frontal and lateral, respectively 6 female habitus.

Figure 10. Epigynes of Deltshevia danovi sp. n. (1-3), and D. gromovi sp. n. (4-5). 1, 3-4 ventral 2, 5 dorsal. Scale = 0.5 mm.