Hersiliola afghanica Roewer, 1960

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 : 84-85

Hersiliola afghanica Roewer, 1960

Figs 1 .4, 7 .3-4, 8 .1 H. a. Roewer, 1960: 48, f. 16a-d (D ♀).

Type material (examined). Holotype ♀, with label “ Hersiliola afghanica n.sp. 1♀ Typus, 1(♁ inad.) A409” ( GNM); inadult male is absent from the vial. According to the original publication ( Roewer 1960), the holotype was collected in “ AFGHANISTAN, Kabul, Mont Sher Dervazeh, under stones (K. Lindberg coll.)”.

Note. Roewer (1960) also listed 19 additional specimens (“ paratypes ”) across a wide range in Afghanistan (Mazari-Sharif, Kabul, Jalalabad, etc.), but all of them were indicated as juveniles. However, in the SMF we found a single adult female, clearly designated as a paratype (allegedly of H. afghanica ), with the following label: “ 1♀ Paratype, SMF 12996, No. 15, Afghanistan ”. Holotype ( GNM) and paratype ( SMF) labels are written by the same hand, presumably by Roewer. Study of this SMF female demonstrated that it belongs to another species, which is described below as H. lindbergi sp. n.

Diagnosis. Hersiliola afghanica is most similar to H. sternbergsi sp. n., from which it can be distinguished by larger spermathecae, shape of the upper loop, and insemination duct terminating on dorsal wall of the spermatheca.

Description. Male unknown. Female: Total length 5.5. Carapace 2.0 long, 2.15 wide, femur I 3.25 long, femur I/carapace length ratio 1.63. General colouration light brown. Carapace in poor condition, pattern is not visible. Abdomen with well developed pattern composed by a heart spot with dark margins; posterior part of abdomen with three transverse stripes. Legs with distinct annulations, light and dark rings equal in width. Coxae IV separated by less than one diameter. Chelicerae and maxillae with strong erect hairs. Epigyne as in Figs 7.3-4, 8.1. Septum as wide as lateral arms of median plate; windows distinct. Insemination duct relatively short; upper loop of coil located over the spermatheca; accessory gland digitiform.

Distribution. Afghanistan (Kabul Province).

Comments. Although this species was reported from a number of localities in Afghanistan, all records except for the holotype ♀ from Kabul are based on juveniles that could be misidentified since other hersiliids ( H. lindbergi sp. n. or Ovtsharenkoia pallida ) could occur in this area. Any of these species could also have been reported by Denis (1958) from Pirzada ( Afghanistan) as H. simoni .

All records of H. afghanica from Turkmenistan are misidentifications and refer either to Duninia baehrae gen. n. sp. n. or to Deltshevia danovi gen. n. sp. n.

Figures

Figure 1. Habitus of females of Hersiliola sternbergsi sp. n. (1), H. esyunini sp. n. (2), H. lindbergi sp. n. (3) and H. afghanica (4).

Map 1. Distribution of Hersiliidae in Central Asia. ' Hersiliola afghanica; × Hersiliola esyunini; • Hersiliola foordi; · Hersiliola lindbergi; • Hersiliola sternbergsi; + Hersiliola xinjiangensis; ′ Duninia baehrae; ‵ Duninia rheimsae;. Deltshevia danovi; * Deltshevia gromovi; - Ovtsharenkoia pallida; -? identity uncertain

Figure 7. Epigynes of Hersiliola versicolor (1), Hersiliola sp. (2), H. lindbergi sp. n. (3, 6), H. afghanica (4-5), H. sternbergsi sp. n. (7-9), H. esyunini sp. n. (10-12), and H. foordi sp. n. (13-14). 1-8, 10-11, 13-14 ventral 9, 12 dorsal. Scale = 0.5 mm.

Figure 8. Epigynes, ventral view, of Hersiliola afghanica (1), H. sternbergsi sp. n. (2), H. lindbergi sp. n. (3), H. esyunini sp. n. (4), H. foordi sp. n (5), Duninia baehrae sp. n. (6), and D. rheimsae sp. n. (7).