Araniella mithra, Zamani & Marusik & Šestáková, 2020

Zamani, Alireza, Marusik, Yuri M. & Sestakova, Anna, 2020, On Araniella and Neoscona (Araneae, Araneidae) of the Caucasus, Middle East and Central Asia, ZooKeys 906, pp. 13-40 : 13

Araniella mithra sp. nov. Figs 1A, C ; 2A, B ; 4A, B ; 6A, B ; 7C ; 8C ; 9C ; 10C ; 18

Araniella proxima : Zamani et al. 2017: 58 (misidentification).

Type material.

Iran: Holotype ♂ and paratypes 1♂ 2♀ (MHNG), Isfahan Province: Nowgahan, 33°11'N, 50°04'E, 22.06.1974 (A. Senglet); 1♀ (MHNG), Falavarian, 32°34'N, 51°31'E, 14.06.1974 (A. Senglet); 2♂12♀ (MHNG), Chaharmahal & Bakhtiari Province: Dimeh, 32°29'N, 50°16'E, 21.06.1974 (A. Senglet); 1♂ 1♀ (MHNG), West Azarbayjan Province: Maku, 39°08'N, 44°30'E, 23.06.1973 (A. Senglet), 1♂ (MMUE), no label.

Comparative material.

Araniella opisthographa ( Kulczyński, 1905). Finland: 1♂ (ZMUT): Åland Islands: Lemland, Rörstorp, 27.06.1971 (P. Lehtinen); Iran: 1♂1♀1sub♂ (ZMMU): Mazandaran Province: Barseh Vil., 36°37'N, 50°41'E, 10.06.2000 (Y.M. Marusik). Turkey: 1♂5♀1sub♂ (ZMMU): Kastamonu Province: Azdavay Dist., 41°41'N, 33°25'E, 975 m, 30.05.2009 (Y.M. Marusik).

Etymology.

The specific epithet is a noun in apposition, and refers to Mithra, the god of light in ancient Indo-Iranian mythology.

Diagnosis.

Male palp and epigyne resemble those of A. opisthographa , but the two species can be differentiated by the following characters: 1) the embolus is slimmer in A. mithra sp. nov., vs. triangular-shaped and with a wider base in A. opisthographa ; 2) the terminal apophysis in A. mithra sp. nov. is almost as wide over its entire length, vs. wider near the peak in A. opisthographa ; 3) the conductor in A. mithra sp. nov. has three distinct spikes, vs. one spike and one more rounded process in A. opisthographa ; 4) the tegulum in A. mithra sp. nov. is higher with a short pointed tip, vs. the slender tegulum with a longer tip in A. opisthographa ; 5) male carapace unicolor in A. mithra sp. nov., vs. presence of broad dark marginal bands in A. opisthographa ; 6) epigyne with slightly longer scape, and the sclerotized bulges are rounded around the base of scape in A. mithra sp. nov., vs. more incised triangular bulges in A. opisthographa .

Description

(colors and pattern seem faded). Male (holotype). Habitus as in Fig. 1A . Total length 5.04. Carapace 2.36 long, 2.19 wide in pars thoracica, 0.91 in pars cephalica. Eye sizes and interdistances: AME: 0.09, ALE: 0.09, PME: 0.11, PLE: 0.12, AME-AME: 0.13, PME-PME: 0.12. Carapace, sternum, labium, chelicerae, and maxillae reddish brown, lighter ventrally and in pars cephalica, without any patterns. Legs the same color as the carapace. Abdomen pale (stored in alcohol, most probably green in live specimens) dorsally, dark gray ventrally, with three pairs of black lateral spots on dorsum posteriorly. Spinnerets light brown, apical segment lighter. Leg I measurements: 7.46 (2.21, 0.93, 1.75, 1.75, 0.82).

Palp as in Figs 2A, B ; 4A, B ; 6A, B . Tegulum with low round ridge and terminally with short pointed tip; terminal apophysis with blunt end and almost equally wide along its length; embolus pointed, sickle-shaped bent; median apophysis sickle-shaped bent upwards, covered by small denticles (less visible via stereomicroscope), with pointed tip ended near base of embolus; conductor with three distinct spikes.

Female. Habitus as in Fig. 1C . Total length 5.65. Carapace 2.40 long, 1.87 wide in pars thoracica, 1.19 in pars cephalica. Eye sizes and interdistances: AME: 0.11, ALE: 0.12, PME: 0.12, PLE: 0.09, AME-AME: 0.14, PME-PME: 0.11. Coloration as in male, slightly lighter. Leg I measurements: 7.30 (2.08, 1.02, 1.60, 1.75, 0.85).

Epigyne as in Figs 7C , 8C , 9C , 10C . Scape longer than wide, slightly wider at its base, reaching distinctly beyond epigyne. Copulatory ducts visible through epigynal cuticle. Receptacles oval, entrance ducts touching each other. Median plate (posterior view), between lateral sclerotized copulatory bulges, round and widest in its center.

Phenology.

Adult males and females were collected in mid and late June.

Distribution.

Known only from the type localities in northwestern, central and southwestern Iran. It is possible that some of the previous Iranian records of A. opisthographa refer to this species.

Figures

Figure 1. Dorsal habitus of Araniella mithra sp. nov. (A, C) and A. villanii sp. nov. (B, D) and abdomen of A. nigromaculata (E). A, B Males C, D females. Blue triangles point on black dots on opisthosoma. Scale bars: 1 mm.

Figure 2. Male palps of Araniella mithra sp. nov. (A, B) and A. opisthographa (C, D). A, C Retrolateral B, D ventral. Scale bars: 0.2 mm.

Figure 4. Male palps of Araniella mithra sp. nov. (A, B) and A. villanii sp. nov. (C, D). A, C Retrolateral B, D ventral. Abbreviations: Co conductor, Em embolus, Ma median apophysis, Ra radix, Ta terminal apophysis, Tr tegular ridge, Tt tip of tegulum. Scale bars: 0.2 mm.

Figure 6. SEM graphs of the bulbs of Araniella mithra sp. nov. (A, B) and A. opisthographa (C, D). A, C Retrolateral B, D ventro-retrolateral. Blue - median apophysis, green - embolus, red - terminal apophysis, violet - conductor. Scale bars: 0.1 mm.

Figure 7. Ventral view of epigynes of Araniella villanii sp. nov. (A), A. proxima (B), A. mithra sp. nov. (C) and A. opisthographa (D). Scale bar: 0.2 mm.

Figure 8. Posterior view of epigynes of Araniella villanii sp. nov. (A), A. proxima (B), A. mithra sp. nov. (C), A. opisthographa (D) and A. nigromaculata (E). Scale bars: 0.2 mm.

Figure 9. Anterior view of epigynes of Araniella villanii sp. nov. (A), A. proxima (B), A. mithra sp. nov. (C) and A. opisthographa (D).

Figure 10. Lateral view of epigynes of Araniella villanii sp. nov. (A), A. proxima (B), A. mithra sp. nov. (C) and A. opisthographa (D). Scale bars: 0.2 mm.

Figure 18. Distribution records of Araniella mithra sp. nov. (blue circle), A. villanii sp. nov. (violet star), Neoscona isatis sp. nov. (green pentagon), N. spasskyi (black square), N. theisi (gray triangle, only new records) and N. tedgenica (brown asterisk).