Eriovixia Archer, 1951

Mi, Xiaoqi & Li, Shuqiang, 2021, On nine species of the spider genus Eriovixia (Araneae, Araneidae) from Xishuangbanna, China, ZooKeys 1034, pp. 199-236 : 199

Genus Eriovixia Archer, 1951

Eriovixia Archer, 1951a: 18.

Simonarachne Archer, 1951b: 28.

Heurodes Yaginuma & Archer, 1959: 35.

Eriovixia : Grasshoff, 1986: 4; Yin et al., 1997: 294; Tanikawa, 1999: 42; Tanikawa, 2007: 90; Han and Zhu 2010: 2610.

Tukaraneus Barrion & Litsinger, 1995: 644.

Type species.

Araneus rhinura Pocock, 1900 from Benito River in Equatorial Guinea.

Description.

Small to medium-sized. Carapace pear-shaped, covered with setae, fovea depressed, male often with a cephalic protuberance below AMEs. Chelicerae yellow, with 4 promarginal and 3 retromarginal teeth (with 2 or 4 retromarginal teeth in some species). Endites and labium often dark at base and paler distally. Leg I longest, leg III shortest, Leg II longer than leg IV, femur II of males with a groove at base, femur II, patella II and tibia II of males with 16-23 macrosetae. Abdomen longer than wide (slightly wider than long in E. sakiedaorum Tanikawa, 1999), blunt anteriorly and tapered posteriorly, extending more or less beyond the spinnerets. Male palp lacking long patellar bristles; cymbium longer than wide; paracymbium finger-like; median apophysis prominent, often with dorsal spur(s); conductor wide and thick; embolus short; terminal apophysis varying according to species. Epigyne strongly sclerotised, with a posteriorly directed, rimmed scape; copulatory openings situated posteriorly; spermathecae round, ovoid or kidney-shaped.

Diagnosis.

The genus is similar to some Neoscona in epigyne structure, but can be distinguished by: 1) small to medium size (♀♀3.00-9.80, ♂♂ 2.50-7.20) vs. medium to large size (♀♀ 4.50-15.00, ♂♂ 3.75-10.80); 2) the female spinnerets situated on the posterior 1/2 to 1/3 of abdomen vs. close to the posterior edge of abdomen; 3) lacking long patellar bristles vs. with 2 long bristles; 4) coxae I in male without apophysis vs. with a hook, like an apophysis; and 5) males often having a cephalic protuberance below AMEs vs. absent.

Composition and distribution.

A total of 25 described species with three in Africa and 22 in Asia.

Comments.

The differences between the males of the type species and Asian species are unknown because the palp of the type species was not well illustrated or photographed and the Asian species may belong to a separate genus.