Agelescape livida ( Simon, 1875 )

Zamani, Alireza & Marusik, Yuri M., 2020, A review of Agelenini (Araneae: Agelenidae: Ageleninae) of Iran and Tajikistan, with descriptions of four new genera, Arachnology 18 (4), pp. 368-386 : 371

Agelescape livida ( Simon, 1875)

( Figs. 2D , 3 A–B, 4A–B, 5A–B, 6D, G–H, 8A–E, 15A)

Agelena livida Simon 1875: 112 , pl. 6, fig. 10 (♂♀).

Agelena livida: Kulczyński 1911: 44 , pl. 2, figs. 54, 56 (♂♀). Agelena livida: Brignoli 1977: 14 , figs. 3–4 (♀).

Agelena livida: de Blauwe 1980: 23 , figs. 36–41 (♂♀). Agelescape livida: Levy 1996: 89 , figs. 14–17 (♂♀).

Material examined: ISRAEL: 3♀ ( SMNH), 0.4 km S Latrun Monastery , 31°50′N 34°59′E, 220 m, 29 October 2011 (S. L. Zonstein) ; 1♀ ( SMNH), Adulam , 20 May 2008 (O. Skutelsky) ; 13♂ ( SMNH, tentative identification as there are no females in the collection), Upper Galilee , N slope of Mt Meron, Meron Field School, 900 m, 33°01′N 35°23.5′E, 25 May 2013 (S. L. Zonstein) .

Diagnosis: Females differ from those of A. afFnis by the trapezoidal scape widening posteriorly ( v. rounded ) and the C-shaped anterior loop (Ac) of the copulatory duct (v. Ushaped) (cf. Figs. 8 A–D and 8F–G). Males of the two species are indistinguishable ( Levy 1996).

Description: See Levy (1996) and de Blauwe (1980). This species exhibits extreme size variation in both sexes, even within individuals from the same population ( Fig. 2D ).

Distribution: Mediterranean, from Spain to Israel, although unreported between Spain and Albania ( Helsdingen 2020) ( Fig. 15A ).

Figures

Fig. 2: A Persiscape ecbatana sp. n., ♀ habitus; B same, ♂ habitus; C P. nassirkhanii sp. n., ♂ habitus; D Agelescape cf. livida, ♂ habitus, from Galilee, northern slope of Mt Meron, Israel, showing extreme size variation observed between two males of the same population.

Fig. 3: A, B Live females of Agelescape livida from Negev, Israel; C, D live females of Persiscape gideoni from Mazandaran, Iran. Courtesy of Amir Weinstein (A–B) and Alireza Zamani (C–D).

Fig. 8: Epigynes.A Agelescape livida, from Israel, ventral view; B same, posterior view; C same, anterior view;D same, dorsal view of macerated specimen; E same, dorsal view of unmacerated specimen;F A. afFnis, from Israel, ventral view; G same, dorsal view of macerated specimen;H same, posterior view. Scale bars = 0.2 mm. Abbreviations: Ac = anterior loop of copulatory duct, Sc = epigynal scape.

Fig. 15: Distribution maps. A Agelescape afFnis, A. livida, and Persiscape caucasica; B P. caspica sp. n., P. ecbatana sp. n., P. nassirkhanii sp. n., P. levyi, P. zagrosensis sp. n., Asiascape parthica sp. n., Persilena sengleti sp. n., and Gorbiscape gorbachevi sp. n.; C Persiscape gideoni.