Dictis soeur ( Saaristo, 1997 ) Zamani & Stockmann & Magalhaes & Rheims, 2022

Zamani, Alireza, Stockmann, Mark, Magalhaes, Ivan L. F. & Rheims, Cristina A., 2022, New taxonomic considerations in the spitting spider family Scytodidae (Arachnida: Araneae), Zootaxa 5092 (2), pp. 151-175 : 161-164

Dictis soeur ( Saaristo, 1997) comb. n.

Figs 8A–G , 9A–C

Soeuria soeur Saaristo, 1997: 55 , figs 18‒19 (♀ holotype from SEYCHELLES, Petit Soeur [04°17'S, 55°52'E], 24 April 1975, M. Muhlenberg leg., deposited in RMCA_ARA_177156, examined); Saaristo 2010: 207, figs 28.20‒23.

Additional material examined. SEYCHELLES: 1♂, 1♀, 1juv., Alphonse [7°00'S 52°43'E], 8‒9 April 2001, J. Gerlach leg. ( ZMUT AA2.154, 2.161) ; 1♀, Bird Island [3°43'S 55°12'E], pitfall, 25 March 2000, BirdLife team leg. ( ZMUT AA1.744 ) ; 14juv., Cousine Island [4°21'S 55°38'E], 23‒25 January 1999, M. Saaristo leg. ( ZMUT AA1.139‒1.142) ; 1♂, 1♀, Denis Island [3°48'S 55°40'E], sweeping, October 1999, BirdLife team leg. ( ZMUT AA1.738 ) ; 1♀, same locality as previous specimen, sweeping, April 2000, BirdLife team leg. ( ZMUT AA2.070 ) ; 2juv., Marianne Island [4°20'S 55°55'E], sweeping, 23 October 1999, BirdLife team leg. ( ZMUT AA2.071‒2.072) ; 10juv., Silhouette Island [4°29'S 55°14'E], December 1993, J. Gerlach leg. ( ZMUT AA1.143 ) ; 3♀, Praslin Island , Anse Cimitiere [4°29'S 55°15'E], 17‒18 January 1999, M. Saaristo leg. ( ZMUT AA1.136‒1.138) ; 1♀, Silhouette Island , Anse Lascars [4°29'S 55°15'E], 12 January 1999, J. Gerlach leg. ( ZMUT AA1.135 ) ; 3♂, 2♀, 23juv., same locality as previous specimen, 7 January 1999, M. Saaristo leg. ( ZMUT AA1.133‒1.134) ; 2♂, 1♀, 7juv., no specific locality, 12‒22 January 1999, M. Saaristo leg. ( ZMUT AA1.129‒1.132) .

Diagnosis. Males of D. soeur resemble those of D. striatipes ( Fig. 11G–K ) by the palp with a subdistal prolateral pick and a retrolateral claw-like hyaline membrane. They differ from the latter species by the palpal tibia longer than patella (vs. subequal in D. striatipes ), and by the embolus slightly constricted at base, subdistally curved with undulate tip ( Fig. 8F–G ) (vs. without constriction, mostly straight with gently curved tip in D. striatipes ). Females are distinguished from all congeners by positioning ridges and postepigastric fovea separated from one another by almost seven times their width ( Fig. 9A–C ) (vs. four times or less in the other species).

Description. See Saaristo (1997: 55) (♀) and Saaristo (2010: 207) (♂).

Complementary description. Male (ZMUT): habitus as in Fig. 8D . Palp as in Fig. 8F, G ; cymbium elongate, longer than tibia, with two apical macrosetae; bulb small, round. Female (RMCA_ARA_177156; ZMUT AA1.134): habitus as in Fig. 8A, C, E . Epigyne as in Fig. 9A–B : epigynal pouch three times wider than long; positioning ridges straight and narrow, slightly oblique; fovea triangular. Vulva as in Fig. 9B–C : dorsal receptacles separated from each other by four time their width; inner spermathecae ovoid on a long, slender stalk; outer spermathecae arm-shaped, three times longer than wide.

Distribution. Known from the islands of Alphonse, Bird, Cousine, Denis, Marianne, Petite Soeur and Silhouette, Seychelles ( Saaristo 2010) ( Fig. 15 ).

Note. Soeuria soeur was described based on a single female specimen collected in Petit Soeur, Seychelles, with “reduced copulatory pockets [fovea] represented by small, squamous areas” considered as diagnostic characters by Saaristo (1997). Subsequently, Saaristo (2010) reported more material of this species and described the male. We examined the same material studied by Saaristo (2010), all of which have only two tarsal claws. Although Saaristo himself identified this material as S. soeur , none of the females (including the holotype) show the reduced fovea depicted by Saaristo (1997), and they all have the typical vulva of Dictis . It seems that the poorly sclerotized fovea in the holotype specimen designated by Saaristo caused this mistake. Strangely, in the emended diagnosis provided by Saaristo (2010), this species is mentioned as “ D. soeur ”; perhaps with the discovery of the male and additional female specimens, Saaristo was going to transfer the species to Dictis , but this did not happen since this paper was published two years after his death and with the assistance of other arachnologists.

Figures

FIGURE 8. Dictis soeur (Saaristo, 1997) comb. n. A–C (MRAC 177156, female holotype); D, F–G (ZMUT, male); E (ZMUT, female); A–E habitus (A dorsal, B ventral, C lateral, D dorsal, E dorsal); F–G left palp (F prolateral, G detail of bulb). Scale bars A–E = 2 mm; F = 0.5 mm; G = 0.25 mm.

FIGURE 9. Dictis soeur (Saaristo, 1997) comb. n. A female (MRAC 177156, holotype); B–C female (ZMUT) (B dorsal, C ventral). Scale bars: 0.5 mm.

FIGURE 11. Dictis striatipes L. Koch.A–D habitus, dorsal.A (IBSP 35568, male); B (IBSP 35566, female); C (NHMW, male); D (NHMW, female); E–F tarsal claws, prolateral (IBSP 35569, male) (E leg I, F leg III); G–H (IBSP 35559, holotype S. bilqis Rheims, Brescovit & van Harten syn. n.), left palp (G prolateral, H retrolateral); I–K (NHMW, male) left palp (I detail of bulb, retrolateral, J prolateral, K detail of embolus, prolateral, arrows point to prolateral pick). Scale bars: A–D = 1 mm; E–K = 0.5 mm.

FIGURE 15. Distribution map of Dictis soeur (red circles), “Dictis” thailandica (green triangles) and Dictis elongata (yellow squares).