Haplodrassus Chamberlin, 1922

Kovblyuk, Mykola M., Kastrygina, Zoya A. & Omelko, Mikhail M., 2012, A review of the spider genus Haplodrassus Chamberlin, 1922 in Crimea (Ukraine) and adjacent areas (Araneae, Gnaphosidae), ZooKeys 205, pp. 59-89 : 61

Haplodrassus Chamberlin, 1922

Type species:

Drassus hiemalis Emerton, 1909.

Diagnosis.

Male palp with large terminal apophysis, thick embolus, hooked median apophysis and RTA flattened, often shifted dorsally. Epigyne with thick sclerotized lateral pockets and with one anterior hood. Posterior median eyes close together, separated by their radius or less ( Platnick and Shadab 1975; Levy 2004). Haplodrassus is most related to Orodrassus Chamberlin, 1922 with three species from the Nearctic, but differs by having a flattened RTA (bifid or laterally expanded in Orodrassus ), lacking a median epigynal projection (present in Orodrassus ) and by the presence of lateral epigynal sclerites (absent in Orodrassus ) ( Platnick and Shadab 1975).

In terms of habitus and coloration Haplodrassus resembles only two other genera that occur in Crimea and the eastern Mediterranean: Parasyrisca Schenkel, 1963 and, to a lesser extent, Drassodes Westring, 1851. However, Haplodrassus is easily distinguished by having a large terminal apophysis (absent in the other genera), a flat retrolateral tibial apophysis widened dorsally (conical or flat and tapering in Drassodes and Parasyrisca ), a broad embolus (cylindrical or hidden in the other genera), and the presence of heavily sclerotized lateral epigynal pockets (absent in Drassodes and Parasyrisca ).

Distribution.

Holarctic and India ( Platnick 2012).