Zelotes Gistel, 1848

Zamani, A. & Marusik, Y. M., 2022, On A Small Collection Of Spiders (Arachnida, Araneae) From Iraq, With New Species And Records, Zoodiversity 56 (4), pp. 291-306 : 293

Genus Zelotes Gistel, 1848

Comments. With 398 valid species, Zelotes is the most speciose genus of the family ( WSC, 2022). Although it has never been the subject of a global revision, over the last five decades more than 200 species previously classified in this genus have been transferred to other genera, including new ones: Aponetius Kamura, 2020 , Civizelotes Senglet, 2012 , Heser Tuneva 2004 , and Marinarozelotes Ponomarev, 2020 . Still, judging by the shape of the copulatory organs, the genus remains polyphyletic. One of the more distinct species groups that does not bear much similarity to the generotype is the puritanus group, which accommodates at least ten species known primarily from the Palaearctic (one species has a Holarctic range) (Fomichev & Marusik, 2021): Z. anatolyi Fomichev & Marusik, 2021 , Z. gussakovskyi Charitonov, 1951 , Z. khatlonicus Fomichev & Marusik, 2021 , Z. mikhailovi Marusik, 1995 , Z. parascrutatus Levy, 1998 , Z. potanini Schenkel, 1963 , Z. puritanus Chamberlin, 1922 , Z. scrutatus O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1872 , Z. zin Levy, 1998 and possibly Z. hummeli Schenkel, 1963 . This group is characterized by solid, anteriorly rounded wide epigynal pockets (= hoods), elongate epigynal fovea rounded posteriorly, blunt tibial apophysis, and embolus covered by the “intercalary” sclerite (= part of embolic division). The new species described herein belongs to this species-group.