Tmeticus ornatus (Emerton, 1914)

Marusik, Yuri M. & Koponen, Seppo, 2010, A review of the Holarctic genus Tmeticus Menge, 1868 (Araneae, Linyphiidae), with a description of a new genus, ZooKeys 59, pp. 15-37 : 26-27

Tmeticus ornatus (Emerton, 1914) Figs 1721 –2245– 485154

Gongylidium ornatus Emerton 1914: 263, pl. 8, f. 3 (♂).

Tmeticus ornatus : Bishop and Crosby 1935: 227, pl. 18, f. 22-26 (♂♀).

Tmeticus ornatus : Paquin and Dupérré 2003: 122, f. 1284-1286 (♂♀).

Material examined.

CANADA: 4♂ 4♀ (ZMMU), Saskatchewan, Lady Lake, sedge tops - flooded marsh, 13-15.04.1971 (D.J. Buckle); 3♂ 3♀ (ZMUT), same locality, marsh, late April, 1978 (J.V. Buckle).

Diagnosis.

Differs from Tmeticus affinis , which also occurs in the Nearctic Region, by the carapace colour (black cephalic region and red-orange thoracic area in Tmeticus ornatus , carapace uniformly brown in Tmeticus affinis ). The males are easily separated by their tibial apophyses (one apophysis with a claw-like processes in Tmeticus affinis and two separate apophyses in Tmeticus ornatus ); the females have distinctly different epigynes.

Description.

♂ 2.5-3.3, ♀ 2.8-35. TmI 0.73-0.78. Carapace orange with darker cephalic region. Abdomen dark. Palp as in Figs 45-46, 51, 54. Epigyne as in Figs 17, 47-48.

Distribution.

This species has a trans-Nearctic distribution, recorded from British Columbia to Quebec and south to New York ( Buckle et al. 2001). It does not occur north of 55°N and has a more southern distribution in comparison to the Palaearctic Tmeticus affinis , Tmeticus tolli and Tmeticus nigriceps .