Eusparassus pearsoni ( Pocock, 1901 ) Moradmand & Jäger, 2012

Moradmand, Majid & Jäger, Peter, 2012, Taxonomic revision of the huntsman spider genus Eusparassus Simon, 1903 (Araneae: Sparassidae) in Eurasia, Journal of Natural History 46 (39 - 40), pp. 2439-2496 : 2488-2492

Eusparassus pearsoni ( Pocock, 1901) comb. nov. stat. nov.

( Figure 22 )

Sparassus pearsoni Pocock, 1901: 492–493 (description of female; syntypes examined, lectotype and paralectotypes designated) [see notes below].

Olios xerxes – Gravely 1931: 240–241 (in part, misidentification and unjustified synonymy); Sethi and Tikader 1988: 35 (in part, misidentification).

Type material

Lectotype: female, INDIA: Poona, Ghats, Madan leg. ( NHM 99.11.2.177.199) ; Paralectotypes: INDIA: 13 ♀♀ and 30 juveniles, same data as for lectotype ( NHM 99.11.2.177.199) ; 3 ♀♀, with label “ Sparassus pearsoni Poc. East Khandesh , R. Pearson coll. Robt. Wroughton (p.)” ( NHM 99.9.21.5.24.525) ; 33 ♀♀, with label: “ Poona Dist. , Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. / Poona Dist” ( NHM 1899.9.21.526-546) ; 85 ♀♀ and several immatures, with label “ Sparassus pearsoni Poc. Pimparner (W. Khandesh) , R. Pearson coll. Robt. Wroughton (p.)” ( NHM) .

Note. Among this relatively huge number of syntypes, we found several immature specimens of Olios sp. and Eusparassus sp. Hence, to maintain the status and verify the identity of the species, an adult female is designated as lectotype from Poona, Ghats in India.

Diagnosis

Eusparassus pearsoni comb. nov. can easily be distinguished from remaining species by its peculiar MS of epigyne heart-shaped and fully hardened and sclerotized ( Figure 22A,E ).

Redescription

Female (n = 135). Total length: 16–21, prosoma length 7.5–9.4, prosoma width 6.4–8.2, anterior width of prosoma 4.0–5.2, opisthosoma length 8.5–11.6, opisthosoma width 5.2–6.8. Eyes of lectotype, eye diameters: AME 0.62, ALE 0.45, PME 0.38, PLE 0.44; eye interdistances: AME–AME 0.30, AME–ALE 0.15, PME–PME 0.68, PME–PLE 0.75, AME–PME 0.48, ALE–PLE 0.32, clypeus height at AME 0.53, clypeus height at ALE 0.61 ( Figure 22C ).

Chelicera with two anterior and three or four posterior teeth; cheliceral furrow without denticles; three bristles at distal end of cheliceral basal segment ( Figure 22D ). Leg formula: 2 4 1 3. Measurements of palp and legs (lectotype): Palp 10.4 [3.3, 1.5, 2.0, 3.6], I 30.1 [8.8, 4.3, 7.2, 7.8, 2.0], II 32.5 [9.8, 4.2, 8.0, 8.3, 2.2], III 29.0 [9.1, 4.0, 6.8, 7.1, 2.0], IV 31.5 [9.6, 3.7, 7.7, 8.4, 2.1].

Spination. Palp 131, 001, 1111, 1013; Legs: Femur I–III 323, IV 322; Patella I–IV 000 / 001; Tibia I–IV 0024 / 2024; Metatarsus I–III 2024, IV 3036.

Epigyne / vulva. As in diagnosis with MS enlarged, EF quadrate in shape; EFb combined with AMLL; AMLL are not fused but continued into hardened MS ( Figure 22A, E ); vulva with glandular pores located at tip of glandular process ( Figure 22F ).

Male. Unknown.

Colouration [in ethanol]. Reddish brown with dark patches on prosoma, grey opisthosoma, ventral opisthosoma pale.

Remarks

Gravely (1931) erroneously synonymized E. pearsoni comb. nov. along with E. maynardi with E. xerxes , despite noting the peculiar differences in the epigyne of E. pearsoni , which is noticeably distinguishable from E. xerxes Pocock (1901) , in “the Fauna of India series”, did not include illustrations to his description of all his new species. Later, Gravely (1931) only provided drawings of E. xerxes . Consequently, drawings of E. pearsoni (as well as E. maynardi ) have never appeared in publications before and are presented here for the first time.

Known geographical distribution

Known only from the type localities including Khandesh, Ghats and Poona (=Pune) in Indian Peninsula.

Figures

Figure 22. Eusparassus pearsoni (Pocock, 1901) comb. nov., (A–D) lectotype female from Poona, western Ghats, India: (A) epigyne, ventral; (B) left vulva, anterio-dorso-lateral; (C) eye arrangement; (D) left chelicera, ventral; (E, F) paralectotype female from Eastern Khandesh, India: (E) variation of epigyne, ventral; (F) variation, left vulva, anterio-dorso-lateral. Scale bars: (A, C–E) 1 mm, (B, F) 0.5 mm.