Neoscona spasskyi (Brignoli, 1983), comb. nov., stat. res.

Zamani, Alireza, Marusik, Yuri M. & Sestakova, Anna, 2020, On Araniella and Neoscona (Araneae, Araneidae) of the Caucasus, Middle East and Central Asia, ZooKeys 906, pp. 13-40 : 13

Neoscona spasskyi (Brignoli, 1983), comb. nov., stat. res. Figs 11C ; 12A, B ; 13C-D ; 14C, E ; 15A-C ; 16A-C ; 17D-F ; 18

Araneus cruciferoides Spassky, 1952: 203, fig. 6, 10 (♂♀).

Araneus spasskyi : Brignoli 1983: 258 (replacement name for A. cruciferoides ).

Neoscona tedgenica : Marusik et al. 1991: 20 (misidentified).

Material examined.

Iran: 1♂ 3♀ (ZMMU): Golestan Province: Ramiyan, 36°59'N, 55°07'E, 29.07.74 (A. Senglet); 1♀ (MHNG): Razavi Khorasan Province: route to Amirabad, 36°47'N, 59°54'E, 1100 m, 23.07.74 (A. Senglet); 3♂ 9♀ (MHNG): North Khorasan Province: Bojnurd, 37°29'N, 57°26'E, 26.07.74 (A. Senglet); Turkmenistan: 1♂ 2♀ (ZMMU): Balkan Province: Magtymguly (formerly Garrygala, Kara-Kala), in house, 02.08.79 (V. Fet).

Diagnosis.

Neoscona spasskyi differs from the similar N. theisi by having a thinner dark median band on the carapace and wider white lateral bands (cf. Figs 11C and 11A, B, D, E ). Some specimens of this species have a pyramid-type pattern (Fig. 12A, B ) lacking in other species. Males of this species differ from the congeners known in the region by having about 40 ventral spines on tibia II (vs. ca. 90, 20 or 10). Neoscona spasskyi differs from N. isatis sp. nov. by having prolateral extension of median apophysis. Epigyne of this species has the scape almost as wide as long vs. about twice longer than wide in N. isatis sp. nov. It differs from those in N. theisi by having distinct constriction (vs. lacking).

Description.

Male. Habitus as in Figs 11B , 12A . Total length 7.47. Carapace 3.60 long, 2.98 wide in pars thoracica, 1.19 in pars cephalica. Eye sizes and interdistances: AME: 0.20, ALE: 0.14, PME: 0.15, PLE: 0.13, AME-AME: 0.19, PME-PME: 0.12. Carapace, labium, chelicerae, and maxillae reddish brown, carapace with distinct and relatively long foveal mark, slightly darker in submarginal and without any patterns. Sternum with dark frontal edges, and a light median band. Legs the same color as the carapace, with annulations and numerous spines. Abdomen grayish green, dark gray in frontal, and with a distinct dark green patch on dorsum, and two light bands with a dark gray patch between them ventrally. Spinnerets light brown, apical segment lighter. Leg I measurements: 16.48 (5.11, 1.83, 4.11, 4.51, 1.28).

Palp as in Figs 14C , 15A-C , 16A-C . Tegulum without distinct ventral extension; median apophysis (Ma) with prolateral extension (Me) subequal in length to spur (Ms) of median apophysis; stipes of median apophysis (Sm) as long as apophysis; lamella (La) weakly sclerotized; conductor club-like.

Female. Habitus as in Figs 11C ; 12B ; 13C, D . Total length 8.75. Carapace 3.98 long, 2.97 wide in pars thoracica, 1.50 in pars cephalica. Eye sizes and interdistances: AME: 0.21, ALE: 0.14, PME: 0.15, PLE: 0.13, AME-AME: 0.21, PME-PME: 0.13. Coloration as in male. Leg I measurements: 7.30 (2.08, 1.02, 1.60, 1.75, 0.85).

Epigyne as in Figs 13D , 17D-F . Epigyne with distinct constriction; lateral extensions distinct, wider than long; scape almost as wide as long.

Comments.

Types of this species have not been found among the Spassky’s collection in the Zoological Museum, St. Petersburg (Nekhaeva, pers. comm.). Spassky (1952) described this species as Araneus cruciferoides , a name preoccupied by Tullgren (1910) on the basis of both sexes. Later, a replacement name, Araneus spasskyi , was provided by Brignoli (1983). Marusik et al. (1991) erroneously synonymized it with Neoscona tedgenica (Bakhvalov, 1978), a species known only from a female and a juvenile specimen collected in Turkmenistan ( Bakhvalov 1978), and transferred to Aculepeira by Brignoli (1983). Comparing available figures in Spassky (1952) and Bakhvalov (1978) and the newly studied material, these two species differ in the shape of the posterior scape (rounded vs. triangulate) and the dorsal abdominal pattern (white “true” folium on a dark background in N. tedgenica , vs. dark “incomplete” folium on a light background in the other species). For these reasons, we now revalidate the name ' spasskyi ' and establish a new combination for it: Neoscona spasskyi (Brignoli, 1972) comb. nov.

Distribution.

Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan ( Spassky 1952), Turkmenistan, Iran (first records for both).

Figures

Figure 11. Dorsal habitus of Neoscona theisi (A, B), N. spasskyi (C) and N. isatis sp. nov. (D, E). A, C, D Females B, E males.

Figure 12. Habitus of Neoscona spasskyi (A, B) and N. theisi (C, D). A-C Dorsal D ventral C, D showing variations in comparison to specimens depicted in Figure 11. Photos C, D courtesy of A. Seropian.

Figure 13. Females of Neoscona theisi (A, B), N. spasskyi (C, D) and N. isatis sp. nov. (E, F). A, C, E Prosoma, ventral B, D, F abdomen, ventral. Photos A, B courtesy of A. Seropian.

Figure 14. Male palps and tibiae II of Neoscona theisi (A, D), N. isatis sp. nov. (B, F) and N. spasskyi (C, E). A-C Male palp, prolateral D-F male tibia II, ventral. Abbreviations: Co conductor, La lamella, Ma median apophysis, Me extension of median apophysis, Ta terminal apophysis, Te tegulum. Scale bars: 0.2 mm, unless stated otherwise.

Figure 15. Male palps of Neoscona spasskyi (A-C) and N. isatis sp. nov. (E-G). A, C, E, G Anterior B, F ventral. Abbreviations: Co conductor, Em embolus, La lamella, Ma median apophysis, Sm stipes of median apophysis, Ta terminal apophysis. Scale bars: 0.2 mm.

Figure 16. SEM graphs of the bulbs of Neoscona spasskyi (A-C) and N. isatis sp. nov. (D-F). A, C, D, F Prolateral B, E anterior. Abbreviations: Co conductor, Em embolus, La lamella, Ma median apophysis, Ms spur of median apophysis, Sm stipes of median apophysis, Ta terminal apophysis. Scale bars: 0.1 mm.

Figure 17. Epigynes of Neoscona theisi (A-C), N. spasskyi (D-F) and N. isatis sp. nov. (G-I). A, D, G Ventral B, E, H posterior C, F, I lateral. Abbreviations: Le lateral extension, Sc scape. Scale bars: 0.2 mm.

Figure 18. Distribution records of Araniella mithra sp. nov. (blue circle), A. villanii sp. nov. (violet star), Neoscona isatis sp. nov. (green pentagon), N. spasskyi (black square), N. theisi (gray triangle, only new records) and N. tedgenica (brown asterisk).