Agelescape affinis (KulczyIski, 1911), 1996

Zamani, Alireza & Marusik, Yuri M., 2020, A review of Agelenini (Araneae: Agelenidae: Ageleninae) of Iran and Tajikistan, with descriptions of four new genera, Arachnology 18 (4), pp. 368-386 : 371-372

Agelescape affinis (KulczyIski, 1911)

( Figs. 8 F–H, 15A)

Agelena afFnis Kulczyński 1911: 45, pl. 2, fig. 53 (♀).

Agelena afFnis: de Blauwe 1980: 2, figs. 1–2 (♀).

Agelescape afFnis: Levy 1996: 90, figs. 14–15, 18–19 (♂♀).

Material examined: ISRAEL: 1♀ ( SMNH), Mt Meron , 22 February 2010 (C. Drees) ; 1♀ ( SMNH), Upper Galilee , 900 m, N slope of Mt Meron, Meron Field School, 33°01′N 35°23.5′E, 25 April 2013 (S. L. Zonstein) ; 1♀ ( SMNH), Upper Galilee , 900 m, N slope of Mt Meron, Meron Field School, 33°01′N 35°23.5′E, 25 April 2013 (S. L. Zonstein) ; 1♀ ( SMNH), Ziv’on , woodland, 33°02′N 35°25′E, 773 m, 01 September 2005 (A. Timm, T. Assmann) .

Description: See Levy (1996).

Remarks: The male of this species was first described by Levy (1996) who did not find any differences between it and A. livida (in both palpal and somatic characters). The palp of A. livida depicted by Levy (1996) differs from other illustrations available for this species (e.g. position of the embolic base, shape of the RTA, etc., cf. Figs. 4A and 4B ), but we conclude this is because of differences in his illustrations rather than in the spiders, as no such palpal conformation was found in the extensive collections from Israel.

Distribution: Syria, Israel, and Lebanon (?) ( Fig. 15A ). Despite being reported from Turkey in the World Spider Catalog (2020), the identifications of Turkish material by Brignoli (1978) refer to A. gideoni (per Levy 1996). The records of this species from Lebanon could refer to A. livida (per Levy 1996).

Figures

Fig. 8: Epigynes.A Agelescape livida, from Israel, ventral view; B same, posterior view; C same, anterior view;D same, dorsal view of macerated specimen; E same, dorsal view of unmacerated specimen;F A. afFnis, from Israel, ventral view; G same, dorsal view of macerated specimen;H same, posterior view. Scale bars = 0.2 mm. Abbreviations: Ac = anterior loop of copulatory duct, Sc = epigynal scape.

Fig. 4: Bulb, ventral view. A, B Agelescape cf. livida, from Israel;C Asiascape parthica sp. n.; D Gorbiscape gorbachevi sp. n.; E G. agelenoides. A after Levy (1996), E after de Blauwe (1980), both with modification. Scale bar = 0.2 mm

Fig. 15: Distribution maps. A Agelescape afFnis, A. livida, and Persiscape caucasica; B P. caspica sp. n., P. ecbatana sp. n., P. nassirkhanii sp. n., P. levyi, P. zagrosensis sp. n., Asiascape parthica sp. n., Persilena sengleti sp. n., and Gorbiscape gorbachevi sp. n.; C Persiscape gideoni.