Drapeta caucasica, Seropian & Bulbulashvili & Krammer, 2024

Seropian, Armen, Bulbulashvili, Natalia & Krammer, Hans-Joachim, 2024, Notes on Liocranidae (Arachnida, Araneae, Dionycha) from Georgia with description of a new species, Caucasiana 3, pp. 171-181 : 171-181

Drapeta caucasica sp. nov.

Figs 1 –11

Type material.

Holotype. ♂ ( CaBOL -ID 1038195 ); Georgia, Tbilisi, Telovani Vill .; N 41.8025 °, E 44.6775 °; 888 m a. s. l.; deciduous forest, roof tiles pile; 10 Oct. 2023; leg. A. Seropian and N. Bulbulashvili . Paratypes. ♀ ( CaBOL -ID 1035523 ); same location; 27 May 2023; leg. A. Seropian and N. Bulbulashvili . 2 ♀♀ ( CaBOL -IDs 1009165 , 1009166); same location; 27 Apr. 2024; leg. A. Seropian and N. Bulbulashvili . 1 juv. ( CaBOL -ID 1023290 ); same location; 02 Feb. 2022; leg. N. Bulbulashvili . ♀ ( ZFMK-TIS 8008466 ); Adjara, Keda Mun., NE of Kveda Agara Vill. ; N 41.6020 °, E 41.9020 °; 19 July 2019; leg. H-J. Krammer .

Diagnosis.

The male of the new species differs from those of D. rutilans ( Thorell, 1875) , by the combination of the following characteristics best viewed in retrolateral (Figs 1–4 ): bifurcated retrolateral tegular apophysis (vs. claw-shaped) ( Grimm 1986: fig. 43 a), RTA with pointy end (vs. oblique) ( Grimm 1986: fig. 43 b), and more protruding BCE (vs. less prominent) ( Grimm 1986: fig. 43 a). Females of D. caucasica sp. nov. can be generally separated from those of D. rutilans and D. concolor (Simon, 1878) by more closely positioned copulatory ducts and overall darker epigyne (Figs 5–7 ).

Description.

Male (holotype, CaBOL -ID 1038195 ). Total length 7.1. Carapace 3.15 long, 2.75 wide. Chelicera brown, with 2 prolateral and 3 retrolateral teeth. Eye diameters and interdistances: AME 0.14, ALE 0.16, PME 0.14, PLE 0.16. Color and pattern as shown in Fig. 5 . Sternum smooth, light-yellow, with darker margins; labium and maxillae light-yellow, with dense black setae apically. Spinnerets light-yellow. Leg measurements in Table 1 ; spination as in Figs 8–10 ; Ta with pectinate claws, claw tufts, and tenent hairs. Palp as in Figs 1–4 : tegular apophysis bifurcated; RTA long, darkened apically, with pointy end; cymbium with strong basal extension ( BCE).

Female (paratype, CaBOL -ID 1035523 ). Coloration as in male. Total length 9.2. Carapace 3.32 long, 2.9 wide. Sternum smooth, light brown with maroon margin, 1.94 long, 1.42 wide. Eye diameters: AME 0.15, ALE 0.25, PME 0.21, PLE 0.14, PME - PME 0.24, PME - PLE 0.16. Chelicerae as in male. Leg measurements as in Table 1 . Epigyne as in Fig. 5 , about 2 times longer than wide; epigynal plate semitransparent, triangular, with deeply cut lateral margins diverging posteriorly, forming an approximate angle of 40 º (vs. shallow cut and less diverged in D. rutilans and D. concolor ); AP wide, approximately 2.8 smaller than the foveal margin’s maximal span, with a medially protruding anterior margin (vs concave in D. rutilans and D. concolor ). Endogyne as in Figs 6–7 ; ST oval, anteriorly with small glandular structures; CD curved and closely positioned to each other, giving the epigynal plate an overall darker ventral appearance compared to that of D. rutilans and D. concolor , anteriorly with large oval glandular structures; BuC large and oval shaped.

Etymology.

The specific epithet is an adjective referring to the type locality of the new species.

Habitat.

Deciduous forest.

Distribution.

Known only from the above-listed localities in Georgia.

Barcoding results.

Two nearly identical COI subunit barcodes were obtained from the specimens CaBOL - ID 1023290 and ZFMK-TIS 8008466 ( BOLD: AFP 6894, p - distance 0.46 %) with the nearest neighbor in the BOLD Systems Sagana rutilans from Greece with an Early-Release status (mean p - distance 8.36 %).

Remarks.

Spassky (1937) recorded D. rutilans (as S. rutilans ) from the Black Sea coast of Georgia and Russia; however, he did not provide any diagnostic illustrations or other data regarding the quantity or gender of the studied material. Mcheidze (1997) and Kovblyuk et al. (2011) present new data on the distribution of this species in Georgia based on the collected females, again without providing diagnostic illustrations. Considering the strong resemblance of the females' habitus, copulatory organs, and the status of the genus Drapeta , which has long been considered monotypic, previous records of D. rutilans from the Caucasus most probably refer to the herein described species D. caucasica sp. nov.

Additional notes.

Specimens with unique CaBOL -IDs 1038195 , 1009165, and 1009166 were caught as juveniles and home-reared.

Figures

Figures 11. Drapeta caucasica sp. nov., habitus of live holotype male.

Figures 1–7. Drapeta caucasica sp. nov. (1: holotype male, left palp, ventral view; 2: ditto, retrolateral view; 3: retrolateral tibial apophysis, dorsal view; 4: lateral tegular apohysis, retolateral view; 5: paratype female, CaBOL - ID 1035523 epigyne, ventral view; 6: endogyne, dorsal view; 7: paratype female, ZFMK-TIS 8008466 l, endogyne, dorsal view). Scale bars: 0.5 mm (1–2, 5–7); 0.2 mm (4); 0.1 (3).

Figures 8–10. Leg spination schematics (8: legend; 9: Drapeta caucasica sp. nov., male, holotype; 10: D. caucasica sp. nov., female, paratype).