Theridion innocuum Thorell, 1875

Zhong, Rui, Liu, Jie & Zhu, Yang, 2022, Two new synonyms in the subfamily Theridiinae (Araneae, Theridiidae), ZooKeys 1120, pp. 95-104 : 95

Theridion innocuum Thorell, 1875

Figs 1 , 4

Theridion innocuum Thorell 1875a: 65 (description of male); Thorell 1875b: 50 (description of male); Azheganova 1968: 58, figs 102, 113 (male and female); Izmailova 1972: 43, fig. 1 (female); Izmailova 1989: 92, fig. 72 (female); Le Peru 2011: 478, fig. 824 (female); Esyunin and Stepina 2014: 49, figs 14, 15 (female); Zamani et al. 2021: 295, fig. 12F-N (male and female).

Theridion theridioides : Hu and Wu 1989: 137, figs 110.1, 110.2 (female, misidentified).

Theridion hui Zhu 1998: 150, fig. 91A-C (description of female); Song et al. 1999: 137, fig. 73I, J (female). New synonym.

Material examined.

China, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region: Hemu Scenic Area, Hemuhanas Mongolian Township , Burqin County, Altay Region , 48°34'28"N, 87°26'23"E, 1445 m, 1 July 2021, Chen Jian and Liu Jie leg.: 1 female .

Description.

See Azheganova (1968) and Thorell (1875a, 1875b).

Justification of the synonymy.

Theridion hui was first described by Zhu (1998), based on a female collected in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China and previously identified as Theridion theridioides by Hu and Wu (1989). The female holotype of T. hui bears all the diagnostic features of T. innocuum , including the messy dark brown spots on abdomen, peach-shaped fossa of the epigyne and thick, long, similarly twisted copulatory ducts. The original illustrations of the epigyne of T. hui perfectly match the coloured photos of the same provided for T. innocuum by Zamani et al. (2021) (compare Zhu 1998: fig. 91A-C with Zamani et al. 2021: fig. 12K-N). Although the types of T. innocuum and T. hui were unavailable for examination, our comparison based on a female specimen collected in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and the illustrations and descriptions provided by Zamani et al. (2021) and Zhu (1998) enabled us to confidently consider T. hui as a junior synonym of T. innocuum .

Distribution.

Ukraine, Russia (Europe to South Siberia), Iran, Kazakhstan, China (new record, Fig. 4 ).

Figures

Figure 1. Theridion innocuum Thorell, 1875 A-C female habitus (A dorsal B lateral C ventral) D epigyne, ventral E vulva, dorsal. Scale bars: 1 mm (A-C); 0.2 mm (D, E). CO = copulatory opening; CD = copulatory duct; FD = fertilization duct; S = spermatheca.

Figure 4. Collection localities in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China: 1 T. innocuum 2 P. impressa.