Makdiops shevaroyensis ( Gravely, 1931 ) Sankaran & Caleb & Sebastian, 2020

Sankaran, Pradeep M., Caleb, John T. D. & Sebastian, Pothalil A., 2020, Taxonomic notes on the genus Makdiops Crews & Harvey, 2011 in India (Araneae Selenopidae), Zootaxa 4896 (4), pp. 595-600 : 598-600

Makdiops shevaroyensis ( Gravely, 1931) comb. nov. ( Figs 3 , 4 )

Selenops shevaroyensis Gravely, 1931: 259 , fig. 15C.

Type material. Holotype male from INDIA: Tamil Nadu: Salem, Yercaud, Servarayan Hills (=Shevaroy Hills) (11°46’N, 78°12’E), 1410 m alt.; Mason leg.; 1929; repository NZC-ZSI, Kolkata (no register number specified), examined.

Supplementary description. Male (holotype, Figs 3 A–C). Colour in alcohol: overall straw coloured with creamywhite venter of opisthosoma and small scattered black bloches on dorsal and rear opisthosoma. Cheliceral promargin with three teeth, retromargin with two, middle promarginal tooth largest ( Fig. 3C ). Tibiae I and II with 3 pairs (3–3) of ventral spines. Tarsi with well developed claw tufts. Body length 6.64. Carapace length 2.97, width 3.53. Opisthosoma length 3.67, width 2.53. Eye diameters: ALE 0.13. AME 0.17. PLE 0.30. PME 0.19. Eye interdistances: ALE–AME 0.53. ALE–PLE 0.28. AME–AME 0.15. AME–PME 0.06. PME–PLE 0.22. PME–PME 0.69. Chelicerae length 1.06. Clypeus 0.12 high. Measurements of pedipalp and legs. Pedipalp 3.27 [1.03, 0.57, 0.59, 1.08], I 11.73 [3.65, 1.27, 2.57, 2.54, 1.70], II 15.20 [4.60, 1.60, 4.03, 3.27, 1.70], III (right) 15.62 [4.76, 1.66, 3.52, 3.83, 1.85], IV 12.61 [3.75, 1.12, 3.57, 3.01, 1.16]. Leg formula: 3241. Pedipalp as in Figs 4 A–D.

Female. Unknown.

Justification of the transfer. Gravely (1931) described this species based on a single male specimen collected in Tamil Nadu. Detailed study of the holotype of S. shevaroyensis shows that it has the most important diagnostic feature of Makdiops species, i.e, tibiae I and II with 3–3 pattern of ventral spination. In addition, the pedipalp structure also matches with that of the type species of Makdiops (compare Figs 4 A–D with Crews & Harvey 2011: figs 83–84). Based on these observations, we propose the transfer of S. shevaroyensis to Makdiops .

Remarks. The ZSI collection has one glass tube for this species, which is labeled as ‘TYPE’ (1510/18) containing one male specimen in fairly good condition, with broken legs.

Figures

FIGURE 3A–D. Makdiops shevaroyensis (Gravely, 1931) comb. nov. (Holotype male NZC-ZSI-1510/18). A Habitus, dorsal. B Prosoma, dorsal. C Chelicerae, ventral. D Type label. Scale bars:A, 2 mm; B, 1 mm; C, 0.5 mm.

FIGURE 4A–D. Makdiops shevaroyensis (Gravely, 1931) comb. nov. (Holotype male NZC-ZSI-1510/18). A–D Left pedipalp (A prolateral, B ventral, C retrolateral, D ventral enlarged).Abbreviations: E, embolus; C, conductor; MA, median apophysis; RTA, retrolateral tibial apophysis. Scale bars: A–D, 0.5 mm.