Evippomma simoni Alderweireldt, 1992

Steinpress, Igor Armiach, Alderweireldt, Mark, Cohen, Mira, Chipman, Ariel & Gavish-Regev, Efrat, 2021, Synopsis of the Evippinae (Araneae, Lycosidae) of Israel, with description of a new species, European Journal of Taxonomy 733, pp. 87-124 : 115-117

Evippomma simoni Alderweireldt, 1992

Figs 1– 2 , 4E , 5E , 6E , 7E , 8E , 10E , 11E , 13B, D , 14B

Evippomma simoni Alderweireldt, 1992: 161 , fig. 3a–c (♂, Sudan).

Diagnosis

Recognized by a combination of genital characters. Male palp: tegular apophysis small, translucent, oriented distad, parallel to plane of bulb, laterally barb-shaped ( Figs 6E , 7E , 8E ). Tegulum presents single sinus shape curve of sperm duct (in Evippa : two) ( Fig. 6E ). Epigyne: rounded or hat-shaped, wider than long, septum wide. Atria narrow, shallow, greatly constricted distally (in Evippa : width approximately equal throughout), similar to epigyne of E. squamulatum , but proximal portion of atrium wide (in E. squamulatum proximal portion of atrium slit-shaped) ( Figs 10E , 13B, D ). It is the only Evippinae in Israel covered in flat, leaf-shaped setae and without annulations on the legs.

Material examined

ISRAEL – Dead Sea Area • 1 ♂; Near Sedom ; [31.01° N, 35.35° E]; 10 Apr. 1967; P. Amitai leg.; HUJ INV-Ar 16537 . – Negev • 1 ♀; Be’er Mash’abbim ; [31.01° N, 34.76° E]; 18 Sep. 1990; Y. Lubin leg.; HUJ INV-Ar 16544 • 3 ♂♂; same collection data as for preceding; 11 Apr. 1991; Y. Lubin leg.; HUJ INV-Ar 16541 , 16568 to 16569 • 2 ♂♂; same collection data as for preceding; 27 May 1992; Y. Lubin leg.; HUJ INV-Ar 16540 , 16570 • 3 ♀♀; same collection data as for preceding; 25 Jun. 1992; Y. Lubin leg.; HUJ INV-Ar 16050 , 16571 to 16572 • 4 ♂♂; same collection data as for preceding; 30 Apr. 1993; Y. Lubin leg.; HUJ INV-Ar 16049 , 16573 to 16575 • 1 ♀; same collection data as for preceding; 30 Apr. 1993; Y. Lubin leg.; HUJ INV-Ar 16042 • 1 ♂; Holot Agur ; [30.97° N, 34.40° E]; 1 Apr. 2012; I. Renan leg.; HUJ INV-Ar 16536 • 1 subadult ♀; same collection data as for preceding; 26 Feb. 2013; I. Renan leg.; HUJ INV-Ar 16576 • 1 juv.; same collection data as for preceding; 14 Mar. 2013; I. Renan leg.; HUJ INV-Ar 16545 • 1 ♀; Mash’abbim sands ; 31.002° N, 34.754° E; 16 Jun. 2020; S. Aharon leg.; HUJ INV-Ar 20421 • 1 ♀; Mash’abbim sands ; [31.00° N, 34.75° E]; 28 Jun. 2020; S. Aharon leg.; HUJ INV- Ar 20422 • 4 ♂♂; Nahal Sekher ; [31.09° N, 34.82° E]; 5 May 1967; P. Amitai leg.; HUJ INV-Ar 16538 to 16539 , 16577 to 16578 • 1 ♀; Nizzana ; [30.89° N, 34.41° E]; 29 Aug. 1991; J. Henschel leg.; HUJ INV-Ar 16543 • 1 ♂; Mamshit ; [31.02° N, 35.06° E]; 10 Apr. 2018; A. Uzan leg.; HUJ INV-Ar 16579 .

Description

Male

MEASUREMENTS (n =12). AME diameter: 0.13–0.2; PME diameter: 0.27–0.4; carapace length: 2.8–3.99; carapace width: 2.1–2.8; abdomen length: 2.7–4.17; leg I (Fe, Pa, Ti, Mt, Tr): 2.77–4.7, 0.98–1.6, 2.39– 5.96, 2.8–4.86, 1.7–2.3; leg II: 3.38–4.46, 1.2–1.57, 2.8–3.7, 3.57–4.5, 1.7–2.2; leg III: 3.2–4.3, 1.08– 1.5, 2.27–2.9, 3.5–4.5, 1.78–2.25; leg IV: 3.8–5.26, 1.3–1.68, 3.9–5.1, 4.6–6.0, 2.14–2.58.

COLOR. Carapace yellow to orange and brown, lighter around fovea and in patches behind PME; lateral bands brown to grey, radiated, fused posteriorly; ocular area black; cephalic and thoracic regions separated by sharp, black V-shaped line; perimeter with spots of white setae. Clypeus black near AME, light laterally, with white setae on margin. Chelicerae proximally yellow to orange with grey or brown reticulation connecting to oblique brown band in middle, retrolateral margin white. Legs yellow, proximal part of femur and coxa usually grey. Palps yellow to brownish (femur and tarsus darker). Sternum grey to brown, margin black, sometimes with light radiation. Abdomen dorsum yellow to whitish, sometimes with white spots. Cardiac mark yellow to brown, outlined with black spots, surrounded by posteriorly extending broken light band, outlined with dark spots, not reaching spinnerets. Abdominal venter margins yellow to whitish, center irregularly bordered, grey to black with yellow spots. Book lungs white. Spinnerets yellow ( Fig. 4E ).

CARAPACE. Ocular area elevated. Fovea area slightly elevated.

CHELICERAL TEETH. 3 promarginal, 2 retromarginal.

GENITALIA. Palpal organs weakly sclerotized. Tegulum keel-shaped. Part of sperm duct visible through tegulum bent at 90°. Tegular apophysis small, translucent, oriented distad, with subapical process oriented ventrad; slightly elevated over tegulum ( Figs 6E , 7E , 8E ).

LEGS. Tarsus without pseudoarticulation, but in some specimens tarsi bent. Metatarsus I ventral spination: 2 pairs of long spines (pair I not reaching pair II) + short apical triplet; tibia I ventral spination: 5 pairs (all long except 5 th pair) + short apical pair. Distance between pairs 2–3 greatest.

Female MEASUREMENTS (n=6). AME diameter: 0.1–0.19; PME diameter: 0.33–0.42; carapace length: 3.28–4;

carapace width: 2.3–3.07; abdomen length: 3.57–5.1; leg I (Fe, Pa, Ti, Mt, Tr): 2.95–3.6, 1.24–1.56, 2.5– 3.09, 1.84–2.31, 1.22–1.5; leg II: 2.64–3.18, 1.22–1.3, 2.15–2.47, 1.69–2.2, 1.1–1.3; leg III: 2.46–3.14, 1.1–1.26, 1.5–2.9, 1.9–3.1, 1.37–1.6; leg IV: 2.99–3.86, 1.28–1.58, 2.79–3.8, 2.69–3.25, 1.48–1.78.

COLOR. Carapace yellow to brownish-orange, covered with white setae, lighter around fovea and in patches behind PME; lateral bands grey, radiated, fused posteriorly; cephalic and thoracic regions separated by sharp, black V-shaped line. Clypeus yellow to brown, covered with leaf-like setae, with dark lateral bar. Chelicerae orange, with leaf-like setae on proximal half, sometimes with grey reticulation and oblique grey band. Legs yellow, usually, greyish on proximal side of segment, sometimes with grey line on dorsal side. Palps yellow, with some grey on femur and tarsus. Sternum brown.Abdomen dorsum yellow to whitish. Cardiac mark grey, usually with two lines of gray spots, connecting above spinnerets. Abdomen venter yellow, grey or white, darker on center. Book lungs white. Spinnerets yellow ( Fig. 5E ). CARAPACE. Ocular area elevated. Due to the females’ strongly raised cephalic region and short legs they resemble a juvenile Lycosa rather than an Evippa .

CHELICERAL TEETH. 3 promarginal, 2 retromarginal.

GENITALIA. Epigyne wider than long, septum wide, atria distinct, shallow, narrow, widening proximally. Spermathecae longer than atria, bent retrolaterally, shaped like a crookneck squash ( Figs 10E , 11E , 13B, D ).

LEGS. No pseudoarticulation of the tarsus. Metatarsus I ventral spination: 2 long pairs (pair I reaching base of pair II); tibia I ventral spination: 5 pairs (long, except 5 th) + short apical pair.

Natural history

Adult Evippomma simoni were collected April through June, August and September ( Table 3 ) and may have a yearly cycle similar to what was suggested for E. arenaria , with a period of lowered activity in the colder months of the year (see Discussion). A female with eggs (HUJ INV-Ar 20422) was collected in June. The species mostly inhabits sandy desert habitats ( Fig. 15B ). An anecdotal report raises the possibility that the species also exists along the coastal dune strip, similar to Evippa arenaria (Y. Salaviz, pers. com.). Specimen HUJ INV-Ar 20421 was found by S. Aharon in a silk-lined burrow ( Fig. 2 ), similar to what has been reported for E. rechenbergi ( Bayer et al. 2017) .

Distribution

Sudan (Alderweireldt 1992), Israel.

Israel: Negev (Be’er Mash’abbim, Holot Agur, Nahal Sekher, Mamshit), Dead Sea area (Near Sedom) ( Fig. 16 ).

Remarks

This is the first record of Evippomma in Israel, and may also be the first record outside of Africa (depending on the dubious report of the species from India ( Roewer 1955)). If there is a continuous distribution with the type locality at the northern Sudanese border, this species is to be present in the sandy desert of northern Sinai and in eastern Egypt. It may be distributed in other hot desert environments in the region, such as the sandy deserts of Jordan.

Most of the specimens were collected in dune areas, but a specimen from the Sedom area, with a clayrich substrate, suggests that this species is not an obligate psammophile.

Phylogenetic relationships of Evippinae based on COI and NADH

The ML tree topology recovered the genus Evippa as monophyletic (bootstrap support [BS]= 89%). Evippinae was only moderately supported in our tree ( Fig. 17 ; BS =63%), yet the topology in our tree accords with the tree topology for Lycosidae in Piacentini & Ramírez 2019 and with the composition of Evippinae sensu Alderweireldt 1991.

Figures

Fig. 1. Evippomma simoni Alderweireldt, 1992. Live ♂ (HUJ INV-Ar 16579), Mamshit, Apr. 2018. A. Lateral view. B. Frontal view. C. Dorsal view. D. Cephalic region in dorsal view, right side. Leafshaped setae discernible. Photos by I. Armiach Steinpress.

Fig. 2. Evippomma simoni Alderweireldt, 1992, a live ♀, (HUJ INV-Ar 20421), Mash’abbim sands, 16 June 2020. A. Lateral view. B. Frontal view. C. Dorsal view. D. Burrow in the field. Photos A–C by I. Armiach Steinpress; photo D by S. Aharon.

Fig. 4. ♂♂, habitus. A. Evippa amitaii sp. nov. (HUJ INV-Ar 16051). B. E. arenaria (Audouin, 1826) (HUJ INV-Ar 16508). C. E. onager Simon, 1895 sensu Šternbergs 1979 (HUJ INV-Ar 20316). D. E. praelongipes (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1871) (HUJ INV-Ar 16041). E. Evippomma simoni Alderweireldt, 1992 (HUJ INV-Ar 16049). Scale bars = 10 mm. Photos by A. Uzan.

Fig. 5. ♀♀, habitus. A. Evippa amitaii sp. nov. (HUJ INV-Ar 16048). B. E. arenaria (Audouin, 1826) (HUJ INV-Ar 16507). C. E. onager Simon, 1895 sensu Šternbergs 1979 (HUJ INV-Ar 16510). D. E. praelongipes (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1871) (HUJ INV-Ar 16044). E. Evippomma simoni Alderweireldt, 1992 (HUJ INV-Ar 16544). Scale bars = 10 mm. Photos by A. Uzan.

Fig. 6. ♂♂, left palp, ventral view. A. Evippa amitaii sp. nov. (HUJ INV-Ar 16051). B. E. arenaria (Audouin, 1826) (HUJ INV-Ar 16508). C. E. onager Simon, 1895 sensu Šternbergs 1979 (HUJ INV-Ar 16510). D. E. praelongipes (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1871) (HUJ INV-Ar 16531). E. Evippomma simoni Alderweireldt, 1992 (HUJ INV-Ar 16538). Scale bars = 0.5 mm. Photos by I. Armiach Steinpress.

Fig. 7. ♂♂, left palp, retrolateral view. A. Evippa amitaii sp. nov. (HUJ INV-Ar 16051). B. E. arenaria (Audouin, 1826) (HUJ INV-Ar 16508). C. E. onager Simon, 1895 sensu Šternbergs 1979 (HUJ INV-Ar 16510). D. E. praelongipes (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1871) (HUJ INV-Ar 16531). E. Evippomma simoni Alderweireldt, 1992 (HUJ INV-Ar 16538). Scale bars = 0.5 mm. Photos by I. Armiach Steinpress.

Fig. 8. ♂♂, left palp, prolateral view. A. Evippa amitaii sp. nov. (HUJ INV-Ar 16051). B. E. arenaria (Audouin, 1826) (HUJ INV-Ar 16508). C. E. onager Simon, 1895 sensu Šternbergs 1979 (HUJ INV-Ar 16510). D. E. praelongipes (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1871) (HUJ INV-Ar 16531). E. Evippomma simoni Alderweireldt, 1992 (HUJ INV-Ar 16538). Scale bars = 0.5 mm. Photos by I. Armiach Steinpress.

Fig. 10. ♀♀, genitalia, ventral view. A. Evippa amitaii sp. nov. (HUJ INV-Ar 16053). B. E. arenaria (Audouin, 1826) (HUJ INV-Ar 16058). C. E. onager Simon, 1895 sensu Šternbergs 1979 (HUJ INV-Ar 20314). D. E. praelongipes (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1871) (HUJ INV-Ar 16521). E. Evippomma simoni Alderweireldt, 1992 (HUJ INV-Ar 16543). Scale bars = 0.5 mm. Photos by I. Armiach Steinpress.

Fig. 11. ♀♀, genitalia, dorsal view. A. Evippa amitaii sp. nov. (HUJ INV-Ar 16053). B. E. arenaria (Audouin, 1826) (HUJ INV-Ar 16058). C. E. onager Simon, 1895 sensu Šternbergs 1979 (HUJ INV-Ar 20314). D. E. praelongipes (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1871) (HUJ INV-Ar 16521). E. Evippomma simoni Alderweireldt, 1992 (HUJ INV-Ar 16543). Scale bars = 0.5 mm. Photos by I. Armiach Steinpress.

Fig. 13. ♀♀, genitalia, drawings. A. Evippa amitaii sp. nov. (HUJ INV-Ar 16053), ventral view. B. Evippomma simoni Alderweireldt, 1992 (HUJ INV-Ar 16543), ventral view. C. Evippa amitaii sp. nov. (HUJ INV-Ar 16053), dorsal view. D. Evippomma simoni Alderweireldt, 1992 (HUJ INV-Ar 16543), dorsal view. Scale bars = 0.5 mm. Drawings by I. Armiach Steinpress.

Fig. 14. Cephalic region (right side, dorsal view), showing covering setae. A. Evippa praelongipes (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1871), round-profile setae. B. Evippomma simoni Alderweireldt, 1992, leafshaped setae. Scale bars = 0.5 mm. Photos by I. Armiach Steinpress.

Fig. 15. Typical habitats of Evippinae in Israel. A. Nahal Ashalim, Dead Sea area, stream bed in hyperarid climate. B. Mamshit, central Negev, sandy loess plain in arid climate. C. Biq’at ‘Uvda (‘Uvda valley), southern Negev, stream bed with cracked soil in hyperarid climate. D. Palmahim, Coastal Plain, dunes in Mediterranean climate. Photos by I. Armiach Steinpress.

Fig. 16. Recorded distribution of Evippinae in Israel and Palestine: - Evippa amitaii sp. nov., - Evippa arenaria (Audouin, 1826), - E. onager Simon, 1895 sensu Šternbergs 1979, - E. praelongipes (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1871), - Evippomma simoni Alderweireldt, 1992. Dune areas marked by grainy background. Isohyets marking average annual precipitation.

Fig. 17. Maximum likelihood cladogram, showing the topology of Evippinae, withLycosa sp.,Alopecosa albofasciata (Brullé, 1832) and Pirata piraticus (Clerck, 1757) as outgroups. Bootstrap supports provided on the nodes. Species appearing twice represent different specimens, as detailed in Table 1.