Pandava laminata ( Thorell, 1878 )

Sankaran, Pradeep M., Caleb, John T. D. & Sebastian, Pothalil A., 2020, On the taxonomic validity of Indian ground spiders: III. Genus Phaeocedus Simon, 1893 (Araneae: Gnaphosidae), Journal of Natural History 54 (21 - 22), pp. 1325-1336 : 1332-1334

Pandava laminata ( Thorell, 1878)

( Figure 5 (a,b,c,d,e))

Amaurobius laminatus Thorell, 1878: 168 .

Amaurobius castaneiceps Simon, 1893: 69 , fig. 1 (for complete list of references, see World Spider Catalog 2020).

Phaeocedus nicobarensis Tikader, 1977: 187 , fig. 15A–C, C1; 1982: 361, figs 154–157. New synonymy

Type material of P. nicobarensis

Holotype female from INDIA: Car Nicobar: Keating Point, B.K. Tikader leg., 6 March 1970, repository NZC-ZSI (4991/18), Kolkata, examined . Allotype immature male with the same data as holotype except 4992/18, examined.

Justification of the synonymy

Tikader (1977) described P. nicobarensis based on a single female and an immature male specimens collected in Car Nicobar. The original illustration of the prosoma of this species ( Tikader 1977: fig. 15A) is deviating from that of gnaphosid spiders, indicating its misplacement in Gnaphosidae . Detailed examination of the holotype and allotype of this species revealed that it belongs to Titanoecidae Lehtinen, 1967 and has all the diagnostic features of Pandava laminata ( Thorell, 1878) (compare Figure 5 (c,d) with Almeida-Silva et al. 2010: figs 21–23, 36–37). The species P. nicobarensis should thus be considered as a junior synonym of P. laminata .

Remarks

The ZSI collection has two glass tubes for P. nicobarensis . First tube labelled as ‘allotype’ (4992/18) contains the immature male specimen in good condition. Second tube lacks labelling and contains the female holotype in good condition and the dissected genitalia in a small glass vial. This tube was found in the holotype bottle for ‘ Theridion indica ’.

Figures

Figure 5. Phaeocedus nicobarensis Tikader, 1977 (=Pandava laminata (Thorell, 1878)). (a) holotype female habitus, dorsal view. (b) allotype immature male habitus, dorsal view (NZC-ZSI-4992/18). (c) epigyne of holotype female. (d) vulva of the same. (e) label from allotype tube. Scale bars a, b = 2 mm; c = 0.2 mm; d = 0.1 mm.