Theridion spinitarse, O.Pickard-Cambridge, 1876

Knoflach, Barbara, Rollard, Christine & Thaler, Konrad, 2009, Notes on Mediterranean Theridiidae (Araneae) – II, ZooKeys 16 (16), pp. 227-264 : 256-257

Theridion spinitarse O.P.- Cambridge, 1876

Figs 78-79

Theridion spinitarsis O. P.- Cambridge, 1876: 570 , female, type locality: Cairo.

Theridion bifoveolatum Denis, 1945: 48 , fig. 17, female, type locality: Luxor, Egypt, March 1923 ( Levy and Amitai 1982: 84).

Non: Theridion aelleni Hubert, 1970: 190 , figs 1-4, male, female; contra Brignoli (1984: 301), see Theridula aelleni below.

Material examined. Egypt: Assuan, 4 ♀ ( CTh), 22.6.1975, on wall, leg. G. Kübelböck. Saudi Arabia: Wadi Karrar , 3 ♀ ( NHMB), 10.2.1980, leg. W. Büttiker. Yemen: Wadi Warazan , 1 ♀, 28.10.1999, on guava, leg. M. Mahyoub and A. van Harten [794]. Al Hudaydah - Az Zaydiyah , 2 ♀, 06.12.1998, leg. van Harten [533] .

Description, identification. Identification based on the description and figure given by Denis (1945 sub T. bifoveolatum ). Male unknown.

Measurements. Females (n=5, min-max): Total length 3.4-4.2, carapace length 1.3-1.5, width 1.1-1.3, length femur I 1.7-2.0, tibia I 1.3-1.5 mm.

Somatic features, colouration. Carapace light brown, with dark margins and dark band at midline, which does not extend to eye region. Sternum of same light ground colour, sometimes with a few indistinct greyish patches or margins. Legs light brown, with dark annulations. Abdomen on dorsum with white, evenly undulated folium outlined by dark pigmentation. Epigaster light brown, venter whitish.

Epigynum /vulva ( Figs 78-79 ). Copulatory orifices laterally oval, ca. 0.07 mm wide, 0.05 long. Orifices widely separate, about 0.2 mm apart and thus about twice their width. Their distance to epigastric furrow equals about their overall width. In mated females the orifices are filled with plug secretions. Copulatory ducts ca. 0.45 mm long, coiled dorsally and anteriorly, and form a long transverse turn laterally before bending to receptacula. Receptacula seminis large as compared with copulatory orifices, ca. 0.15 mm long, clearly visible through integument.

Affinities. The species appears to be rather close to the North American Theridion murarium Emerton, 1882 .

Distribution. North Africa and Arabian Peninsula. Theridion spinitarse is so far known from several localities in Egypt (O.P.- Cambridge 1876, Denis 1945) and from Ethiopia ( Pavesi 1883; Shewa, mountains around Let Marefia). It also occurs in Saudi Arabia and Yemen (present paper). It has been collected at least partially from vegetation “A single example was found on a low plant near Cairo” (O.P.- Cambridge 1876).

Figures

Figures 78-79. Theridion spinitarse O. P.-Cambridge. Epigynum/vulva, ventral (78), dorsal view (79), drawn at same scale. Scale line: 0.10 mm.