Urozelotes pawani ( Gajbe, 1993 ) Sankaran & Caleb, 2021

Sankaran, Pradeep M. & Caleb, John T. D., 2021, On the taxonomic validity of Indian ground spiders: V. Genera Megamyrmaekion Reuss, 1834, Sosticus Chamberlin, 1922 and Gaviphosa gen. nov. (Araneae: Gnaphosidae), Zootaxa 5040 (4), pp. 539-564 : 551-553

Urozelotes pawani ( Gajbe, 1993) comb. nov.

Figs 52–58

Sosticus pawani Gajbe, 1993: 181 , figs 1–5 (♀).

Type material. Holotype ♀ from INDIA : Himachal Pradesh: Solan: Ragul Kalpa, K.K. Mahajan leg., 15.IV.1970, NZC-ZSI, Kolkata (no register number specified), examined.

Justification of the transfer. The study of the holotype female of this species revealed that it is misplaced in Sosticus and has all the diagnostic features of Urozelotes as illustrated for Urozelotes mysticus Platnick & Murphy, 1984 , Urozelotes patulusus Sankaran & Sebastian, 2018 and Urozelotes rusticus (L. Koch, 1872) : epigyne with a median scape and anterior epigynal ducts bearing bulbous, antero-lateral extensions (secondary spermathecae) lying anterior to spermathecae (compare Figs 54–55 , 57–58 with Platnick & Murphy 1984: figs 57–58, 61–62 and Sankaran & Sebastian 2018: fig. 4d–e). Even though the epigyne of this species has a scape, it is not a member of Gnaphosinae Pocock, 1898 as it does not have a serrated keel or rounded lamina on the retromargin of chelicerae; instead, the retromargin bears two minute teeth ( Gajbe 1993). The preening comb was not traced on the metatarsi III and IV, which might be lost due to long-term preservation. However, U. patulusus which shows close resemblance with U. pawani comb. nov. has preening comb and teeth on cheliceral retromargin. Based on these observations, we propose to transfer S. pawani to Urozelotes .

Diagnosis. Females of U. pawani comb. nov. are similar to those of U. patulusus in the general shape of the epigyne, but can be distinguished from the latter by irregular PMEs (vs. obliquely oriented, oval PMEs in U. patulusus ), short scape (vs. long in U. patulusus ), short copulatory ducts with straight posterior part (vs. long with wavy posterior part in U. patulusus ) and oval spermathecae (vs. globular spermathecae in U. patulusus ) (compare Figs 53–55 , 57–58 with Sankaran & Sebastian 2018: figs 1d, 4d–e).

Supplementary description. Female (holotype, Figs 52–53 ): Opisthosoma dorsally provided with chevron pattern ( Fig. 52 ). Body length 4.13. Carapace 1.62 long, 1.20 wide. Opisthosoma 2.51 long, 1.55 wide. Eye sizes and interdistances: ALE 0.07, AME 0.05, PLE 0.07, PME 0.06; AME–AME 0.03, AME–PME 0.06, PME–PLE 0.05, PME–PME 0.04. Length of chelicerae 0.56. Genitalia ( Figs 54–55 , 57–58 ): scape short, less than half the length of epigynal plate ( Figs 54 , 57 ; Sc). Copulatory openings indistinct. Copulatory ducts short with straight posterior part, anteriorly with sharp twist ( Fig. 58 ; CD). Anterior epigynal ducts short, arising medially from copulatory ducts, with oval terminal parts ( Fig. 58 ; AED). Spermathecae large, oval, medially contiguous ( Fig. 58 ; S). Fertilization ducts long, narrow, postero-laterally directed ( Fig. 58 ; FD).

Male. Unknown.

Remarks. The ZSI collection has one glass tube for this species labeled as ‘holotype’ (no register number) containing a female specimen in poor condition, with broken legs and detached opisthosoma. The same tube has a micro-vial containing the dissected epigyne.

Figures

FIGURES 52–56. Urozelotes pawani (Gajbe, 1993) comb. nov., type of Sosticus pawani Gajbe, 1993. 52 holotype female habitus, dorsal view; 53 eyes of holotype female, dorsal view; 54–55 genitalia of holotype female (54 epigyne, ventral view, 55 vulva, dorsal view); 56 label from type tube. Scale bars: 52, 1 mm; 53–55, 0.2 mm.

FIGURES 57–58. Urozelotes pawani (Gajbe, 1993) comb. nov., type of Sosticus pawani Gajbe, 1993. 57–58 genitalia of holotype female (57 epigyne, ventral view, 58 vulva, dorsal view).Abbreviations:AED, anterior epigynal duct; CD, copulatory duct; FD, fertilization duct; S, spermatheca; Sc, scape. Scale bars: 57–58, 0.2 mm.