Oecobius dariusi, Zamani & Marusik, 2023

Zamani, Alireza & Marusik, Yuri M., 2023, New species and records of Oecobius Lucas, 1846 (Araneae: Oecobiidae) from Iran and Azerbaijan, Journal of Natural History (J. Nat. Hist.) 57 (37 - 40), pp. 1693-1709 : 1694-1697

Oecobius dariusi sp. n.

( Figures 1A , 2A–E )

Type material

Holotype ♀ ( ZMMU), IRAN: Tehran Province: 80 km E of Tehran, Damavand , Aroo Vil., 35.666667°N, 52.45°E, 15 June 2000 (Y.M. Marusik) . Paratypes: 3♀ ( ZMMU), 3♀ ( MMUE), same data as for the holotype; 2♀ ( ZMUT), Alborz Province: Sardor area , 10 km N of Karaj, 30.833333°N, 51.083333°E, 13 June 2000 (Y.M. Marusik) .

Etymology

This species is named after Darius I, who is more commonly known as Darius the Great. He was the third King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire and reigned from 522 BCE until his death in 486 BCE. During his rule, the empire reached its territorial peak.

Diagnosis

In the shape of the epigyne, the new species resembles O. latiscapus Wunderlich, 1992 , known only from Tenerife. Both species have a wide ‘scape̍ (Sc), a character unknown in the congeners. The new species can be distinguished by the heavily sclerotised tip of scape (vs not sclerotised) and by having many arched wrinkles in the anterior half and three posteriorly to the ‘scape̍ (vs numerous straight wrinkles posteriorly from the ‘scape̍), and a few straight wrinkles anteriorly from the ‘scape̍ (compare Figure 2A–C and Wunderlich 1992, fig. 283). The vulva of O. latiscapus has never been illustrated, and therefore cannot be compared with that of the new species.

Description

Female (holotype). Habitus as in Figure 1A . Total length 3.60. Carapace 0.83 long, 1.09 wide. Eye sizes: AME: 0.08, ALE: 0.09, PLE: 0.06, PME: 0.10. Carapace light yellowish brown, with darker median pattern and marginal stripes. Chelicerae, sternum, labium, and maxillae pale brown. Legs coloured as carapace, with broad annulations. Abdomen greyish brown and mottled with small guanine patches, dorsally with dark brown median pattern and marginal stripe. Spinnerets light greyish brown. Measurements of legs: I: 3.74 (1.02, 0.43, 0.78, 0.85, 0.66), II: 3.96 (1.09, 0.42, 0.83, 0.95, 0.67), III: 3.85 (1.07, 0.40, 0.84, 0.98, 0.56), IV: 4.02 (1.13, 0.41, 0.89, 1.02, 0.57).

Epigyne as in Figure 2A–E ; epigynal plate ca as wide as long, with large scape in centre ca 0.4 of width of plate; ‘scape̍ (Sc) wider than long, with rounded tip, anterior 2/3 with arched wrinkles (ca 10), posterior 1/3 with ca 3 arched wrinkles; receptacles (Re) large oval, 2 times longer than wide, ca 1.1 times longer than epigynal plate; copulatory ducts short; sclerotised capsules (Cs) round, contiguous, located posteriorly.

Male. Unknown.

Distribution

Known only from the listed localities in Alborz and Tehran provinces, northern Iran ( Figure 9 ).

Figures

Figure 1. Habitus of Oecobius dariusi sp. n. (A), O. naxuanus sp. n. (B), O. pasargadae sp. n. (C, D), O. navus (E, F), O. melanocephalus sp. n. (G, H) and O. zagros sp. n. (I), in dorsal (A–G, I) and ventral (H) views. A, D, F, G, H, females; B, C, E, I, males. G, H reproduced from Zamani et al. (2017). Scale bars = 0.5 mm.

Figure 2. Epigyne of Oecobius dariusi sp. n. (A) intact, ventral; (B) macerated, ventral; (C) cleared, ventral; (D), (E) dyed, dorsal and posterior. Scale bars = 0.2 mm. Abbreviations: Cs – sclerotised capsule, Re – receptacle, Sc – ‘scape̍.

Figure 9. Collection localities of the newly described/recorded species of Oecobius. Circles – O. dariusi sp. n.; stars – O.melanocephalus sp. n.; squares – O. navus; triangle – O.naxuanus sp. n.; hexagon – O. pasargadae sp. n.; inverted triangle – O. zagros sp. n. Yellow symbols indicate the type localities.