Zelotibia Russell-Smith & Murphy, 2005

Nzigidahera, Benoît & Jocqué, Rudy, 2009, An of Zelotibia (Araneae, Gnaphosidae), a spider genus with a species swarm in the Albertine Rift, ZooKeys 13 (13), pp. 1-28 : 3

Zelotibia Russell-Smith & Murphy, 2005

Diagnosis. (modified from Russell-Smith and Murphy 2005)

Small to medium sized zelotine gnaphosids with metatarsal preening comb on legs III and IV. Females are diagnosed by spermathecae with wide ducts directed anteriad which often gives them a flask-shaped outline, and with the genital openings located in the anterior half of the epigyne. Males are characterized by a palpal tibia with modifications, the retrolateral tibial apophysis or papillae, that extend beyond the anterior margin of the segment.

A differential diagnosis of Zelotibia is provided in Russell-Smith and Murphy (2005) listing the main differences with related species in the Zelotinae.

Morphology of genitalia. Our interpretation of the genital structures is quite different from that of Russell-Smith and Murphy (2005). Th ese authors assume that in several species the embolus is hidden by what they call the distal tegular apophysis (DTA). Th is is the case in Z. kaibos (their fig. 4B), Z. cultella (fig. 8B), Z. dolabra (fig 12B). However, dissection of the palp of Z. curvifemur sp. n. ( Fig. 13B ) has shown that the large terminal sclerite is the embolus with an albeit unusual morphology. Th e dark elongate structure on the prolateral side of the bulbus is in fact the sclerotised margin of the tegulum and not the embolus. Th e same applies to the structure of the palp of Z. scobina . Th e so-called DTA is in fact the embolus and what was supposed to be the embolus running parallel with the former is the sclerotised distal margin of the tegulum. Th e PTA of Russell-Smith & Murphy is here called the median apophysis (MA). As regarding the epigyne we have used the term copulatory ducts instead of spermathecal ducts and copulatory openings instead of genital openings.

Figures

Figures 12-16. Zelotibia curvifemur sp. n. 12 Male palp, retrolateral view; 13 Male palp, ventral view; 13b. Male palp, expanded; Zelotibia lejeunei 14 Male palp, retrolateral view; 15 Male palp, dorsal view; 16 male palp, ventral view. CY: cymbium; E: embolus; MA: median apophysis; SD: sperm duct; ST: subtegulum; T: tegulum. (scale bar 0.5 mm).