Talanites sumericus, Zamani & Marusik, 2022

Zamani, A. & Marusik, Y. M., 2022, On A Small Collection Of Spiders (Arachnida, Araneae) From Iraq, With New Species And Records, Zoodiversity 56 (4), pp. 291-306 : 292-293

Talanites sumericus sp. n. ( fig. 1 , A–C)

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:BF98DF15-FF3C-45F1-B770-FC563A4BE16E

M a t e r i a l e x a m i n e d. Type. Holotype}: Iraq: Najaf Province: Ash Shabakah camp, 150 km SW of

Najaf, stone desert, [30°48' N, 43°39' E], 260 m, 11.07.1978 (O. Jakeš) ( MMB) .

E t y m o l o g y. The specific epithet refers to Sumer, the earliest known civilization in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia (south-central Iraq).

Diagnosis. The new species is very similar to the generotype T. fervidus Simon, 1893 , a species known from Egypt and Israel ( Levy, 1999: figs 14, 15). Both species have an almost identical shape of receptacles, but differ in the shape of the anterior epigynal hood (subtriangular in the new species vs. semicircular in T. fervidus ), and the proportions of the fovea (wider than long in the new species vs. longer than wide in T. fervidus ).

Description. Female. Habitus as in fig. 1 , A. Total length 5.73. Carapace 2.46 long, 1.74 wide. Eye sizes: AME: 0.09, ALE: 0.10, PME: 0.08, PLE: 0.11. Carapace, sternum, chelicerae, labium and maxillae light brown. Legs slightly lighter than carapace, without annulations. Abdomen beige, with faint cardiac mark and 2 pairs of sigilla. Spinnerets uniformly light yellowish brown. Measurements of legs: I: 6.84 (1.91, 1.10, 1.68, 1.24, 0.91), II: 5.87 (1.61, 1.00, 1.31, 1.13, 0.82), III: 5.38 (1.45, 0.85, 1.02, 1.30, 0.76), IV: 7.10 (1.90, 1.00, 1.48, 1.81, 0.91).

Epigyne as in fig. 1 , B–C; fovea wider than long; anterior hood (Ah) arrowhead-shaped, wider than long; posterior receptacles (Pr) round, contiguous and heavily sclerotized; anterior receptacles (Ar) less sclerotized, oval.

Male. Unknown.

Distribution. Currently known only from the type locality in Najaf Province, southern Iraq.

Comments. Levy (1999) is the only publication that has illustrated the female of T. fervidus , and our decision to treat the Iraqi specimen as belonging to a different species is based on the comparison with the figures provided in that paper. Still, considering that the drawings of Levy are sometimes not accurate, it is possible that in future the Iraqi species would fall into the synonymy of T. fervidus . This matter can be revisited once the female of T. fervidus is re-illustrated, preferably based on topotype material.

Figures

Fig. 1. Female of Talanites sumericus sp. n.: A — habitus, dorsal view; B — epigyne, ventral view; C — vulva, dorsal view. Abbreviations: Ah — anterior hood, Ar — anterior receptacle, Pr — posterior receptacle. Scale bars = 0.2 mm, unless stated otherwise.