Harpactea hombergii ( Scopoli, 1763 )

Řezáč, Milan, Cardoso, Pedro & Řezáčová, Veronika, 2023, Review of Harpactea ground-dwelling spiders (Araneae: Dysderidae) of Portugal, Zootaxa 5263 (3), pp. 335-364 : 347

Harpactea hombergii ( Scopoli, 1763)

( Fig. 9 )

Dysdera latreillii Blackwall, 1832: 190 (the first description of this species, based on ♁).

Remarks. The name Harpactea hombergi has been erroneously used for this species (Řezáč et al. 2008a). Walckenaer (1830) first used the name D. hombergii for the Harpactea species. His wrong concept was adopted by the latter authors (see the above list of misidentifications). The species so far called Harpactea hombergii was first described as Dysdera Latreillii by Blackwall (1832). However, resurrecting a name that has not been used as valid for over 150 years would severely threaten nomenclatoric stability. Therefore, we propose to keep using the name hombergii for this species.

Harpactea hombergii is usually incorrectly written with a single “i” (for example, World Spider Catalog 2021). It was named after Homberg, latinized in Hombergius; the genitive of Hombergi-us is then Hombergi-i. Therefore, the name “hombergii” does not fit into the cases of incorrect names that must be changed. Thus, the original spelling of the specific name should be maintained according to ICZN, articles 31–33.

Material. Type material was not examined.

New material. Alcos de Valdevez , Mezio, 41.886, -8.312, inside house, 2 ♁♁, 14 June 2005, leg. S. Henriques, coll. Crop Research Institute, Prague .

Diagnosis. Harpactea hombergii can be easily distinguished from other Portuguese Harpactea by dark brown carapace, especially in males elongated body, slightly annulated legs, remarkably shortened tarsus of male pedipalps, and by the shape of copulatory organs.

Ecology. During the day this nocturnal species can be found in leaf litter, under stones and branches lying on the ground or under bark of trees. In the Iberian Peninsula it lives in humid forests, adults are usually found in May. In central Europe it usually lives in sparse dry forests on rocks, especially with predominating Quercus spp. , less often Fagus sylvatica or Pinus spp. ; it matures at the end of summer.

Distribution. Harpactea species with the largest area of distribution comprising most of the western, central and southern Europe. It is absent in its southernmost (southern parts of Iberian, Appenine and Balkan peninsulas), northern (Scandinavia, Baltic countries, Russia) and eastern parts ( Bielorussia, Ukraine). In Spain (Ferrandez & Ferrandez 1990: 49, fig. 4) and Portugal ( Fig. 9 ) it lives only in the northern parts, with very few southern records that probably are misidentified (see Branco et al. 2019b).

Figures

FIGURE 9. Known distribution of Portuguese Harpactea species. In each map the first species is represented by a transparent circle and the second species by a black diamond:A) H. adicensis & H. algarvensis; B) H. crespoi & H. dolanskyi; C) H. fageli & H. gaditana; D) H. henriquesi & H. hombergii; E) H. korenkoi & H. krejcii; F) H. magnibulbi & H. minoccii; G) H. pekari & H. proxima; H) H. stalitoides & H. subiasi; I) H. tavirensis.