A review of the genus Sphingius Thorell, 1890 from India (Araneae: Liocranidae) Author Sankaran, Pradeep M. Division of Arachnology, Department of Zoology, Sacred Heart College, Thevara, Cochin, Kerala 682 013, India Author Caleb, John T. D. 0000-0002-9471-9467 Zoological Survey of India, Prani Vigyan Bhawan, M-Block, New Alipore, Kolkata, West Bengal 700 053, India caleb 87 woodgate @ gmail. com; https: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0002 - 9471 - 9467 caleb87woodgate@gmail.com Author Sebastian, Pothalil A. 0000-0002-4936-4310 Division of Arachnology, Department of Zoology, Sacred Heart College, Thevara, Cochin, Kerala 682 013, India & drpothalil @ rediffmail. com; https: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0002 - 4936 - 4310 drpothalil@rediffmail.com text Zootaxa 2020 2020-12-23 4896 4 505 522 journal article 9199 10.11646/zootaxa.4896.4.3 6592cf39-be44-44f4-842d-e0126d8640ad 1175-5326 4387671 0824AFA4-4E8B-419B-972C-0FA0A88538FF Sphingius paltaensis Biswas & Biswas, 1992 Fig. 7 Sphingius paltaensis Biswas & Biswas, 1992: 426 , figs 36–38. Type material. Holotype ♀ from INDIA : West Bengal : North 24 Parganas : Palta : Santi Nagar ( 22°46’57.51’’N , 88°22’50.46’’E ), 12 m a.s.l. , leg. Bijan Biswas , 8 December 1986 , deposited in NZC-ZSI (5046/18), examined ( Fig. 7E ). FIGURE 7. Sphingius paltaensis Biswas & Biswas, 1992 , holotype ♀. A habitus, dorsal. B eye group, dorsal. C epigynum, ventral. D vulva, dorsal. E label from type bottle. F original illustrations adopted from Biswas and Biswas (1992) . Scale bars: A, 2 mm; B, 0.5 mm; C–D, 0.2 mm. Diagnosis. Females of S. paltaensis are closely related to the females of S. spinosus Dankittipakul, Tavano & Singtripop, 2011 , but can be separated by circular atrium (quadrangular in S. spinosus ) and sharply curved copulatory ducts (gently curved in S. spinosus ) (compare Fig. 7 C–D with Dankittipakul et al. 2011 : figs 25–26). Supplementary description. Female ( Fig. 7 A–B). Body length 6.46. Carapace length 2.76, width 2.30. Opisthosoma length 3.70, width 2.00. Eye diameters: ALE 0.14. AME 0.10. PLE 0.11. PME 0.15. Eye interdistances: ALE–PLE 0.07. AME–ALE 0.04. AME–AME 0.06. AME–PME 0.08. PME–PLE 0.06. PME–PME 0.07. Chelicerae length 0.96. Clypeus height at ALEs 0.07, at AMEs 0.13. Measurements of palp and legs. Palp 3.00 [0.93, 0.58, 0.59, 0.90], I 8.38 [2.38, 1.23, 1.90, 1.48, 1.39], II 6.52 [1.72, 0.87, 1.39, 1.36, 1.18], III 6.17 [1.66, 0.93, 1.18, 1.39, 1.01], IV 9.17 [2.74, 1.19, 1.96, 2.41, 0.87]. Leg formula: 4123. Genitalia ( Fig. 7 C–D, F): epigynal plate moderately sclerotized. Atrium large, nearly circular, with wide anterior hood ( Fig. 7C ). Copulatory openings situated on postero-lateral margin of epigynal atrium. Copulatory ducts short, curving medially ( Fig. 7D ). Bursae globular, with indistinct stalks, arising on distal part of copulatory ducts ( Fig. 7D ). Spermathecae large, more or less pear-shaped, lying parallel to each other ( Fig. 7D ). Fertilization ducts more or less linear-shaped, directed mesally towards each other ( Fig. 7D ). Male . Unknown. Remarks. The ZSI collection has one glass bottle for this species labelled as ‘holotype’ (5046/18) containing a female specimen with broken legs, otherwise in good condition. The same bottle has a small glass vial containing the dissected genitalia. There is an inconsistency in the registration number of this species; the label mentions it as ‘5406/18’, but in the original literature, it is given as ‘5046/18’.