Episinus theridioides Simon, 1873

Figs 27-31

Plocamis pyrenaea Simon, 1914: 246, 291, female, type locality: Pyrénées-Atlantiques (Bosmans and de Castro 2002).

Material examined. France: Pyrénées-Atlantiques, La Rhune, near St-Jean-de-Luz, 2 ♀ 1 juvenile (MHNP AR 2182; type material of P. pyrenaea, Simon 1914: 291). Corsica, Haute Asco, 1400-1440 m, 42°23,589’ N, 08°55,349’ E, under stones from scree at forest line, 2 ♀ (CTh), 12.9.2001, leg. K. Thaler and B. Knoflach [Th-417 Co01/15] .

Description, identification. Knoflach (1993), Agnarsson et al. (2007), for further citations see Platnick (2008).

Synonymy. The synonymisation of E. pyrenaeus (Simon, 1914) with E. theridioides by Bosmans and de Castro (2002) is supported by the present material from the Pyrenees and from Corsica, though only females have been compared. General appearance (Fig. 27), shape of epigynum and overall course of copulatory ducts (Figs 28-29) are not or barely different from E. theridioides (Figs 30-31).

Distribution. Episinus theridioides occurs discontinuously in the Mediterranean (Knoflach and Thaler 2000) and is known only from a few localities in the French and Spanish Pyrenees, Cantabria, Corsica and Sardinia; for a distribution map see Bosmans and de Castro (2002). Unlike members of the E. truncatus -group it appears to be an exclusively epigeic species.