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).

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’.