Nilus oblongus Pavesi 1897

Jäger, Peter, 2011, Revision of the spider genera Nilus O. Pickard-Cambridge 1876, Sphedanus Thorell 1877 and Dendrolycosa Doleschall 1859 (Araneae: Pisauridae), Zootaxa 3046, pp. 1-38 : 5

Nilus oblongus Pavesi 1897 , nomen dubium

Figs 8–15 , 18 : 2

Nilus oblongus Pavesi 1897: 177 (description of female; holotype, immature female, from Gubala Ginda, Sagan, E. Ruspoli leg. XII.1893, MCSN, examined).

Note. This species has to be still considered a nomen dubium due to the immature stage of the female holotype. Roewer (1955a: 253) added a description of another subadult female from Gubala Ginda, but did not examine the holotype. Therefore his description is not helpful in solving species identity. Some descriptive characters of the holotype provided below could probably help in this respect. It is not clear where the type locality Gubala Ginda is located. The paper treats Somalian and Gallain (both used as tribal names) Arachnida. Therefore Sagan and Gubala Ginda could be located in Ethiopia or Somalia. There is a Ghinda (Ginda) in Eritrea (c. 20 km directly NNW from Asmara), a Sagan (Segen; locality and river at N 05°35ʹ, E 37°46ʹ) in southern Ethiopia (c. 50 km directly south of Lake Abaya), and a Sagan in northwestern Ethiopia (between Agherri and Dess). No present locality name in Somalia matches. The collector, Prince Eugenio Ruspoli, was murdered in Gubala Ginda in December 1893, the same month as given for the collecting date. The collection was apparently transferred to Europe after Ruspoli died. The type locality of that species is probably not in Somalia, but is likely to be in Ethiopa.

Redescription. Immature female holotype. PL 4.6, PW 3.9, AW 2.3, OL 5.3. Both eye rows distinctly recurved ( Fig. 11 ), width of posterior eye row 1.3 times that of anterior eye row. Chelicerae with 3 anterior (median largest) and 3 subequal posterior teeth, without denticles ( Fig. 12 ). Spination: Palp 151, 110, 1201, 1013; Femur I–III 535, IV 532; Patella I–IV 111; Tibia I–IV 2228, Metatarsus I–IV 3037. Proximal dorsal tibia with a row of 10 strongly curved feathered trichobothria ( Fig. 14 ). Proximal ventral metatarsus with a patch of 15–20 strongly curved setae ( Fig. 13 ). Pre-epigyne present ( Fig. 15 ).

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 10. Nilus spp., habitus (1, 3, 5, 8 dorsal view; 2, 4, 6, 9 ventral view; 7, 10 frontal view). 1 – 7 Nilus curtus O. Pickard-Cambridge 1876, juvenile syntypes from Egypt. 8 – 10 Nilus oblongus Pavesi 1897, holotype, immature female, from Ethiopia.

FIGURES 11 – 15. Nilus oblongus Pavesi 1897, holotype, immature female, from Ethiopia. 11 Eye arrangement, dorsal view. 12 Cheliceral dentition, ventral view. 13 Proximal metatarsus I, prolateral view, showing brush of bristles. 14 Proximal tibia I, prolateral view, showing partly plumose trichobothria. 15 Pre-epigyne, ventral view.

FIGURES 16 – 19. 16 – 17 Nilus amazonicus Simon 1898, holotype, juvenile, from Brazil, habitus (16 dorsal view; 17 ventral view). 18 Records of Nilus spp. (1 Egypt, Alexandria; 2 Ethiopia, detailed locality unclear; 3 India, Andhra Pradesh; 4 Andaman Islands; asterisk denotes type species of the genus). 19 Records of Sphedanus spp. (1 China, Yunnan, Menglun; 2 Laos, Luang Nam Tha Province: Ban Tavan, Nam Ha Protected Area; 3 Laos, Luang Prabang Province: Ban Mout, Ban Kengkoung, Tad Se; 4 Laos, Vientiane Province: Vang Vieng; 5 Laos, Champasak Province: Tha Hou; 6 Thailand, Trat Province: Koh Chang; 7 Malaysia: Genting [from Murphy & Murphy 2000]; 8 Singapore; 9 Brunei; 10 Indonesia, Sulawesi: Kandari; asterisks denote type localities of particular species).