Eresus adaleari Zamani & Szűts, 2020

Zamani, Alireza, Altin, Çağatay & Szűts, Tamás, 2020, A black sheep in Eresus (Araneae: Eresidae): taxonomic notes on the ladybird spiders of Iran and Turkey, with a new species, Zootaxa 4851 (3), pp. 559-572 : 561

Eresus adaleari Zamani & Szűts , sp. n.

Figs 1–14 , 26–27

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:828EB23D-FD74-42CA-982F-C498CFA3A8ED

Type material. Holotype ♂ ( MHNG): IRAN, Semnan Province: Shahrud, 10.2015 (A. Zamani).

Etymology. The new species is dedicated to Adam Olearius, a 17 th century German scholar who recorded the first spider from Iran ( Olearius 1656). The name is a combination of his first (ada - from Adam) and last (- lear from Olearius) names, constructed as a patronym.

Diagnosis. By habitus, the male of this species can be diagnosed from congeners by the uniformly black abdominal pattern of live specimen, the thick covering of long white setae on the carapace ( Fig. 1 ), the relatively steep but straight slope of the ocular area ( Fig. 26 contra to e.g. E. lavrosiae , which has a domed ocular area as seen from the lateral side Fig. 28 ), and the longer and lower pars thoracica ( Fig. 26 ). The carapace is almost as wide at the pars cephalica as it is at the pars thoracica ( Fig. 1 ), thus giving a less robust appearance than E. kollari or E. moravicus . By the morphology of the copulatory organs, it can be distinguished by the unique shape of the conductor ( Figs 3–14 ), which is relatively low (height less than 1.5 × its width in retrolateral view, Figs 5 , 14 ), and by the thick and strongly curved terminal tooth ( Figs 5 , 7, 9 , 13 ), the dome-shaped lamella ( Figs 8 , 14 ), and well visible deep and wide lamellar groove with strongly diverging sides ( Figs 8, 11 , 14 ). Female is currently unknown.

Description. Male: Habitus as in Figs 1, 2 , 26, 27 . Total length: 7.8, carapace 4.3 long, 2.9 wide, 2.0 high. Carapace almost as wide at pars cephalica (3.0) and pars thoracica (2.9). Leg segments: I: 8.38 (2.47+1.31+1.56+ 1.83+1.21); II: 7.64 (2.35+1.18+1.51+1.45+1.15); III: 6.82 (2.26+1.21+1.25+1.35+0.75); IV: 8.95 (2.89+1.43+1.9 3+1.80+0.90).

Carapace light brown with dense, white, long setae ( Fig. 1 ); pars cephalica elevated: ocular area straight until PMEs, but steep ( Fig. 26 ). Pars cephalica with a pointed posterior margin dorsally, almost as long as wide (2.8 long, 3.0 wide). Chelicerae covered with white and light brown setae ( Fig. 1 ). Legs with bands and stripes of white setae. Mt, Ti and Pt I–II with white bands at both proximal and apical ends. Fe, Pt, Ti and Mt III–IV with longitudinal white stripes of setae ( Fig. 1 ).

Legs with ventral macrosetae on Ta, Mt, Ti I–IV. Abdomen whitish with brown marbled pattern (both ventrally and dorsally), with brown patches surrounding anterior four sigilla ( Fig. 1 ).

Palp as in Figs 3–14 . Tegulum roundish ( Fig. 6 ). Conductor medium in height, with slight “shoulder” (marked with an arrow on Fig. 5 ), with well-developed, curved terminal tooth ( Figs 5 , 7, 9 ); terminal tooth thick, slightly bent ( Fig. 4 ), with almost straight mesal margin in ventral view ( Figs 4 , 13 ); conductor’s ectal margin smooth with slight proximal depression (marked with an arrow on Fig. 4 ). Lamellar groove deep and wide, with diverging sides ( Figs 5 , 14 ).

Female: Unknown.

Comments. The type specimen of E. tristis Kroneberg, 1875 , another species without red color on the abdomen from “Turkestan” (a historical area between the Ural and Siberia) is currently being studied by Marusik & Azarkina (pers. comm.), but they kindly shared high-quality images of their upcoming publication with us. Based on those, we were able to identify differences in the lamellar groove, and we are certain that these two are not conspecific.

Distribution. Currently known only from the type locality in Semnan Province, northeastern Iran.

Figures

FIGURES 1–5. Eresus adaleari Zamani & Szűts, sp. n. (male holotype). 1–2. Habitus, dorsal and ventral views. 3–5. Conductor, prolateral, ventral and retrolateral views, with arrow pointing to the “shoulder”. Scale bars = 2.0 mm (1, 2) and 0.25 mm (3–5).

FIGURES 6–11. Eresus adaleari Zamani & Szűts, sp. n. (male holotype), palp. 6–8. Prolateral, ventral and retrolateral views. 9–11. Slightly off views, illustrating how the point of view affects the perception of the shape of the terminal tooth and lamella (sensu Řezáč et al. 2008 fig. 1A–T, respectively). Scale bar = 0.5 mm.

FIGURES 12–14. Eresus adaleari Zamani & Szűts, sp. n. (male holotype) cleared palp, prolateral, ventral and retrolateral views. Scale bar = 0.5 mm.

FIGURES 26–33. Lateral and frontal male habitus profiles of four Eresus species. 26, 27. Eresus adaleari sp. n. 28, 29. Eresus lavrosiae Mcheidze, 1997. 30, 31. Eresus kollari Rossi, 1846. 32, 33. Eresus moravicus Řezáč, 2008. Scale bars = 2.0 mm.