Nasoona nigromaculatus, GAO ET AL., 1996

Lin, Shou-Wang, Lopardo, Lara & Uhl, Gabriele, 2022, Evolution of nuptial-gift-related male prosomal structures: taxonomic revision and cladistic analysis of the genus Oedothorax (Araneae: Linyphiidae: Erigoninae), Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 195, pp. 417-584 : 537-538

NASOONA NIGROMACULATUS GAO ET AL., 1996

Nasoona nigromaculata Gao et al., 1996: 29 , figs 1–5 (Dmf).

Nasoona nigromaculata Song et al., 1999: 188 , fig. 107D–G (mf).

Oedothorax nigromaculatus Tanasevitch, 2018: 99 (transferred from Nasoona ).

Type material: Holotype: China: Zhejiang Province, Mt. Putuo (30°00’ N, 112°40’ E), under rock, ♀ 21.viii.1992 (not examined) . Paratypes: collected together with holotype, 3♂ 2♀ (not examined); Anhui Province, Mt. Huangshan (30°00’ N, 118°10’ E), 1♀ 14.viii.1992 (not examined). Deposited in the Department of Cellular Biology , Norman Bethune University of Medical Science , Changchun , China .

Diagnosis:

Males: This species can probably be identified by referring to palpal drawings in figures 1–3 in Gao et al. (1996), which give the outlines of the palpal tibial apophysis from three views, and a rough impression of the embolic division: it seems to have a radical tailpiece and two anterior protrusions round at the tips, one of which probably represents the embolus. Although it can not be determined which protrusion is the embolus, it is definitely not prolaterally spiral as in Oedothorax , and the anterior radical process, when present, is not pointed at tip. These features distinguish this species from Oedothorax .

Females: The only reference for identification of the females are figures 4 and 5 in Gao et al. (1996), which show a ventral view roughly similar to that of Oedothorax , but Gao depicted two stripe-like structures on both sides of the spermathecae in figure 5, which distinguishes this species from all other species examined in the current study.

Distribution: China: Zhejiang and Anhui Provinces.

Habitat: Under stones.

Remarks: Tanasevitch (2018) reasoned the transfer of this species from Nasoona to Oedothorax by stating ‘despite the poorly drawn genitals, it is obvious that the species actually belongs to Oedothorax ’. In the light of our phylogenetic analysis, the newly delimited Oedothorax has a pointed anterior radical process spiral prolaterally with the embolus, and does not have the ventral-radical process-like structure in figures 1 and 2 in Gao et al. (1996). Due to these differences, this species presumably does not belong to Oedothorax . In addition, the types are lost (see remarks for ‘ Oe. ’ collinus ), so the relationship of this species to other taxa is unverifiable. We thus propose its transfer back to its original combination until further investigation is conducted.