Bianor kovaczi Logunov, 2001

Logunov, Dmitri, 2009, Further notes on the Harmochireae of Africa (Araneae, Salticidae, Pelleninae), ZooKeys 16 (16), pp. 265-290 : 271-272

Bianor kovaczi Logunov, 2001

Figs 1-6

Identification. Wesołowska and Tomasiewicz (2008: figs 13-20).

Material examined. IVORY COAST: 2♁ 7♀ ( BMNH), Bouaké, West African Rice Development Association , in irrigated rice plots, 08.1994, ARS ; 1♁ ( BMNH), same locality, trash management experiment, 12.09.1994, ARS . – BOTSWANA: 1♁ ( BMNH), Maun , R. Thamalakane, grazed Setaria grassland, 24.07.1977, ARS ; 1♀ ( BMNH), same locality, swept Miscanthidium grassland, 28.06.1975, ARS ; 1♁ ( BMNH), same locality, in floodplain grassland, 1.02.1976, ARS ; 1♀ ( BMNH), nr. Maun , Maphaneng Pan, riverine woodland, 1.04.1976, ARS ; 2♁ ( BMNH), c. 10 km S of Maun, Botetle , swept in riverine woodland, 5.03.1976, ARS ; 1♁ ( BMNH), Kwai North gate, Margin of muddy lagoon, 15.07.1978, ARS ; 1♁ ( BMNH), Okavango, R. Boro (KB B63), in Hyparrhenia grassland, 2.07.1977, ARS ; 1♁ ( BMNH), Okavango, island in R. Moanachira, in Hyparrhenia grassland, 14.07.1977, ARS ; 1♀ ( BMNH), same locality, Moremi G.R., Mroma lagoon, in Hyparrhenia grassland, 13.08.1977, ARS ; 1♀ ( BMNH), same locality, Moremi West Gate , Vossia swamp, 15.07.1978, ARS ; 1♀ ( BMNH), same locality, R. Shashe, in floodplain grassland (hand collecting), 31.08.1975, ARS .

Comments. To date, this species has been recorded from Ethiopia only ( Logunov 2001; Wesołowska and Tomasiewicz 2008). New records here from Ivory Coast and Botswana significantly extend our knowledge on the distribution of B. kovaczi , which seems to be a common Afrotropical species. Males of B. kovaczi can easily be distinguished from the remaining Bianor species by the proportions of the tegulum and especially by the relatively large promarginal teeth of the chelicerae (see Wesołowska and Tomasiewicz 2008: fig. 14). The latter character varies to some extent, which is

quite common in the Harmochireae (e.g., in B. angulosus or Modunda staintoni , see Logunov 2001), but remains more or less constant in all the males I have examined. Unfortunately, females of all African Bianor species cannot be reliably diagnosed by their copulatory organs; males are always required to identify a species.

Figures

Figures 1-6. Bianor kovaczi Logunov 2001, specimens from Ivory Coast (1-3) and Botswana (4-5). 1, 4 male general appearance, dorsal view 2, 5 ditto, lateral view 3, 6 female general appearance, dorsal view. (scale bars: 1 mm).