Hersiliola macullulata ( Dufour, 1831 )

Marusik, Yuri & Fet, Victor, 2009, A survey of East Palaearctic Hersiliola Thorell, 1870 (Araneae, Hersiliidae), with a description of three new genera, ZooKeys 16 (16), pp. 75-114 : 81-82

Hersiliola macullulata ( Dufour, 1831)

Figs 4 .1, 5 .1, 6 .1 Aranea m. Dufour, 1831: 360, pl. 10, f. 2 (D ♀).

Hersilia oraniensis Lucas, 1846: 129 , pl. 4, f. 8 (D♁ ♀).

H. maculata: Ribera et al. 1988: 98 , f. 1, 4, 7-8 (♁ ♀) (misspelling).

H. m.: Levy 2003: 28, f. 57-60 (♁ ♀).

H. simoni: Rheims and Brescovit 2004: 208 , f. 12, 27, 39-42 (♁ ♀). Misidentification, at least of ♁. Geographical origin of illustrated specimens unknown, maybe Yemen.

H. simoni: Rheims et al. 2004: 344 , f. 4-6, 24-32 (♁ ♀). Misidentification.

H. m.: Foord and Dippenaar-Schoeman 2005: 259, f. 2A-G (♁ ♀). ♁ appears to be misidentified.

For a full list of references, see Platnick (2009).

Material examined (9 specimens): 1♁, “ Algerie , Espagne ” ( MNHN, No 410) ; SPAIN: “ Hersiliola maculata (Dufour) 2♁, Spanien, Franz leg., Wiehle det. SMF”. ALGE- RIA: 1♀, Air, Fezzan, E. Simon det., Dj. Harrasa 26.09.1909 B.S., Ras Four’ Lal, 29.09.1909, B.S. ( MNHN, B-693) ; 1♁, El Oued , 100 m, 5.05.1981, E. S. Ross coll. ( CAS) . LIBYA: 3 ♀, Uadi Kuf , E. Festa coll., L. di Caporiacco det. ( MIZST) . MALI: 1♁, 10 km E of Sevare , 14°30’N, 04°W, 15.07- 1.09.1977, W. H. Settle coll. ( CAS) .

Diagnosis. Can be easily recognized by its long embolus, starting at position about 5 h and making 1.5 coils (Figs 4.1, 5.1, 6.1); and by the shape of tegular apophysis and epigyne.

Description. Redescribed in detail by Levy (2003) and Rheims et al. (2004, as H. simoni ).

Comments. This species was described from Spain, and later reported from Algeria, Israel and Burkina Faso. Its types appear to be lost ( Levy 2003). It is very likely that that specimens from Burkina Faso (males) illustrated by Foord and Dippenaar-Schoeman (2005) are not conspecific with specimens from Algeria (females). Males from Burkina Faso have their embolus base in another position (at 04 hrs) compared to specimens from Spain or Israel (at 05 hrs). African males may belong to H. versicolor Blackwall, 1865 , a species known from Cape Verde from females only. Another possibility is that specimen from Burkina Faso had a partially expanded bulbus, and its tegulum was slightly displaced (turned).

Figures of “ H. simoni ” in Rheims and Brescovit (2004) and Rheims et al. (2004) undoubtedly correspond to H. macullulata .

Distribution. H. macullulata is confirmed here from Spain, Algeria, Israel ( Levy 2003; Foord and Dippenaar-Schoeman 2005), Yemen (as H. simoni, Rheims et al. 2004 ), Libya (first record), and Mali (first record). Its records from Burkina Faso ( Foord and Dippenaar-Schoeman 2005) and Turkey ( Yağmur et al. 2008) could refer to another species. All reported Central Asian populations refer to H. sternbergsi sp. n. ( Turkmenistan) or Deltshevia gromovi gen. n. sp. n. ( Kazakhstan).

Note. This name has been commonly listed as “ H. maculata ” although Dufour’s original name is Aranea macullulata . The name was misspelled as “ H. macululata ” by Simon (1885: 28). Karsch (1881: 7) ‘corrected’ the name to “ maculata ” which was widely used. Bonnet (1957: 2180; footnote) suggested that macullulata is poor Latin, being derived from a non-existent word “macullula” (“a small spot”). The consistent usage for over 100 years still does not validate Karsch’s emendation (ICZN Article 32b-c). In fact, Dufour’s original description (1831: 360) shows that his intention was to document a pattern of very small spots; and “macullula” is acceptable as an invented Latin word, parallel to the existing terms “medullula” or “ampullula” (H.D. Cameron, pers. comm. 1995).

Figures

Figure 4. Retrolateral view of the male palp of Hersiliola macullulata (1), H. simoni (2), H. sternbergsi sp. n. (3), H. esyunini sp. n. (4), Duninia baehrae sp. n. (5), Deltshevia danovi sp. n. (6), D. gromovi sp. n. (7), and Ovtsharenkoia pallida (8). Scale = 0.5 mm.

Figure 5. Prolateral view of the male palp of Hersiliola macullulata (1), H. simoni (2), H. sternbergsi sp. n. (3), H. esyunini sp. n. (4), Duninia baehrae sp. n. (5), Deltshevia danovi sp. n. (6), D. gromovi sp. n. (7), and Ovtsharenkoia pallida (8). Scale = 0.5 mm.

Figure 6. Male palp of Hersiliola macullulata (1), H. simoni (2-3), H. sternbergsi sp. n. (4-5), H. esyunini sp. n. (6-7), Duninia baehrae sp. n. (8), and Ovtsharenkoia pallida (9). 1-2 ventral 3-4, 6 from below 5, 7,‹ from above 8 retrolateral. Scale = 0.5 mm.