Ochyrocera arietina Simon, 1892

Pérez-González, Abel & Magalhaes, Ivan L. F., 2025, On Antillean ochyroceratines (Scytodoidea: Ochyroceratidae: Ochyroceratinae), with the description of three new species from Cuba, Zootaxa 5563 (1), pp. 264-289 : 283

Ochyrocera arietina Simon, 1892

Fig. 12

Ochyrocera arietina Simon, 1892: 566 , pl. 42, fig. 10. Female and male syntypes from “Insula Sancti Vicentii” ( Saint Vincent, Lesser Antilles), deposited in the MNHN, examined in part through photos. Simon, 1893: 285, fig. 243; Fage, 1912: 120, pl. 6, figs 35–42.

Remark. Simon (1892) described the species from both sexes, and Fage (1912) studied two females and one male from Saint Vincent deposited in Simon’s collection, presumably the syntypes. The jar of Ochyrocera arietina E.S. in the MNHN collections contained a single tube with the label “MUSEUM PARIS AR 1423 | Ochyroceratidae arictina [sic] E.S ♀ | piéces buccales | Im – St. Vincent (cb.m.)” (C.J. Grismado, personal communication).Although the label reads ♀, the tube contained a tube with a single male lacking the abdomen, the left palp and part of the legs. We interpret this specimen as part of the original syntype series and have examined it through photos ( Fig. 12 ). The morphology of the palp matches the drawing by Fage (1912, fig. 42), although the distal portion of the embolus is distinctly bent in the syntype, possibly a preservation artifact. The whereabouts of Simon’s female specimens are unknown, and we have made no effort to trace them.

Distribution. Known only from Saint Vicent, Lesser Antilles. The record from Cuba by Dumitrescu & Georgescu (1992) is misidentified; see discussion below.

Figures

FIGURE 12. Ochyrocera arietina Simon, 1892, syntype male (MNHN AR 1423). Photos by Cristian J. Grismado. A. Habitus, lateral. B. Right palp, retrolateral. C. Associated label.