Dysdera cylindrica, O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1885

Fomichev, Alexander A. & Marusik, Yuri M., 2021, Notes on the spider genus Dysdera Latreille, 1804 (Araneae: Dysderidae) in Central Asia, Zootaxa 5006 (1), pp. 73-89 : 74

Dysdera cylindrica group

The cylindrica group, sensu Charitonov (1956: 19).

Note. Deeleman-Reinhold & Deeleman (1988) assigned all Dysdera species to nine species groups: aculeata , asiatica, crocota, erythrina , festai, lata, longirostris, ninnii and punctata. D. cylindrica O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1885 , together with D. arnoldii Charitonov, 1956 and D. subcylindrica Charitonov, 1956 were placed in the asiatica group comprising of 18 species that are distributed from the eastern Mediterranean to Central Asia. Almost all these spe- cies are restricted to the Balkans and Anatolia ( Deeleman-Reinhold & Deeleman 1988). Yet, the known range of the asiatica group is strongly disjunct, because its representatives are unknown from the area between Syria and Uzbekistan. It is likely that such disjunction is simply caused by the lack of data from Iraq and Iran. Earlier, Chari- tonov (1956) assigned three Central Asian species, D. arnoldii , D. cylindrica and D. subcylindrica to a separate cylindrica group. These species are similar to each other, occur in the same region and, in our opinion, could represent a monophyletic grouping. Therefore, in the present paper, we follow Charitonov (1956) and consider three Central Asian species in the cylindrica group, which could or could not be part of the asiatica group. The latter matter can be decided when more Dysdera species have been recorded/described from Iraq and Iran.

Diagnosis. The group can be distinguished by legs having a reduced spination and shortened tarsi, as well as by the flat carapace ( Charitonov 1956). Males of the representatives of this group are characterized by the tegulum and the psembolus being equal in length, the triangular posterior apophysis (Ap) and the psembolus being equipped with a strong spine on its retrolateral side ( Marusik 2017).

Composition. Three species are included, all share the aforementioned diagnostic characters: D. arnoldii Charitonov, 1956 (Central Asia), D. cylindrica O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1885 ( Pakistan) and D. subcylindrica Charitonov, 1956 (Central Asia).

Comments. Species of the cylindrica group are restricted to Central Asia: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, northern Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.