Scelidocteus incisus ( Tullgren, 1910 ) Zonstein & Marusik, 2020

Zonstein, Sergei L. & Marusik, Yuri M., 2020, A review of the spider genus Boagrius Simon, 1893 (Araneae: Palpimanidae), Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 68, pp. 91-102 : 100-101

Scelidocteus incisus ( Tullgren, 1910) , new combination

( Fig. 7 A–G)

Boagrius incisus Tullgren, 1910:112 , pl. 1 fig. 28a–g (male, female).

Lectotype. Male (designated here), TANZANIA: SW Mt Kilimanjaro, Kibongoto (“Kibongo”, as labelled; 3°11′S, 37°06′E), 1,000–1,200 m, June 1905, Y. Sjöstedt ( RMS; examined).

Paralectotype. 1 female (designated here), same collecting data ( MNB 13846; examined) .

Notes. This species, originally placed in Boagrius , possesses many characters which are dissimilar to those observed in B. pumilus and B. simoni , new species. Tullgren (1910) mentioned the type series of B. incisus consisting of seven adult and non-adult females, and one adult male. However, only one adult female and the above-noted male have been located. Although Tullgren (1910) described one of the syntype females first, we prefer to choose the conspecific syntype male to designate as the lectotype. This male was obviously used in the original description, while the same cannot be claimed regarding the only available female. The examination of both these type specimens revealed that this East African taxon, when compared with the South-Eastern Asian Boagrius spp., differs from them by: a) a considerably larger body size (TL 6.9–7.8 vs. 2.1–2.8 mm); b) the presence of a slit-like (not a bipartite) thoracic fovea; c) femur I considerably swollen in both sexes (vs. an almost unmodified one); d) corrugated (not smooth) segments of leg I, at least in the male; e) dense leg scopula (vs. a poorly developed one); and f) the configuration of the male copulatory organs possessing accessory structures twisting around each other (see Fig. 7 A–G). According to the listed characters, this African species can be considered as belonging to the purely African chedimine genus Scelidocteus Simon, 1907 . Hence, we place this species in the latter genus as S. incisus ( Tullgren, 1910) , new combination. Its further position will be specified in the course of a planned revision of Scelidocteus .

Figures

Fig. 7. A–D, habitus and structures of Scelidocteus incisus (Tullgren, 1910), new combination, male lectotype; E–G, habitus and structures of Scelidocteus incisus (Tullgren, 1910), new combination, female paralectotype; A, E, habitus in dorsal view; B, F, cephalothorax, dorsal; C, D, distal sclerites of palp, retrolateral and ventral view, respectively; G, cephalothorax in ventrolateral view. Scale bar = 1 mm (A, E); 0.5 mm (B, F, G); 0.1 mm (C, D).