Oxyopes fabae Dhali, Saha and Raychaudhuri, 2015

Sen, Souvik & Sureshan, Pavittu M., 2021, Short Communication New distributional record of Oxyopes fabae Dhali, Saha and Raychaudhuri, 2015 (Araneae: Oxyopidae) from Western Ghats, Kerala, Records of the Zoological Survey of India 121 (3), pp. 419-421 : 419-420

Oxyopes fabae Dhali, Saha and Raychaudhuri, 2015

( Figures 1-5 )

2015. Oxyopes fabae Dhali, Saha and Raychaudhuri , Species, 12 (32): 26. 2017. Oxyopes fabae : Dhali, Saha and Raychaudhuri, World Sci. News, 63: 65.

Materials examined: INDIA, Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram district, Neyyar Wildlife Sanctuary , (08°32’02”N 77°08’56”E, 111m), 2♀, 16.i.2019, leg. P. M. Sureshan (ZSI/ WGRC /IR.INV.15193-15194) .

Diagnosis: Females of this species are similar to O.mirabilis Zhang, Yang and Zhu, 2005 in genital morphology. But they can be separated from the latter by the following combination of characters: anterior portion of sclerotized plate fairly broad ( Figures 3-4 ) (anterior portion of sclerotized plate much wider and broad in O. mirabilis ); spermatheca nearly bean shaped and copulatory ducts twisted one time ( Figure 5 ) (spermatheca nearly globular and copulatory ducts twisted three times in O. mirabilis ); spermatheca much thicker than copulatory ducts ( Figure 5 ) (spermatheca nearly as thick as copulatory ducts in O. mirabilis ).

Measurements: Total length- 5.32, Cephalothorax length - 2.41, Cephalothorax width - 1.90, Abdominal length -2.91, Abdominal width -2.21.

Legs: I 8.09 (2.53, 0.60, 2.65, 1.56, 0.75); II 7.48 (1.63,

0.56, 2.29, 2.21, 0.79); III 6.54 (1.72, 0.56, 1.26, 2.00, 1.0); IV 6.96 (1.87, 0.64, 1.78, 2.14, 0.53). Leg formula 1243.

Remarks: Oxyopes fabae is reported for the first time from Western Ghats, Kerala. Its distribution has now been extended to the southwestern part of West Bengal. The currently examined specimens agree well with the original description of O. fabae by Dhali et al., 2015, especially in female genitalic structures. But there are some variations in the coloration pattern of the cephalothorax and abdomen from the original description. In the currently examined specimen dorsum of the cephalothorax and abdomen is yellow and yellowish-white, respectively ( Figure 1 ), whereas the dorsum of the cephalothorax and abdomen has a reddish-brown and greyish brown colour in the original description of O. fabae by Dhali et al. (2015). These minor differences seem to be due to individual variations in populations occurring in different biogeographic regions of India.

Figures

Figures 1–5. Oxyopes fabae female (ZSI/WGRC/IR.INV.15193): 1. Habitus, dorsal view; 2. Same, ventral view; 3-4. Epigynum, ventral view; 5. Internal genitalia, dorsal view. Scale bars= (1,2) 2 mm, (3, 4) 0.5 mm, (5) 0.3mm. Abbreviations: SP= sclerotized plate, S= spermatheca, CD= copulatory duct, FD= fertilization duct.