Neoscona enucleata (Karsch, 1879) Karsch, 1879

W. Framenau, Volker, 2019, Generic and family transfers, and numina dubia for orb-weaving spiders (Araneae, Araneidae) in the Australasian, Oriental and Pacific regions, Evolutionary Systematics 3 (1), pp. 1-27 : 7-8

Neoscona enucleata (Karsch, 1879) comb. n.

Epeira enucleata Karsch, 1879: 550.

Epeira albertisii Thorell, 1887: 182 (synonymy established in Thorell (1895)).

Epeira soronis Thorell, 1890: 143-146 (synonymy established in Thorell (1895)).

Araneus soronis (Thorell). Simon 1899: 91.

Araneus enucleatus (Karsch). Bonnet 1955: 500.

Type material.

Holotype of Epeira enucleata Karsch, 1879: 1 female, Ceylon (= Sri Lanka) [no exact locality], Nietner (ZMB 3074) (examined).

Holotype of Epeira albertisii Thorell, 1887: 1 female, Mawlamyine (formerly Mulmein or Moulmein) (16 29 N, 97 37 E, Mon State, MYANMAR)], O. Beccari & E. D’Albertis (possibly MCSN, not examined).

Syntypes of Epeira soronis Thorell, 1890a: 2 females, Sumatra [no exact locality given, INDONESIA], coll. Forbes (possibly MCSN, not examined).

Remarks.

Thorell (1895) himself established the synonymy of Epeira enucleata with both his E. albertisii and E. soronis . Curiously, Sherriffs (1929, p. 234) later discussed the morphology of Araneus albertisii as a valid species in the same publication in which he listed in a table (p. 237): "34. enucleata (Karsch), 1879=albertisii (Thorell). Burma, Cylon" and two pages later (p. 239): "117. soronis (Thor.), 1890=enucleata (Karsch)."

The examination of the holotype of Epeira enucleata and specimens identified by Thorell as Epeira albertisii from Myanmar (Tonghoe, Tharawaddy) (seen in BMNH) and collected by E. W. Oates support a placement of this species in Neoscona . In particular, the scape of the female epigyne has the typical shape of Neoscona . A placement in Neoscona is also suggested by Sheriffs (1929) who states close similarities of A. albertisii with N. rumpfi ( Pocock 1900) (= Neoscona vigilans ( Blackwall 1865)), and by Thorell (1895) who compares E. enucleata with E. hispida Doleschall, 1859 (= Neoscona vigilans ) ( World Spider Catalog 2019).