Ozyptila clavigera

Levy, Gershom, 2007, Calommata (Atypidae) and new spider species (Araneae) from Israel, Zootaxa 1551, pp. 1-30 : 22

Ozyptila clavigera (O.P.- Cambridge, 1872)

Figs. 53–57

Thomisus claviger O.P.- Cambridge, 1872: 306; 2 ΨΨ syntypes from Israel (HECO, B. 1236, t. 25; examined). Oxyptila clavigera: Simon, 1875: 241 ; Levy, 1985: 65, figs 94, 95, Ψ.

Description. Male deep-brown with partly mottled light spots and short whitish marking posteriorly on back of prosoma. Female beige with scattered dark streaks.

Male. Measurements (10 ɗɗ): total length 2.7–3.2; carapace length 1.3–1.6, width 1.25–1.40, index 1.0– 1.2; femur II length 0.9–1.2, width 0.35–0.40, length/width 2.57–3.43.

Palpus. Patella with two stout apophyses. Tibia with ventral apophysis consisting of slender, reclining shaft and hammer-like expansion at tip, and ectally with strong, tapering retrolateral apophysis (Figs. 53–55); cymbium apically slightly notched on mesal side (Figs. 54, 55); tegulum bears two different blackish apophyses: one stubby at center, and below it one with pointed tips; embolus bends apically nearly at right angle (Figs. 53–55).

Female. Measurements (8 ΨΨ): total length 3.6–4.1; carapace length 1.5–1.8, width 1.4–1.8, index 1.0– 1.1; femur II length 1.1–1.4, width 0.40–0.45, length/width 2.75–3.11.

Epigynum . Round, swollen anterior part with median keel-like embossment occasionally forming septumlike prominence (Fig. 56). Sclerotic rims of posterior epigynal plate converge at center under fine, nearly transparent, funnel-shaped concavity. Spermathecae consist of small median, ovoid yellow bodies connected by brown tubes to lateral trapezoidal bodies with yellow scooped centers (Fig. 57).

Diagnosis. The shape of the patellar and tibial apophyses and the embolar trajectory of the male palpus of O. clavigera resemble very closely those of the allopatric O. patellibidens Levy. However , the two can be separated by the shape of the tegular apophyses and the notched cymbium. The females of both species resemble each other in general but the shape of the epigynal plate and the shape of the spermathecae differ distinctly also from all other Ozyptila species.

Distribution. Israel: central, mesic parts of the country. Records: Nazareth (O.P.- Cambridge 1872), Sedot Mikha, Har Sansan Reserve (696459/508994), Zekharya , Ramat Avishur (681583/502691), Nehusha.

Comments. Adults were collected in January, March, May and November by using pitfall traps. The hitherto unknown male is described for the first time and the newly described female was so far known only by the syntypes collected in 1865.

Originally, O.P.- Cambridge (1872) mentioned two females from Israel: one from Nazareth and another from the Plains of the Jordan. The respective vial, however, contains three females, two of which match O. clavigera while the third female belongs to an unknown Ozyptila species. O. clavigera as of present knowledge occurs in relatively mesic parts of Israel (e.g. Nazareth), very different from the hot, arid plains of the Jordan. Therefore, unless proved otherwise, the unidentified Ozyptila female is considered to represent the “Plains of the Jordan ” record. Apparently one of the clavigera females is a later unlisted addition to the Oxford collection. The unidentified species differs also distinctly from O. patellibidens Levy. The latter is found in the semi-arid stony desert of the Negev, a habitat that differs markedly from that of O. clavigera . Both species are known primarly from pitfall traps.