Duninia, Marusik & Fet, 2009

Marusik, Yuri & Fet, Victor, 2009, A survey of East Palaearctic Hersiliola Thorell, 1870 (Araneae, Hersiliidae), with a description of three new genera, ZooKeys 16 (16), pp. 75-114 : 95-96

Duninia gen. n.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:64FD3C91-A822-42B1-9779-592D9D3EF7E2

Type species. Duninia baehrae sp. n.

Etymology. The genus name is a patronym honoring our late colleague, friend, and a prominent araneologist Pyotr Dunin (1952-1998) who lived and worked in Baku ( Azerbaijan) and Togliatti ( Russia). Gender: feminine.

Diagnosis. Duninia gen. n. can be easily distinguished from other genera of Hersiliidae by its globular tegulum, thick seminal duct, non-screw-shaped embolus that is thicker than the tegular apophysis, round spermathecae, and a heavily sclerotized copulatory opening below the epigynal plate. A globular tegulum is also present in the Central Asian genus Deltshevia gen. n., but this genus has a screw-shaped embolus and a thinner tegular apophysis. Females of Ovtsharenkoia pallida also seem to have copulatory openings below the epigynal plate, but they are not heavily sclerotized as in Duninia gen. n.; also, O. pallida does not have round spermathecae.

Description. Body length ca. 5 mm, carapace as long as wide from 1.75 to 2.25. Pattern as in Hersiliola . Palp cymbium with a long tip, tegulum globular, seminal duct wide, embolus wide and not screw-shaped, tegular apophysis claw-like, with its claw part thinner than embolus. Epigynal plate with a septum-like structure, but without windows and openings, median plate without distinct margins. Copulatory opening is located below the epigynal plate in an epigastral fold; spermathecae round, coiled ducts absent.

Comments. Conformation of the epigyne in this genus is, in some respects, unique among entelegyne spiders. The epigynal plate has no openings (furrows or fovea) but possesses two pairs of fovea on the vertical posterior wall located inside the epigastral fold. The lateral pair of fovea is shallow and elongate. Another pair of fovea is closer to the median part and located deeper; they have a more heavily sclerotized wall and are very deep. It seems that these deep pockets have copulatory openings inside the anterior part. Lateral pockets seem to match the tegular apophysis of the male.

There are few taxa among entelegyne spiders that have a copulatory opening on the posterior vertical wall of the epigyne located in the epigastral fold. Besides some Erigoninae, we know of only one such genus, Paratus (Liocranidae) (cf. Marusik et al. 2008). Paratus has epigynal plate without furrows and fovea, and a small fovea hidden in the epigastral wall that leads to two closely separated copulatory openings.

The male palp of Duninia gen. n. is unique among Hersiliidae because of its short, broad embolus and tegular apophysis extended along the cymbial axis.

Distinguishing characters. Two species of Duninia gen. n. can be easily distinguished by the shape of the copulatory organs.

Composition and distribution. Duninia gen. n. includes two species: D. baehrae sp. n. (type species; Turkmenistan) and D. rheimsae sp. n. (northern Iran, Tehran Province).