Mikhail M. Omelko

A revision of the Holarctic genus Larinioides Caporiacco, 1934 (Araneae: Araneidae)

Аll known species of Larinioides Caporiacco, 1934 are revised. Seven species are recognised, of which one is transferred from Araneus Clerck, 1757 as a new combination, Larinioides jalimovi (Bakhvalov, 1981) comb. n. The first description of a male of L. jalimovi is given. The following four new synonyms are proposed: Epeira gracilis Menge, 1878 syn. n. and Aranea dumetorum islandicola Strand, 1906 syn. n. = L. patagiatus (Clerck, 1757); Araneus cungei Bakhvalov, 1974, syn. n. = Larinioides folium (Schrank, 1803); and Araneus sclopetarius Clerck, 1757 syn. n. = L. cornutus (Clerck, 1757). Detailed illustrations of habitus, copulatory organs, and identification keys of males and females of all Larinioides species are provided.

First data about cave spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) from Iran

This paper reports seven species found in Shirabad Cave located in the western part of Golestan Province and two species found nearby. Three families: Anyphaenidae, Segestriidae and Theridiosomatidae, and one species, Metellina merianae (Scopoli, 1763) are recorded from Iran for the first time. Two species are described as new: Tegenaria zamanii Marusik & Omelko, sp.n. (♀) and Segestria mirshamsii Marusik & Omelko, sp.n. (♀). Four species: Lepthyphantes iranicus Saaristo & Tanasevitch, 1996, Metellina merianae, Octonoba yesoensis (Saito, 1934) and Pholcus sp. are illustrated. Uloborus georgicus Mcheidze, 1997 from Eastern Georgia is synonymized with Octonoba yesoensis. The distribution of all species treated in the paper is briefly discussed, with emphasis on the easternmost records. http://www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:614A0FF0-40B0-4A7E-B2B8-C6B117A80AFE

A redescription of the ant mimicking spider Myrmecium gounellei (Araneae: Corinnidae, Castianeirinae), with notes on the genus

Myrmecium Latreille, 1824 is a relatively large genus of Castianeirinae with 16 species, distributed exclusively in the Neotropics (WSC 2015). Although this genus is rather well known as a good example of ant mimicking spiders, its taxonomy is very poorly studied. Two of its species are described based on unknown sex; one species is described based on a juvenile; eight species are known based on a single sex: for seven, only females are known, and for one, only a male is known (Platnick 2014). Eleven species are known from a single record, and two species were never illustrated. The latest taxonomic paper dealing with Myrmecium was published more than 60 years ago by Camargo (1953). Although both sexes are known for six species of Myrmecium, the male palp and female epigyne are illustrated for three species only. The male palp is relatively well illustrated for the type species of the genus, M. rufum Latreille, 1824 (Camargo 1953). Somatic characters are illustrated also only for M. rufum (Simon 1897).

A survey of spider taxa new to Israel (Arachnida: Araneae)

This paper presents a survey of spider species that have not been previously recorded for Israel. Twenty species, twelve genera and two families (Mysmenidae and Phyxelididae) are recorded for the first time in Israel. Nine species, Agroeca parva Bosmans, 2011, Aulonia kratochvili Dunin et al., 1986, Ero flammeola Simon, 1881, Hogna ferox (Lucas, 1838), Maculoncus parvipalpus Wunderlich, 1995, Neon rayi (Simon, 1875), Pardosa aenigmatica Tongiorgi, 1966 and Phyxelida anatolica Griswold, 1990, are illustrated. Tarentula jaffa Strand, 1913, syn. n. is synonymised with Hogna ferox (Lucas, 1838), and Hahnia carmelita Levy, 2007, syn. n. is synonymised with Hahnia nava (Westring, 1851). A possible synonymy of the widespread Prodidomus rufus Hentz, 1847 with P. hispanicus Dalmas, 1919 known from the Iberian Peninsula is discussed. An original combination is restored for Trochosa urbana O.P.-Cambridge, 1876.

The first description of adult female of Borboropactus asper (O. P.-Cambridge, 1884) from Sri Lanka (Araneae: Thomisidae)

Regillus, a new genus of spiders with R. asper as its type species, was described by O.P.-Cambridge (1884) from Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) on the basis of a subadult female. The genus was placed in Cryptothelidae (now considered a subfamily of Zodariidae) due to its similarity with Cryptothele ceylonica O.P.-Cambridge, 1877. However, the new genus had a different eye arrangement, differently shaped maxillae and six spinnerets instead of two (O.P.-Cambridge 1884). Soon after, Simon (1895) recognized that this genus belonged to Thomisidae and synonymised his Borboropactus Simon, 1884 with Regillus . When it was found that Regillus was a junior homonym of the name used by Macgillivray in 1839 (for kinglets) Borboropactus was revalidated. Since the original description R. asper was redescribed only once, by Simon (1895), who illustrated its leg, chelicera and labium-maxilla complex (Simon 1895: figs 1094–1096). Wunderlich (2004) transferred Borboropactus to a new family Borboropactidae, which was rejected by Benjamin et al. (2008) and Benjamin (2011). However, the type species was never studied in any detail.

New data on Synaphosus (Araneae: Gnaphosidae) from Southeast Asia

Three new species of Synaphosus Ovtsharenko, Levy et Platnick, 1994 are described from Southeast Asia: S. jaegeri sp. n. (♂♀, Laos), S. lehtineni sp. n. (♂♀, Sulawesi, Indonesia) and S. dubius sp. n. (♀, Thailand). Two species, S. femininis Deeleman-Reinhold, 2001 and S. evertsi Ovtsharenko, Levy et Platnick, 1994 are redescribed. Synaphosus kris Deeleman-Reinhold, 2001, syn. n. known from Bali is synonymised with S. evertsi known from Ivory Coast. Synaphosus evertsi is reported from the Philippines for the first time.

Redescription of the Himalayan Trachelas costatus (Araneae: Trachelidae)

O. Pickard-Cambridge (1885) described Trachelas costata based on female specimens from two localities in the Himalayas. Since then it was only mentioned in two works by Simon (1897, 1906). The World Spider Catalog (2018) indicates its distribution as China (Yarkand). All of the species described by O. Pickard-Cambridge (1885), based on material collected during the Second Yarkand Mission, are stored in the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. Vials with material described in this paper contain no species and locality labels (Prószyński Żochowska 1981; Marusik 1993). It was not difficult to recognize the syntypes of this species due to the figures given by O. Pickard-Cambridge, and also because it is the only trachelid described from Yarkand to date. The goals of our paper are to redescribe Trachelas costatus in detail, designate a lectotype, and comment on its distribution and relationships.

A survey of the Holarctic genus Arctella Holm, 1945 (Araneae: Dictynidae, Tricholathysinae), with the description of Tricholathys ovtchinnikovi sp. n.

Abstract The study of two species placed in Arctella Holm, 1945, A. lapponica Holm, 1945, and A. subnivalis Ovtchinnikov, 1989, revealed that the latter species belongs to the genus Tricholathys. A new combination is suggested: Tricholathys subnivalis (Ovtchinnikov, 1989) comb. n. The record of Arctella subnivalis from the Northern Caucasus was found to be based on a misidentification and refers to Tricholathys ovtchinnikovi sp. n. All three species are illustrated and described. A new diagnosis is provided for Arctella. Two previously unknown characters were found in the male palp of Arctella and Tricholathys: a large cavity on the mesal side of the tibial apophysis, and a digitiform or spur-like outgrowth on the conductor. http://www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:C118569F-2C5C-4204-A1BC-8595B966A914

Redescription of two Ctenidae (Araneae) from Taiwan

Two ctenid species, Anahita maolan Zhu, Chen & Song, 1999 and Ctenus yaeyamensis Yoshida, 1998 from Taiwan are redescribed in detail based on both sexes. Anahita maolan is reported from Taiwan for the first time. For both species, Kenting National Park (southernmost Taiwan) is the southernmost known locality.

Redescription of Draposa subhadrae (Patel & Reddy, 1993) (Araneae: Lycosidae, Pardosinae)

Draposa Kronestedt, 2010 is a small genus of Pardosinae spiders. Currently it encompasses 10 species (World Spider Catalog 2016) distributed from Pakistan to Southeast China. Most species of the genus, except for D. porpaensis (Gajbe, 2004), are known from both sexes and were described or redescribed by Kronestedt (2010). Two other species, D. amkhasensis (Tikader & Malhotra, 1976) and D. burasantiensis (Tikader & Malhotra, 1976), both recently transferred to Draposa (Dhali et al. 2012 ), are doubtful because their copulatory organs are not properly illustrated and differ from the type species and other species of the genus. The male of Draposa subhadrae (Patel & Reddy, 1993) remains known by very poor original drawings because Kronestedt (2010) was not able to study types. While studying material from Sri Lanka collected by us, we found one sample with two females belonging to D. subhadrae and two males of Draposa having the same colour pattern and size. We concluded that these specimens are conspecific. The goal of this paper is to provide an illustrated redescription of this species.