Drassodex fritillifer Simon 1914
Creators: name: Hervé, Christophe
name: Roberts, Michael J.
name: Murphy, John A.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2009
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Araneae
Gnaphosidae
Drassodex
Drassodex fritillifer

description: Drassodex fritillifer (Simon, 1914)
Figs 34–38
Drassodes fritillifer Simon, 1914: 131, 207, fig. 215 (male and female syntypes, examined); Reimoser, 1919: 161; Roewer, 1954: 386; Bonnet, 1956: 1566; Canard, 2005: 190.
Drassodex fritillifer Murphy, 2007: 41, 55; Platnick, 2008.
Type material examined: Syntypes: 1 male and 1 female from France, Pyrénées-Orientales, Cap Ceris, L. Berland, Simon collection n° 6530 (MNHN AR 1646).
Other material examined. SPAIN. Gerona: 1 Ƥ, Rosas, Dec. 1911, L. Fage (MNHN AR 9249). Albacete: 2 Ƥ, Almansa, 950 m, April 3, 1996, R. Bosmans, Bosmans collection. Alicante: 2 Ƥ, north-west of Guadalest, Serra de Serella, April 7, 1998, R. Bosmans, Bosmans collection.
Diagnosis. The female of D. fritillifer is closely related to the female of D. hispanus, but can be easily identified by the ogive-shaped epigynal atrium (Fig. 34) and the more extended forwards membranous coils (Fig. 35). Male possesses the most atypical genitalic characters in the genus, having a RTA not bifid (Fig. 37) and a cylindrical and twisted embolar structure (Fig. 36).
Description. Male dimensions (syntype): total length 8.75. Carapace 4.29 long, 3.33 wide. Leg I: femur 3.43, patella 1.87, tibia 3.07, metatarsus 2.46, tarsus 1.65, total 12.48. Leg II: femur 3.07, patella 1.73, tibia 2.46, metatarsus 2.12, tarsus 1.42, total 10.80. Leg III: femur 2.64, patella 1.40, tibia 1.83, metatarsus 1.80, tarsus 1.22, total 8.89. Leg IV: femur 3.56, patella 1.69, tibia 2.92, metatarsus 2.85, tarsus 1.40, total 12.42. Cheliceral retromargin bearing a more isolated apical tooth, pointing towards the base of the fang (Fig. 38). Leg spination: femora: I d1-1-0; III p0-1-0; IV p0-0-1; tibiae: I v0-1p-0; IV v2-2 p-2?, r1-1-1?; metatarsi: III, IV p0-2-2, r0-2-2; IV v1 r-0-2?. RTA not bifid, inferior prong absent, superior prong long, regularly attenuated, scarcely curved, almost straight (Fig. 37); embolar coil compact, cylindrical, twisted, with small denticulations on the distal loop (Figs 36–37); median apophysis wide, strongly hooked and pointing prolaterally (Fig. 36).
Female dimensions (syntype): total length 10.57. Carapace 4.75 long, 3.71 wide. Leg I: femur 3.25, patella 1.82, tibia 2.58, metatarsus 2.20, tarsus 1.53, total 11.38. Leg II: femur 3.06, patella 1.72, tibia 2.29, metatarsus 2.04, tarsus 1.41, total 10.52. Leg III: femur 2.77, patella 1.58, tibia 1.83, metatarsus 1.84, tarsus 1.25, total 9.27. Leg IV: femur 3.66, patella 1.85, tibia 2.89, metatarsus 2.89, tarsus 1.43, total 12.72. Leg spination: femora: I d1-1-0; III p0-1-0; tibiae: I v0-1p-0; metatarsi: III, IV p0-2-2, r0-2-2. Atrium very large, resembling that of D. hispanus, but ogive-shaped, scarcely wider than high (0.68–0.71 wide, 0.60–0.64 high, ratio 1.06–1.18), with an anterior tongue lip-shaped, not projecting posteriorly (Fig. 34); two large copulatory openings, plugged with thick concretion in examined specimens; membranous coils short, slightly higher than in D. hispanus, with external contour followed by coiled ducts simply once looped (Fig. 35).
Distribution. Pyrénées-Orientales in France and eastern Spain.
description: Published as part of Hervé, Christophe, Roberts, Michael J. & Murphy, John A., 2009, A taxonomic revision of the genus Drassodex Murphy, 2007 (Araneae: Gnaphosidae), pp. 1-28 in Zootaxa 2171 on pages 18-20, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.189206