Loureedia phoenixi Zamani and Marusik 2020
Creators: name: Szűts, Tamás
name: Szabó, Krisztián
name: Zamani, Alireza
name: Forman, Martin
name: Miller, Jeremy
name: Oger, Pierre
name: Fabregat, Magali
name: Kovács, Gábor
name: Gál, János
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Araneae
Eresidae
Loureedia
Loureedia phoenixi

description: Loureedia phoenixi Zamani and Marusik, 2020.
Figures 1F, 2F, 6, 7 and 8A.
Loureedia sp.: Henriques et al. 2018: 7, Fig 2h (♂) [3].
Loureedia phoenixi Zamani and Marusik, 2020: 240, Figs 1a–f, 2a–d and 3a–f (♂) [6] (original description).
Loureedia phoenixi: Zamani et al. 2021: 282, Fig 2A–D (♂) [22].
Type material. Holotype: male (MHNG), IRAN: Alborz Province: Karaj, Chenarak, 8.XI.2019 (leg. A. Beigi) (examined).
Other examined material. One male (ZMUT), IRAN: Tehran Province: Shemiranat County, Lavasan, 35 ◦ 49 Į N, 51 ◦ 37 Į E, 25.XI.2020 (leg. S. Bisadi).
Diagnosis. The male of L. phoenixi (Figures 4A, 6A, 7A and 8A) is similar to that of L. jerbae (Figures 4B, 6B, 7B and 8B), in the prolateral arm of the conductor being (almost) as long as the retrolateral arm. It can be readily distinguished from it by the shorter stem of the conductor (Figures 4A and 7A), and by the abdominal pattern, which is consisted of numerous large white spots on both the lateral and anterior margins of the median reddish band (Figures 1 and 2F).
Description. Male. Habitus as in Figures 1 and 2F. Total length: 5.55. Carapace: 2.72 long and 2.26 wide. Abdomen: 3.08 long and 2.12 wide. Eye sizes and inter-eye distances: AME 0.18, PME 0.15, ALE 0.03, PLE 0.04, AME–AME 0.28, and ALE–AME 0.57. Carapace, sternum, labium, chelicerae, and maxillae dark brown with tones of red. The carapace mostly covered with long black setae and scattered short white setae, with localized patches of short red setae, mostly in the pars thoracica or the center of the pars cephalica. Legs covered with thin black hairs, with distinct regions of white hairs at the joints of all segments, forming distinct white annulations. Abdomen with a compact longitudinal median red stripe with lateral projections with compact white spots at their tips. The most anterior pair of white spots either contiguous or very close to each other, sometimes merging and forming a distinct white spot above the pedicel. Measurements of legs: I: 6.70 (2.11, 1.02, 1.28, 1.40, 0.88); II: 5.94 (1.87, 0.98, 1.09, 1.24, 0.75); III: 4.89 (1.79, 0.68, 0.89, 0.96, 0.55); IV: 6.95 (2.19, 1.00, 1.61, 1.43, 0.69).
Palp as in Figures 4A, 6A, 7A and 8A. The stem of the conductor ca. 1.2 times longer than it wide. The mesal margin of the conductor with a slight curvature. The ectal margin with a distinct apical invagination. The prolateral and retrolateral arms of the conductor subequal in length, and both with pointed tips.
Female. Unknown.
Variation. The extent of the white abdominal patches is variable: the lateral patches may be connected to each other in a few specimens (Figure 1F), and the anterior patches are usually connected to each other and to the white plate above the pedicel (Fig 1a,d and f in Zamani and Marusik [6]), although exceptions have been recorded (Fig 1c,e in Zamani and Marusik [6]).
Natural history. Wandering males have primarily been collected in well-vegetated steppes but also in and around urban habitats (Figure 9C).
Phenology. The males are active during October–November.
Distribution. Iran (Alborz, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, Fars, Kerman, Qom, Semnan, Tehran, and Yazd provinces) (see Figure 5).
description: Published as part of Szűts, Tamás, Szabó, Krisztián, Zamani, Alireza, Forman, Martin, Miller, Jeremy, Oger, Pierre, Fabregat, Magali, Kovács, Gábor & Gál, János, 2023, A Study in Scarlet: Integrative Taxonomy of the Spider Genus Loureedia (Araneae: Eresidae), pp. 1-26 in Diversity (238) (238) 15 (2) on page 18, DOI: 10.3390/d15020238, http://zenodo.org/record/7630144