Trachelas minor O. Pickard-Cambridge 1872
Creators: name: Zhang, Feng
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2017
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Araneae
Corinnidae
Trachelas
Trachelas minor

description: Trachelas minor O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1872
Figs 1–4
For complete bibliography see World Spider Catalog (2017).
Material examined. MACEDONIA: Lake Ohrid, 2♂ 6♀, March, leg. J. Wunderlich (SMF 61825-131a).
Description. Male (Figs 1, 3). Total length 1.85–2.37 (n = 2). One male 2.37 long; carapace 1.12 long, 0.97 wide; abdomen 1.25 long, 0.93 wide. Carapace (Figs 1A, C) brown, ovoid in dorsal view, densely covered with pronounced granulations carrying short transparent hairs. CRW 0.62, 0.64 times carapace width. Fovea indistinct. AME ringed with black, other eyes ringed with dark brown. AER and PER slightly recurved in dorsal view (Fig. 1F). Eye diameters: AME 0.13, ALE 0.14, PME 0.13, PLE 0.11. Eye diameters: AME 0.08, ALE 0.09, PME 0.09, PLE 0.07. Eye interdistances: AME–AME 0.06, AME–ALE 0.01, PME–PME 0.12, PME–PLE 0.04, ALE–PLE 0.04. MOA 0.17 long, anterior width 0.22, posterior width 0.28. PERW 0.47, 0.76 times CRW. Clypeus height 0.09, wider than diameter of AME.
Chilum absent (Fig. 1E). Chelicerae (Fig. 1D) yellow-brown, granulated as the carapace, cheliceral boss pronounced, with three promarginal and two retromarginal teeth. Endites yellow-brown and labium dark brown (Fig. 1B); endites without oblique depression; labium wider than long. Sternum (Fig. 1B) light yellow-brown with darker border, shield-shaped, granulated as the carapace; precoxal triangles sharply pointed, intercoxal sclerites blunt.
Legs spineless, light yellowish brown, without cusps (Figs 1 G-J). Measurements of legs: leg I 2.74 (0.78, 0.36, 0.67, 0.52, 0.41), II 2.47 (0.70, 0.34, 0.59, 0.47, 0.37), III 1.93 (0.54, 0.27, 0.40, 0.46, 0.26), IV 2.79 (0.79, 0.32, 0.65, 0.66, 0.37). Leg formula: 4123. Abdomen oval, dorsum pale yellowish-grey, posterior with thin grey chevrons; dorsal scutum large, nearly 2/3 length of abdomen, pale yellowish-brown (Fig. 1A). Venter pale yellowish-grey (Fig. 1B).
Palp as illustrated (Fig. 3). Femur with small, shallow ventral terminal groove (Fig. 3D); RPA small, straight, with pointed end, retrolaterally oriented; tibial apophysis absent. Tegulum almost as wide as cymbium, basally rounded, J-shaped sperm duct partly discernable through translucent cuticle. Embolus small, hook-shaped, with small globular base and pointed end, inserted distally on tegulum. Tegular apophysis short, finger-shaped, apically inserted, ventrally oriented.
Female (Fig. 2). Total length 2.01–2.53 (n = 6). One female 2.26 long; carapace 1.05 long, 0.93 wide; abdomen 1.21 long, 0.92 wide. CRW 0.59, 0.63 times carapace width. Eye diameters: AME 0.08, ALE 0.09, PME 0.09, PLE 0.07. Eye interdistances: AME–AME 0.05, AME–ALE 0.01, PME–PME 0.08, PME–PLE 0.05, ALE–PLE 0.03.
MOA 0.17 long, anterior width 0.19, posterior width 0.24. PERW 0.43, 0.73 times CRW. Clypeus height 0.10, wider than diameter of AME. Chelicerae with three promarginal and two retromarginal teeth. Measurements of legs: leg I 2.50 (0.73, 0.34, 0.58, 0.45, 0.40), II 2.35 (0.68, 0.34, 0.53, 0.43, 0.37), III 1.94 (0.54, 0.29, 0.39, 0.42, 0.30), IV 2.85 (0.81, 0.32, 0.68, 0.68, 0.36). Leg formula: 4123. Leg cusps absent. Abdomen without dorsal scutum. Other characters as in male.
Epigyne (Fig. 2G): poorly sclerotized, spermathecae and coiled ducts visible through translucent cuticle; copulatory openings small, situated anteriorly; hood absent. Vulva (Fig. 2H): copulatory ducts very short and directly attached to the ST2; ST2 spherical, closely anterior to ST1; connecting ducts coiling in one circle anteriorly around copulatory openings before proceeding longitudinally along midline; ST1 dumbbell-shaped, connected to short, weakly sclerotized FD.
Distribution. This species is recorded from the Mediterranean to Central Asia, and West Africa (World Spider Catalog 2017). It has been recorded from Sierra-Leone, Liberia, Algeria, Egypt, Portugal, Spain, France, Corsica, Sardinia, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Palestine, Georgia (Abkhazia), Russia (Krasnodar and Ingushetia), Ukraine (Crimea), Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Iran and Uzbekistan (O. Pickard-Cambridge 1872; Simon 1932; Bosselaers et al. 2009; Kovblyuk & Nadolny 2009; Marusik & Kovblyuk 2010; Danisman et al. 2010; El-Hennawy 2015; Zamani et al. 2016, Nentwig et al. 2017). Its record from Macedonia here is within the range of its known geographical distribution (Fig. 4).
Remarks. T. minor can be distinguished from the other eight minor group species (listed in the Discussion) by: small body size 1.8–2.5 (T. canariensis 2.5–3.4 (Bosselaers et al. 2009: 22); T. chubbi 4.0–4.5 (Lessert 1921: 436); T. himalayensis 5.8 (Biswas 1993: 53); T. quisquiliarum 2.5–3.0 (Simon 1906: 302); T. oreophilus 3–3.5 (Simon 1906: 303); T. sylvae 2.7 (Caporiacco 1949: 448)); short, straight and pointed RPA, directed retrolaterally (longer, curved and pointed RPA directed apically in T. canariensis; longer, straight and pointed RPA directed retrolaterally in T. quisquiliarum (Simon 1906: 302, fig. 3B); short, rectangular and truncated RPA in T. oreophilus (Simon 1906: 302, fig. 3C); longer, curved and pointed RPA directed basally in T. pusillus (Bosselaers 2010: 25, figs 4–6); longer, straight RPA with a pointed tip directed apically in T. vulcani); rather short, hook-shaped embolus (long and coiled embolus in T. canariensis; embolus consists of two parts, anterior is weak and posterior is digitiform in T. chubbi (Lessert 1921: 437); longer and stouter, coiled embolus in T. pusillus; extremely long, filiform, coiled embolus in T. vulcani); CD coiled one circle anteriorly (CD bent into an 8-shape anteriorly in T. canariensis; CD coiled three loops anteriorly in T. vulcani) and ST1 dumbbell-shaped (ST1 pear-shaped in T. vulcani).
Five species, T. chubbi, T. sylvae, T. himalayensis, T. oreophilus and T. quisquiliarum, lack detailed descriptions and clear diagnostic illustrations of the genitalic organs, so the differences between them and the type species, T. minor, require further study.
description: Published as part of Zhang, Feng, 2017, Four new species of the genus Trachelas L. Koch, 1872 and the first record of T. vulcani Simon, 1896 from South-West China (Araneae: Trachelidae), pp. 23-49 in Zootaxa 4324 (1) on pages 24-29, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4324.1.2, http://zenodo.org/record/997009