Xysticus albomaculatus
Creators: name: Breitling, Rainer
name: Bauer, Tobias
name: Grabolle, Arno
name: Oger, Pierre
name: Pantini, Paolo
name: Van Keer, Johan
name: Pfliegler, Walter P.
name: JantsCher, Elke
name: Dolanský, Jan
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2016
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Araneae
Thomisidae
Xysticus
Xysticus albomaculatus

description: The case of <i>Xysticus albomaculatus</i> Material examined sub <i>X. albomaculatus</i>: GERMANY: 1&amp;male;, Conweiler, Straubenhardt near Pforzheim, “Birnbaumrinde [pear tree bark]”, 19 August 1981, coll. J. Wunderlich. AUSTRIA: 2&amp;female;&amp;female; (1 epigyne missing), Lower Austria near Purgstall, Ressl, leg., J. Wunderlich coll. SLOVAKIA: 1&amp;male; 3 juv. Szomotor, HNHM Chyzer coll. 1187 (syntypes). Uncertain locality (HUNGARYȓ) 1&amp;female; B.-Lellc.(ȓ), Szombathy det., HNHM. sub <i>B. baudueri</i>: FRANCE: 1&amp;female;, 2subad. &amp;male;&amp;male; “Sos [Lot-et- Garonne]” MNHN 1467.2156 (syntypes) [an adult male in the same tube is <i>B. &amp;upsi;ersicolor</i> s. str.; it was probably collected in Contis or Mimizan, Landes, as indicated by a second label]. 1&amp;female; “Saint Saud [Dordogne] (aout 1918!) écorce de châtaignier [chestnut bark]”, MNHN Simon coll. 1467.25464 (designated as “lectotype” of <i>B. baudueri</i> by Déjean &amp; Ledoux 2013, but not a syntype and therefore invalid). 2&amp;male;&amp;male; Forêt de Grésigne (Tarn), pitfall traps, 1999, H. Brustel leg., MNHN Ledoux coll. JV.10.898. 1&amp;female; “Berrias (Ardêche) Montchamp, 7/8/04”, MNHN Ledoux coll. NOE 10.898-16.921. Comparative material <i>Bassaniana decorata</i> (Karsch, 1879): JAPAN 2&amp;female;&amp;female;, 3&amp;male;, 7 juv. Yokohama (syntypes of <i>Coriarachne japonica</i> Simon, 1886), MNHN Simon coll. 1467.7346. <i>Bassaniana utahensis</i> (Gertsch, 1932): UNITED STA- TES: 1&amp;female;, 1&amp;male; New York, Banks leg., T.A. Bowling det. Nov. 1973, MNHN Simon coll. 1467.4. 9&amp;female;&amp;female;, 3&amp;male;&amp;male;, 1sub&amp;male; “Mass. N. Carol. Georg. Colora.”, T.A. Bowling det. Nov. 1973, MNHN Simon coll. 1467.688. 2&amp;female;&amp;female;, 4&amp;male;&amp;male; “Am. sept. pacif.” (= Pacific North America) T.A. Bowling det. Nov. 1973, MNHN Simon coll. 1467.17106. <i>Bassaniana &amp;upsi;ersicolor</i> (Keyserling, 1880): UNITED STA- TES 16&amp;female;&amp;female;, 9&amp;male;&amp;male; “Mass. N. Carol. Georg. Colora.”, T.A. Bowling det. Nov. 1973, MNHN Simon coll. 1467.688. <i>Coriarachne brunneipes</i> Banks, 1893: UNITED STATES: 1&amp;female;, 1sub&amp;male; “Mass. N. Carol. Georg. Colora.”, T.A. Bowling det. Nov. 1973, MNHN Simon coll. 1467.688. 1&amp;female;, 1&amp;male; Washington, Banks leg. “Type!”, MNHN Simon coll. 1467.3. <i>Xysticus albomaculatus</i> was first described in 1891 on the basis of very few (“perpauca”) male and female specimens from Sátoraljaújhely (Hungary) and the sands at Szomotor (= Somotor, Slovakia) (Kulczy&amp;nacute;ski in Chyzer &amp; Kulczy&amp;nacute;ski 1891). Other specimens were reported in a later volume of the same work from Pozsony (= Bratislava, Slovakia) and Pápa (Hungary) (Chyzer &amp; Kulczy&amp;nacute;ski 1897), and a single male was found a few years later by Bösenberg (1902) on the Großer Feldberg, Taunus, Hesse, Germany; but afterwards it took more than 60 years before the next reliable records were published, from Aiud, Romania (13.V.1962, Fuhn &amp; Niculescu-Burlacu 1969), Pforzheim, Germany (19.VIII.1981) and Purgstall, Austria (both Wunderlich 1982). Based on this material, Jantscher (2001) re-described the species in detail in her unpublished doctoral thesis. Even the original description of <i>X. albomaculatus</i> was uncertain about its generic placement, noting an affinity with <i>Ozyptila</i>, and Jantscher (2001) cites personal communications by Logunov and Marusik, indicating that the species probably belongs to a new genus, with additional representatives in Siberia. A closer examination shows, however, that <i>X. albomaculatus</i> with respect to its cryptic mottled habitus, tree bark habitat and the basic structure of the copulatory organs is very similar to species currently placed in the genus <i>Bassaniana</i>, which has commonly found representatives in East Asia and North America. In Europe the genus <i>Bassaniana</i> is represented by a single species from France, which has been just as rarely reported as <i>X. albomaculatus</i>: <i>Bassaniana baudueri</i> (Simon, 1877), was first described (as <i>Oxyptila baudueri</i>) on the basis of subadult males and a “young female” from Sos, Lot-et-Garonne, France. Another female was found in 1918 in Saint-Saud, Dordogne, together with its egg sac under the bark of a chestnut tree. Simon (1903) transferred the species from <i>Coriarachne</i> (where he apparently had placed it in the meantime) to <i>Xysticus</i>, together with several other species currently placed in <i>Bassaniana</i>. The new records were published in Simon (1932, publ. posthumously). In this work, the taxonomic situation is considerably confounded by the inclusion of an illustration of a supposed <i>B. baudueri</i> female from Spain, which actually belongs to <i>Xysticus cribratus</i> (Déjean &amp; Ledoux 2013). Moreover, in addition to the records of <i>B. baudueri</i> (again sub <i>Oxyptila baudueri</i>), the work also contains a single record of a male <i>B. &amp;upsi;ersicolor</i> (sub <i>Coriarachne &amp;upsi;ersicolor</i>) from Mimizan or Contis, Landes, which is considered an accidental introduction. At a later stage, someone (Simon himself?) considered this specimen to belong to <i>B. baudueri</i>, and it is currently found in the same vial in Simon’s collection as the original type material of the latter. However, the structure of the pedipalp, with a long, thin, straight embolus indicates that Simon was actually correct in assuming that this male belongs to <i>B. &amp;upsi;ersicolor</i> s. str. Mimizan was a major American army base, housing engineering corps members working in the Landes forest around the town (Fenneman 1930), and together with the neighbouring seaside village Contis was a popular tourist location in the interwar years, both of which could explain the introduction, especially as <i>B. &amp;upsi;ersicolor</i> is a common spi- der often found in synanthropic habitats in North America (Kaston 1948). Déjean &amp; Ledoux (2013) were the first to report the rediscovery of <i>B. baudueri</i> after an interval of almost 80 years, reporting the species to be widespread in forest locations across southern France. They considered <i>baudueri</i> a subspecies of the North American <i>B. &amp;upsi;ersicolor</i>, and also downgraded <i>B. utahensis</i> and (tentatively) <i>B. decorata</i> (from Japan) to subspecific status. It is true that all these species are very similar in their (rather variable) habitus, as well as in their genitalia, and difficult to distinguish with confidence. Probable hybrids between <i>B. &amp;upsi;ersicolor</i> and <i>B. utahensis</i> have been reported as occurring regularly in part of the overlapping range of the two species (Dondale &amp; Redner 1978), and even the material in the Simon collection that was re-identified by T. A. Bowling during his revision of the genus (Bowling &amp; Sauer 1975) seems to contain misidentified specimens. Nevertheless, <i>B. baudueri</i> seems to differ consistently in subtle details of the genitalia of both males and females, sufficiently to justify re-elevation to species rank, in addition to the zoogeographical implausibility of spider subspecies occurring on separated continents. In the female, the epigynal septum in <i>B. baudueri</i> is broader and less distinct than in the related species, lacking the deeply notched posterior margin, which is particularly prominent in <i>B. decorata</i>, but also clearly expressed in the North American species; in the male, the embolus is more Scale bar = 0.2 mm robust (not long and thin, as in <i>B. &amp;upsi;ersicolor</i>), very gradually tapering towards the tip, which is clearly curved outwards (not straight, as in <i>B utahensis;</i> Dondale &amp; Redner 1978: fig. 439). These characters are shared by all European specimens, including the material reported previously as <i>X. albomaculatus</i> from Central Europe¸ and we therefore consider <i>Xysticus albomaculatus</i> a junior synonym of <i>Bassaniana baudueri</i> (<b>stat. nov., syn. nov.</b>). Both <i>X. albomaculatus</i> and its senior synonym <i>B. baudueri</i> have been characterized in detail before, both in the original descriptions and in the more recent work of Jantscher (2001) and Déjean &amp; Ledoux (2013). Here we only provide an abbreviated description and illustration of the diagnostic characters. <i>Bassaniana baudueri</i> is a typical member of the genus <i>Bassaniana</i>, with a variable cryptic mottled pattern of white, brown and black blotches, on legs and body (habitus photos are provided in Wunderlich 1982 and Déjean &amp; Ledoux 2013). It has rather thick, club-shaped spines on the body (but not on the clypeus), in contrast to the thin, pointed spines of <i>Xysticus</i> s. str. Total length: &amp;male;&amp;male; 3.8–4.5 mm, &amp;female;&amp;female; 5.0–5.6 mm. Prosoma length: &amp;male;&amp;male; 1.9–2.2 mm, &amp;female;&amp;female; 2.3–2.6 mm. In the male palpus (Figs 8-9), the retrolateral tibial apophysis carries a short straight tooth that is clearly visible in ventral and dorsal view and readily distinguishes the species from similar European spiders in <i>Xysticus</i> or <i>Ozyptila</i>. The embolus emerges at the distal end of bulbus, is strong and with its tip distally bent outwards retrolaterally in an almost 90̊ angle, different from <i>B. &amp;upsi;ersicolor</i> and other American species in the genus. The female epigyne (Figs 10-11) is characterized by a very indistinct light septum, without a distinct posterior margin (different from <i>B. decorata</i> and the American species). The poor definition of the epigynal structures might be the reason why Simon (1877) considered his type a “young” (not full sclerotizedȓ) female. The width and shape of the septum are variable, but always broader than in the other species of the genus. 46 <i>R. Breitling, T. Bauer, A. Grabolle, P.Oger, P.Pantini, J. Van Keer, W. P. Pfliegler, E. Jantscher &amp; J. Dolanský</i> As discussed above, the generic placement of <i>B. baudueri</i> has been unclear since its first description, with suggested affinities to <i>Ozyptila, Xysticus</i> and <i>Coriarachne</i>. The same holds true for the remaining <i>Bassaniana</i> species, which were treated as a distinct (unnamed) species group in <i>Xysticus</i> by Simon (1903) and partly united in their own genus (<i>Platyxysticus</i>) by Gertsch (1932), who later (1939, 1953) synonymized this genus with <i>Coriarachne</i> C.L. Koch, 1837, but maintained two distinct species groups, corresponding to the species currently placed in <i>Coriarachne</i> (<i>brunneipes</i> group) and <i>Bassaniana</i> (<i>&amp;upsi;ersicolor</i> group). Finally, the species were placed in <i>Bassaniana</i> Strand, 1928 (type species: <i>Bassania aemula</i> O. Pickard- Cambridge, 1898 <i>= B. &amp;upsi;ersicolor</i>) in its current sense by Ono (1985, 1988). Subsequently, Lehtinen proposed downgrading <i>Bassaniana</i> to a subgroup “lower than subgenus” of <i>Coriarachne</i>, implying (erroneously) that Ono’s separation of the two genera was based only on irrelevant differences in body shape (flattened vs. not quite so flattened), and Dondale (2009) suggested that at least the North American species of <i>Bassaniana</i> be placed in <i>Coriarachne</i>, arguing that the separation was based solely on “equivocal differences in microhabitat”. These arguments do not seem particularly convincing: both <i>Bassaniana</i> and <i>Coriarachne</i> s. str. are very homogenous and probably monophyletic assemblages. Of the two outliers, <i>C. nigrostriata</i> Simon, 1886, from Vietnam (holotype subadult female and additional adult male in MNHN, examined) is probably misplaced in this genus and might possibly belong in or near to <i>Demogenes</i> Simon, 1895, an unrevised genus (or group of genera) of coriarachnine-like spiders that includes some of the dominant ground-living thomisids in the Oriental region and Melanesia and resembles <i>C. nigrostriata</i> in its habitus and the structure of the pedipalp (Lehtinen 2004, Marusik et al. 2005). And <i>B. ora</i> Seo, 1992, from Korea is clearly very close to (and in all probability a junior synonym of) <i>C. ful&amp;upsi;ipes</i> according to the illustrations of the pedipalp provided by Seo and in Namkung (2003) (compare, e.g., figs. 2 and 3 in Seo 1992, to figs. 60 and 61 in Ono 1988). In contrast, the evidence for uniting the two groups in a single <i>Coriarachne</i> s. lat. seems to be based entirely on adaptive characters, in particular the flattened body, associated with the shared tree trunk habitat. It is certainly possible that <i>Xysticus</i> or <i>Ozyptila</i> are paraphyletic with respect to <i>Bassaniana</i> and/ or <i>Coriarachne</i> s. str., but resolving their exact relationships will require a broader study of the entire Coriarachnini (sensu Ono 1988), preferably using a total evidence approach including molecular genetic characters. Until such a study becomes available, we conservatively maintain the generic placement of <i>baudueri</i> in <i>Bassaniana</i>, following the latest version of the World Spider Catalog (2016). In a curious twist, Déjean &amp; Ledoux (2013) had suggested that Simon’s first description of <i>O. baudueri</i> was incomplete, as it did not include information on the genitalia, and that the correct publication date should be 1932. This change was not widely accepted, but if it were correct, <i>O. baudueri</i> would be a junior synonym of <i>X. albomaculatus</i>. However, even if the 1877 description does not include the details that Déjean &amp; Ledoux would have liked to see, it constitutes a perfectly valid description, providing a plethora of supposedly diagnostic details, and even the type material is still available. The change in publication date is therefore not justified, and the associated assignment of a lectotype collected in 1918 is invalid, as this specimen was not a part of the original type series (ICZN art. 74.2). The known distribution of <i>Bassaniana baudueri</i> as defined here extends from northern Portugal (Cardoso et al. 2008, sub <i>B. &amp;upsi;ersicolor</i>, two specimens from a Mediterranean oak forest in Mata da Albergaria, Peneda-Gerês National Park (PNPG), at an altitude of 600 to 700 m) and the western coast of France, via Germany, Austria, Hungary, Slovakia to Central Romania. Considering that its relatives in North America are widespread, common and often found in rather large numbers in synanthropic habitats (see, e.g., Shinkai 2006 and Kaston 1948), it will be interesting to see if the number of records of <i>B. baudueri</i> will increase throughout Europe in the coming years. New records might also fill the apparent gap between the eastern and western populations.
description: Published as part of <i>Rainer Breitling, Tobias Bauer, Arno Grabolle, Pierre Oger, Paolo Pantini, Johan Van Keer, Walter P. Pfliegler, Elke JantsCher &amp; Jan Dolanský, 2016, East meets West: on the true identity of Cheiracanthium rupestre and Xysticus albomaculatus (AraChnida: Araneae: EutiChuridae, Thomisidae), pp. 38-49 in Arachnologische Mitteilungen 52</i> on pages 44-46, DOI: 10.5431/aramit5208, http://zenodo.org/record/198414
description: {"references": ["Dejean S &amp; Ledoux JC 2013 De araneis Galliae, III. 4: Bassianiana \u03c5ersicolor baudueri (Simon, 1932). - Revue Arachnologique 17: 88 - 92", "Simon E 1886 Arachnides recueillis par M. A. Pavie (sous chef du service des postes au Cambodge) dans le royaume de Siam, au Cambodge et en Cochinchine. - Actes de la Societe Linneenne de Bordeaux 40: 137 - 166", "Gertsch WJ 1932 A new generic name for Coriarachne \u03c5ersicolor Keyserling, with new species. - American Museum Novitates 563: 1 - 7", "Chyzer C &amp; Kulczynski W 1891 Araneae Hungariae. Tomus I: Salticoidae, Oxyopoidae, Lycosoidae, Heteropodoidae, Misumenoidae, Euetrioidae, Tetragnathoidae, Uloboroidae, Pholcoidae, Scytodoidae, Urocteoidae, Eresoidae, Dictynoidae. Academia Scientiarum Hungarica, Budapest. 170 pp., Tab. I-VI", "Chyzer C &amp; Kulczynski W 1897 Araneae Hungariae. Tomus II. pars posterior: Zodarioidae, Agalenoidae, Drassoidae, Zoropseoidae, Dysderoidae, Filistatoidae, Calommatoidae, Theraphosoidae. Academia Scientiarum Hungarica, Budapest. pp. 147 - 366, Tab. VI-X", "Bosenberg W 1902 Die Spinnen Deutschlands. II - IV. - Zoologica (Stuttgart) 14: 97 - 384", "Fuhn IE &amp; Niculescu-Burlacu F 1969 Aranee colectate din Transilvania, Banat si Crisana (colectate de Dr. B. Kis, 1962 - 1965). - Comunicari de zoologie, Societatea de Stiinte Biologice din Republica Socialista Romania, Bucuresti 1969: 75 - 82", "Wunderlich J 1982 Mitteleuropaische Spinnen (Araneae) der Baumrinde. - Zeitschrift fur angewandte Entomologie 94: 9 - 21 - doi: 10.1111 / j. 1439 - 0418.1982. tb 02540. x", "Jantscher E 2001 Revision der Krabbenspinnengattung Xysticus C. L. Koch, 1835 (Araneae, Thomisidae) in Zentraleuropa. Dissertation, Graz. 328 pp. 81 Taf.", "Simon E 1877 Nouvelle especes francaise du genre Oxyptila. - Annales de la Societe Entomologique de France (5) 7, Bulletin: XLI-XLII", "Simon E 1903 Histoire naturelle des araignees. Deuxieme edition. Tome second (4). Roret, Paris. pp. 669 - 1080", "Simon E 1932 Les arachnides de France. Synopsis generale et catalogue des especes francaises de l'ordre des Araneae. Tome VI. 4 e partie. Roret, Paris. pp. 773 - 978", "Fenneman CE 1930 The engineers corps in the world war. - Ohio State Engineer 13 (6): 8 - 9, 20", "Kaston BJ 1948 Spiders of Connecticut. - Bulletin of the Connecticut State Geological and Natural History Survey 70: 1 - 874", "Bowling TA &amp; Sauer RJ 1975 A taxonomic revision of the crab spider genus Coriarachne (Araneida, Thomisidae) for North America north of Mexico. - Journal of Arachnology 2: 183 - 193", "Ono H 1985 Revision einiger Arten der Familie Thomisidae (Arachnida, Araneae) aus Japan. - Bulletin of the National Museum of Nature and Science Tokyo (A) 11: 19 - 39", "Ono H 1988 A revisional study of the spider family Thomisidae (Arachnida, Araneae) of Japan. National Science Museum, Tokyo. 252 pp.", "Dondale CD 2009 Thomisidae. In: Ubick D, Paquin P, Cushing PE &amp; Roth V (eds.) Spiders of North America - an identification manual. pp. 246 - 247", "Lehtinen PT 2004 Taxonomic notes on the Misumenini (Araneae: Thomisidae: Thomisinae), primarily from the Palaearctic and Oriental regions. In: Logunov DV &amp; Penney D (eds.) European Arachnology 2003: Proceedings of the 21 st European Colloquium of Arachnology, St. - Petersburg, 4 - 9 August 2003. - Arthropoda Selecta, Special Issue 1: 147 - 184", "Marusik YM, Lehtinen PT &amp; Kovblyuk MM 2005 Cozyptila, a new genus of crab spiders (Aranei: Thomisidae: Thomisinae: Coriarachnini) from the western Palaearctic. - Arthropoda Selecta 13: 151 - 163", "Namkung J 2003 The spiders of Korea, 2 nd. ed. Kyo-Hak Publishing, Seoul. 648 pp.", "Cardoso P, Scharff N, Gaspar C, Henriques SS, Carvalho R, Castro PH, Schmidt JB, Silva I, Szuts T, de Castro A &amp; Crespo LC 2008 Rapid biodiversity assessment of spiders (Araneae) using semiquantitative sampling: a case study in a Mediterranean forest. - Insect Conservation and Diversity 1: 71 - 84 - doi: 10.1111 / j. 1752 - 4598.2007.00008. x", "Shinkai E 2006 \u65e5\u672cnkm [Nihon no kumo, Spiders of Japan]. Bun'ichi Sogo Shuppan, Tokyo. 335 pp."]}