Loureedia jerbae
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 jerbae

description: Loureedia jerbae (El-Hennawy, 2005).
Figures 1D, 2D, 4B, 5, 6B, 7B, 8B and 11A,B.
Eresus jerbae El-Hennawy, 2005: 88, Figs 1–4 (♀) [11] (original description).
Loureedia annulipes Miller et al. 2012: 88 [1] (synonymy with L. annulipes; rejected here).
Type material. Holotype: female (MNHN 471 / AR 835), TUNISIA: Djerba; misidentified as Eresus petagnae (not examined).
Other examined material. One male (HNHM), TUNISIA: Djerba, Djerba Midun, 33 ◦ 48 Į 36.2 ĮĮ N, 11 ◦ 02 Į 38.3 ĮĮ E, X. 2019 (leg. S. Macík).
Diagnosis. The male palp of L. jerbae (Figures 4B, 6B, 7B and 8B) is most similar to that of L. phoenixi (Figures 4A, 6A, 7A and 8A), as the arms of the conductor are almost the same length and bear pointed tips and the terminal portion of the prolateral arm curves retrolaterally (Figure 4A,B). The male palp of L. jerbae differs from that of L. phoenixi, in that the longer stem of the conductor bears only a slight curvature along its ectal margin (Figures 4B and 7B) vs. a shorter stem with an abrupt invagination on the ectal margin (Figures 4A and 7A), the retrolateral arm of the conductor is slightly longer than the prolateral one (Figure 4B) vs. both arms of the same length (Figure 4A), and the base of the prolateral arm of the conductor is wider (Figures 4B and 7B). The male coloration pattern of L. jerbae (Figures 1D and 2D) is similar to those of L. maroccana (Figures 1C and 2B) and L. lucasi (Fig 2C, Henriques et al. [3]: Fig 1d); it differs from both species by having numerous white spots and short stripes at the tips of the lateral branches of the median abdominal foliate pattern (Figures 1D and 2D) vs. no white spots (Fig 2B, Gál et al. [2]: Fig 1) or only a few very small spots (Fig 2C, Henriques et al. [3]: Fig 1d). It also differs from L. lucasi by having a reddish posterior part on the carapace (Figure 2D) vs. dark (Figure 2C). The female of L. jerbae differs from that of L. lucasi by its longer than wide epigynal windows (see El-Hennawy [11]: Figs 1–4) vs. round (see Henriques et al. [3]: Fig 1e,f).
Description. Male. Habitus as in Figures 1D, 2D and 11A,B. Total length: ca. 8.00. Carapace: 4.61 long and 3.61 wide. Abdomen: 4.09 long and 3.49 wide. Eye sizes and intereye distances: AME 0.12, PME 1.89, ALE 0.03, PLE 0.03, AME–AME 0.09, and ALE–AME 0.30. The carapace, sternum, labium, chelicerae, and maxillae dark brown. Carapace mostly covered with long black setae and scattered short crimson and white scales. Scale patches of short red setae present mostly on the sides of the pars thoracica and the center of the pars cephalica, with two white spots next to the PLE. Legs covered with thin black hairs, with distinct regions of white hairs at the joints of all segments, forming distinct white annulation (Figure 2D). Abdomen with a crimson red longitudinal foliate pattern with white lines at its lateral extensions. The most anterior part of the median globular pattern with three lobes: white lateral lobes and a crimson red anterior lobe. Measurements of legs: I: 9.11 (3.04, 1.55, 1.86, 1.58, 1.06); II: 8.85 (2.76, 1.62, 1.72, 1.63, 1.11); III: 7.57 (2.63, 1.39, 1.50, 1.32, 0.71); IV: 10.2 (3.25, 1.60, 2.25, 2.03, 1.03).
Palp as in Figures 4B, 6B, 7B and 8B. The stem of the conductor ca. two times longer than wide. The mesal margin of the conductor almost straight. The ectal margin with a slight medial invagination. The retrolateral arm of the conductor slightly longer than the prolateral arm. The retrolateral arm curves centrally, and both arms with pointed tips.
Female. See El-Hennawy [11], which is the only source regarding this species so far.
Variation. There are two observations of Loureedia from Tunisia on iNaturalist: one from Bizerte, with a very similar abdominal pattern to our specimen. The second specimen, although from Djerba, has noticeably larger white spots lateral to the median red band; two individuals with the same pattern have been photographed in northwestern Libya, not far from Djerba. Likely, these specimens belong to L. jerbae, although it is necessary to examine them to confirm this.
Natural history. No information.
Phenology. Males are active during October.
Distribution. Tunisia (Djerba) (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 pages 14-16, DOI: 10.3390/d15020238, http://zenodo.org/record/7630144