Raveniola fedotovi
Creators: name: Zonstein, Sergei L.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Araneae
Nemesiidae
Raveniola
Raveniola fedotovi

description: Raveniola fedotovi (Charitonov, 1946)
Figs 16, 51, 98, 125, 153, 183, 199, 217, 244, 274–275, 366, 432–433, 528–529, 591–592, 707–710, 755
Brachythele fedotovi Charitonov, 1946: 19, fig. 2 (♂).
Brachythele fedotovi – Charitonov 1969: 65. — Brignoli 1983: 123. — Zonstein 1985: 158.
Raveniola fedotovi – Zonstein 1987: 1015. — Platnick 1989: 90. — Mikhailov 1996: 77; 1997: 20; 2013: 12. — Zonstein et al. 2018b: 66, fig. 100 (♂). — Zonstein & Esyunin 2023: 76, figs 1–14 (♂ ♀).
Diagnosis
Males of Raveniola fedotovi differ from other male congeners in having a characteristic triangular (very short, but high and acute) keel, demarcating proximal and distal sections of the embolus (vs either the presence of a lengthened keel in R. diluta sp. nov., or the absence of a raised keel in R. pallens sp. nov. and R. zyuzini sp. nov.; Figs 432–433, cf. Figs 428–431, 324–438). The sole adult female of R. fedotovi, known to date, is distinguishable owing to a specific structure of the spermathecal trunks, which are considerably longer, and relatively more closely spaced to each other than in females of other species representing the same group (Figs 528–529, cf. Figs 526–527, 530–533).
Material examined
Lectotype
UZBEKISTAN • ♂; Hissar Mts (northwestern slope), surroundings of Ishkent Village; 38°49′ N, 66°58′ E; 1100–1300 m a.s.l.; 25–28 Mar. 1942; D.M. Fedotov leg.; ZMMU.
Paralectotypes
UZBEKISTAN • 3 ♂♂; same collection data as for holotype; PSU, deposited as preparations.
Additional material (1 ♂, 1 ♀, 2 juvs)
UZBEKISTAN • 1 juv.; Kugitang (Koitendagh) Mts, Baglydara Canyon, 10–11 km W of Hatak Village; 37°58′ N, 66°43′ E; 1300–1400 m a.s.l.; 8 Apr. 1989; S. Zonstein leg.; SMNH • 1 juv.; Baisuntau Mts, Akrabat Pass; 38°15′ N, 66°50′ E; 1500 m a.s.l.; 17 Apr. 1987; S. Zonstein leg.; SMNH • 1 ♂; Zeravshan Mts, Jindy-Daria Canyon, Hojakurgan Gorge; 39°11′ N, 67°17′ E; 1400–1600 m a.s.l.; 29 Apr. 1992; S. Zonstein leg.; SMNH • 1 ♀; same collection data as for preceding; 4 May 2022; S. Zonstein leg.; SMNH.
Description
Male (lectotype)
Figures 16, 153, 199, 217, 274–275, 366, 432–433, 591 are based on the paralectotypes and conspecific material.
HABITUS. See Fig. 16.
MEASUREMENTS. TBL 6.90, CL 3.38, CW 2.85, LL 0.28, LW 0.60, SL 1.78, SW 1.51.
COLOUR. Carapace, palps and legs light brownish orange; eye tubercle blackish brown; chelicerae light reddish brown; sternum, labium and maxillae yellow; abdomen uniformly greyish white without clear dorsal pattern.
CEPHALOTHORAX. Carapace and chelicerae as shown in Fig. 98. Clypeus and eye group as in Fig. 153. Eye diameters and interdistances: AME 0.08(0.12), ALE 0.13, PLE 0.09, PME 0.06; AME–AME 0.08(0.05), ALE–AME 0.05(0.04), ALE–PLE 0.02, PLE–PME 0.02, PME–PME 0.16. Anterior cheliceral edge with unmodified setae; rastellum not developed. Each cheliceral furrow with 7 promarginal teeth and 4–5 mesobasal denticles. MIT indiscernible (Fig. 199). Sternum, labium and maxillae as shown in Fig. 217. Maxillae with 7 cuspules each.
LEGS. Tibia and metatarsus I as in Fig. 274. Scopula: entire and distal on metatarsi I–II; entire on tarsus I; narrowly divided with setae on tarsus II; widely divided on tarsus III; rudimentary on tarsus IV. Trichobothria: 2 rows of 7 each on tibiae, 10–12 on metatarsi, 7–10 on tarsi, 6 on cymbium. PTC I–IV with 6–7 and 5 teeth on outer and inner margins, respectively.
SPINATION. Palp: femur d3, pd2; tibia d2, p3, r1, v4; cymbium d4. Leg I: femur d4, pd3, rd3; patella p1; tibia p2, pv2, rv2+2M; metatarsus v1. Leg II: femur d4, pd3; patella p1; tibia p3, v6; metatarsus v6. Leg III: femur d4, pd3, rd3; patella p1, r1; tibia d2, p2, r2, v6; metatarsus d1, p3, r3, v7. Leg IV: femur d4, pd3, rd3; patella p1; tibia d2, p3, r3, v7; metatarsus d1, p3, r2, v9(8). Palpal patella and tarsi I–IV aspinose.
PALP. Tibia, cymbium and copulatory bulb as shown in Fig. 366. Embolus with widely tapering basal portion ending with triangular keel, and with twisted apical part (as shown in Figs 432–433).
SPINNERETS. See Fig. 591. PLS: maximal diameter 0.37; length of basal, medial and apical segments 0.60, 0.42, 0.27; total length 1.29; apical segment triangular.
LEG MEASUREMENTS. ♂(♀)
FemurPatellaTibiaMetatarsusTarsusTotalPalp1.93 (2.68)1.07 (1.45)1.43 (1.69)–0.65 (1.42)5.08 (7.24)Leg I3.20 (3.23)1.78 (2.09)2.43 (2.35)2.54 (1.77)1.45 (1.34)11.40 (10.78)Leg II2.98 (2.96)1.50 (1.89)2.18 (2.08)2.14 (1.84)1.43 (1.36)10.23 (10.13)Leg III2.57 (2.63)1.43 (1.54)1.89 (1.78)2.60 (2.25)1.46 (1.39)9.95 (9.59)Leg IV3.51 (3.54)1.48 (1.92)2.76 (2.66)3.75 (3.31)2.07 (1.61)13.57 (13.04)
Female (paratype)
HABITUS. See Fig. 51.
MEASUREMENTS. TBL 15.05, CL 4.22, CW 3.91, LL 0.41, LW 0.87, SL 2.15, SW 2.06.
COLOUR. Mostly as in male, but chelicerae light scarlet red and legs more uniformly coloured, without difference between legs I and II–IV.
CEPHALOTHORAX. Carapace and chelicerae as shown in Fig. 125. Clypeus and eye group as in Fig. 183. Eye diameters and interdistances: AME 0.13(0.17), ALE 0.24, PLE 0.15, PME 0.07; AME–AME 0.13(0.09), ALE–AME 0.09(0.07), ALE–PLE 0.09, PLE–PME 0.06, PME–PME 0.40. Cheliceral rastellum absent. Each cheliceral furrow with 10 promarginal teeth and 5–6 mesobasal denticles. Sternum, labium and maxillae as shown in Fig. 244. Maxillae with 13–14 cuspules each.
LEGS. Scopula: entire and distal on metatarsi I–II; entire on palpal tarsus; narrowly divided on tarsus I; widely divided by setae on tarsus II; absent on metatarsi and tarsi III and IV. Trichobothria: 2 rows of 9–10 each on tibiae, 13–15 on metatarsi, 11–13 on tarsi, 9–10 on palpal tarsus. Palpal claw with 4 promarginal teeth widely separated from each other. PTC I–II and III–IV with 6–7 and 6–8 teeth on each margin, respectively.
SPINATION. Palpal femur and femora I–II with 4 dorsal bristles; femora III–IV with one thin basodorsal spine and 3 dorsal bristles alongside midline; palpal patella, patellae I–II and tarsi I–IV aspinose. Palp: femur pd1; tibia v10(7); tarsus v4(3). Leg I: femur pd1; tibia v5; metatarsus v6. Leg II: femur pd1; tibia p3, v7; metatarsus p1, v7(6). Leg III: femur pd3, rd2; patella p1, r1; tibia d1, p2, r2, v7; metatarsus d2, p3, r3(2), v7. Leg IV: femur rd1; patella r1; tibia d1, p2, r3, v7; metatarsus d1, p3, r3, v10(9).
SPERMATHECAE. Each of paired spermathecae with wide cone-shaped trunk and short fusiform outer branch (Figs 528–529).
SPINNERETS. See Fig. 592. PMS: absent. PLS: maximal diameter 0.45; length of basal, medial and apical segments 0.84, 0.55, 0.53; total length 1.92; apical segment triangular.
Variation
Carapace length in males (n= 3) varies from 3.30 to 3.95. One of the fragmented paralectotype males possesses 8 (vs 7 in the lectotype) teeth on the cheliceral furrow promargin (Fig. 199). According to Charitonov (1946), within the type series, the number of the maxillary cuspules ranges from 5 to 8 (some type specimens were used by D.E. Charitonov as preparations, and only a few of their parts have survived to date). A weak difference in the structure of the male tibia and metatarsus I is shown in Fig. 275. Most other features, including a specific shape of the embolic keel, were found to be consistent throughout the available specimens.
Ecology
Raveniola fedotovi inhabits the rocky midland montane slopes between 1100 and 1600 m a.s.l., from the steppe shrubland zone in high foothills (Fig. 707) to the higher-located zone of mosaic riverside woodland dominated by Juglans regia (Fig. 708). The collected conspecific specimens were found in overgrown screes under shrubs and tree canopies hiding deeply inside the rocky layer (Figs 709–710).
Distribution
South Uzbekistan. See Fig. 755.
description: Published as part of Zonstein, Sergei L., 2024, A revision of the spider genus Raveniola (Araneae, Nemesiidae). II. Species from Central Asia, pp. 1-185 in European Journal of Taxonomy 967 on pages 52-54, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2024.967.2699, http://zenodo.org/record/13990819