Zorodictyna oswaldi

Field: Agricultural and Biological Sciences (Life Sciences)

Zorodictyna oswaldi (Lenz, 1891) Fig. 26 Agroeca oswaldi Lenz, 1891: 169, plate 1, figs 6a–c, 8a–b. Syntype male and female from Nossi Be, Madagascar, syntypes, ZMH [examined]. Uduba inhonesta Simon, 1906: 294. Type female from Nosi Be, Madagascar, in MNHN [examined]. Syn. nov. Zorodictyna intermedia Strand, 1907: 725 (type destroyed, but the type locality on Nosi Be suggests that this is the same species as Zorodictyna oswaldi (Lenz, 1891). Uliodon oswaldi – Strand 1908: 118. — Roewer 1955: 659. — Bonnet 1959: 4754. Zorodictyna intermedia – Petrunkevitch 1928: 146. — Roewer 1955: 1284. — Bonnet 1959: 4991. Uduba inhonesta – Roewer 1955: 1283. — Bonnet 1959: 4754. Uduba oswaldi – Bonnet 1959: 4750. Zorodictyna inhonesta – Lehtinen 1967: 276, fig. 76 (transferred to Zorodictyna from Uduba, and declared a senior synonym of Zorodictyna intermedia Strand, 1907). Zorodictyna oswaldi – Lehtinen 1967: 276, figs 72, 76, 78 (transfer to Zorodictyna from Uliodon). — Griswold 1993: 8, figs 19–24, 62–63. Diagnosis Zorodictyna oswaldi is distinguished from other Zorodictyna by having the male palpal cymbium narrow (Griswold: 1993: figs 19–21), with length 2.25 times width, with a short cymbial retrobasal extension (CE), extending only to tibial apex, and without a paracymbial process (PP) (vs in Z. almae sp. nov. and Z. silvadavilae sp. nov., males have the cymbium length less than 2 times width, and well-developed paracymbial processes (CE and PP), Figs 23B–C, 25B–C). Zorodictyna oswaldi females have the lateral lobes (LL) of epigyne with short teeth, which are absent in Z. almae (Fig. 23D) and Z. silvadavilae (Fig. 25D). Zorodictyna oswaldi also has abdomen boldly marked (Lenz 1891: fig. 8a) with strongly marked, contrasting ventral black and white stripes, whereas abdomens of Z. almae (Fig. 22A–D) and Z. silvadavilae (Fig. 24A–D) have obscure markings. Type material examined Syntypes of Agroeca oswaldi Lenz, 1891 MADAGASCAR • 1 ♂, 1 ♀; Nosi Be Island; 2 Jul. 1888; ZMH. Type of Uduba inhonesta Simon, 1906 MADAGASCAR • 1 ♀; Nosi Be Island; MNHN. Description (abbreviated) Male syntype (ZMH) MEASUREMENTS. Total length: 13.00. Carapace: length 7.00, width 5.00. COLORATION (Lenz 1891: fig. 6a). Cephalothorax yellow-brown, with narrow dark mark along pars cephalica and broad dark bands near edges of pars thoracica, venter of sternum, mouthparts, coxae and trochanters yellow brown; abdomen and legs grey-brown, dorsum of abdomen dark with anterior light cardiac mark and four pairs of dark spots posteriorly (Lenz 1891: fig. 6a), sides dark, venter yellow-white with broad median longitudinal dark band. RATIOS. Carapace length/width = 1.50, PER/carapace width = 0.38, PER/OAL = 2.71, PER/AER = 1.27, OQP/OQA = 1.16, sternum length/width = 1.22, palpal coxa length/width = 1.73, cymbium length/palpal tibia length = 1.60, cymbial retrobasal extension = 0.16 of cymbial length. Spination FPTMtIPl2d3rl4Pl1rl1Pl3d3rl3v2222Pl3rl3v221IIPl4d3rl4Pl1rl1Pl3d3rl3v2222Pl12r1l2v221IIIPl4d3rl4Pl1rl1Pl2d2rl2v222Pl12rl12v222IVPl4d3rl3Pl1rl1pl2d2rl2v222Pl4rl4v11122 MALE PALP. Cymbium narrow, length 2.25 times width, evenly convex retrolaterally, without paracymbial process, cymbial retrodorsal extension short, extending only to tibial apex; median apophysis more than twice longer than wide (Lenz 1891: fig. 6b–c; Lehtinen 1967: fig. 78; Griswold 1993: figs 19–21). Female syntype (ZMH) MEASUREMENTS. Total length: 19.00. Carapace: length 79.60, width 7.00, height 4.60. COLORATION (Lenz 1891: fig. 8a). Cephalothorax yellow-brown, with narrow dark mark along pars cephalica and broad dark bands near edges of pars thoracica, venter of sternum, mouthparts, coxae and trochanters yellow-brown; abdomen and legs grey-brown, abdomen dorsum dark with anterior light cardiac mark and four pairs of dark spots posteriorly (Lenz 1891: fig.8a), sides dark, venter yellow-white with broad median longitudinal dark band. RATIOS. Carapace length/width = 1.37, carapace height/ width = 0.66, PER/carapace width = 0.52, PER/OAL = 4.00, PER/AER = 1.24, OQP/OQA = 1.20, sternum length/width = 1.26, palpal coxa length/width = 2.00. Spination FPTMtIPl2–v2222v222IIPl2d1–v2222v222IIIPl4d3rl4Pl1rl1Pl2d2rl2v222Pl122rl122v222IVPl2d3rl1Pl1rl1pl2d2rl2Pl112rl112v1112 GENITALIA. Epigyne with short, broad teeth on lateral lobes (Griswold 1993: fig. 24), median lobe length 0.47 times width, length from median lobe base to epigastric furrow 0.44 of median lobe length. Endogyne (Griswold 1993: figs 22–23) with spermatheca as single, large chamber, spermathecal head with single anterior pore. Synonymy We have examined the male and female syntypes of Agroeca oswaldi Lenz, 1891 (ZMH) and the female type of Uduba inhonesta Simon, 1906 (MNHN, Paris), both of which were collected on the island of Nosi Be, northwest of Madagascar. The females of each are identical, and are as illustrated by Griswold (1993: 8, figs 22–24) and Lenz (1891: 169, plate 1, figs 6, 8). We hereby declare U. inhonesta Simon, 1906 to be a junior synonym of A. oswaldi Lenz, 1891 (new synonymy). Notes Some confusion over the identity of the female types of Agroeca oswaldi Lenz, 1891 and Uduba inhonesta Simon, 1906 may have arisen from the condition of the epigyne in the Agroeca oswaldi type. The specimen had a mating plug in the epigyne, which superficially changed the appearance from that of the Uduba inhonesta type. Lehtinen (1967) illustrated both types, Agroeca oswaldi with the plug (fig. 72) and Uduba inhonesta lacking a plug (fig. 76). Griswold (1993: figs 22–24) removed the plug before illustrating the Agroeca oswaldi type, which then is virtually identical to the type of Uduba inhonesta. Benoit illustrated a species of Udubidae from the collection in Tervuren (BE_ RMCA _ARA.Ara.136920), for which he provides the new combination Uduba inhonesta (Benoit 1972: 180, fig. 3). The illustrated male is an Uduba. Although Benoit declares “Le mâle est identique au type [female], originaire de Nossi Be present dans la collection SIMON au Muséum de Paris”, this statement is incorrect.After examination and analyses of the palp with micro-CT 3D scans (see Appendix 5), this male specimen is now correctly identified as Uduba madagascariensis (Vinson, 1863) (see Griswold et al. 2022 for a complete description of that species). Distribution Known only from Nosi Be Island off of northwestern Madagascar (Fig. 26).