Revision of the spider family Zodariidae (Arachnida, Araneae) in Iran and Turkmenistan, with seventeen new species

Abstract

<p>Species of the spider family Zodariidae occurring in Iran and Turkmenistan are reviewed. Seventeen species of three subfamilies are described as new to science: Lachesana kavirensis sp. nov. (♂, Qom; northern Iran), L. perseus sp. nov. (♂, Alborz; northern Iran) (Lachesaninae), Pax ellipita sp. nov. (♂♀, Kermanshah and Lorestan; western Iran), P. leila sp. nov. (♂♀, Fars; southwestern Iran) (Storeninae), Acanthinozodium armita sp. nov. (♂, Tehran; northern Iran), A. atrisa sp. nov. (♂♀, Qazvin and Tehran; northern Iran), A. diara sp. nov. (♂, Ilam and Lorestan; western Iran), A. dorsa sp. nov. (♂♀, Fars; southern Iran), A. elburzicum sp. nov. (♂♀, Tehran; northern Iran), A. kiana sp. nov. (♂, Kurdistan; western Iran), A. masa sp. nov. (♂, Kermanshah; western Iran), A. niusha sp. nov. (♂♀, Fars, Isfahan and Markazi; central Iran), A. ovtchinnikovi sp. nov. (♂, Mary; southeastern Turkmenistan), A. parmida sp. nov. (♂, Isfahan; central Iran), A. parysatis sp. nov. (♂♀, Ardabil and Qazvin; northern and northwestern Iran), A. sorani sp. nov. (♂, East Azerbaijan and Kurdistan; northwestern and western Iran) and Trygetus susianus sp. nov. (♀, Khuzestan; southwestern Iran) (Zodariinae). Zodariellum Andreeva & Tyshchenko, 1968, currently comprising only the type species (Z. surprisum Andreeva & Tyshchenko, 1968) is rediagnosed, with the following species being (re)transferred to it: Z. asiaticum (Tyshchenko, 1970) comb. res., Z. bactrianum (Kroneberg, 1875) comb. nov., Z. bekuzini (Nenilin, 1985) comb. res., Z. chaoyangense (Zhu & Zhu, 1983) comb. res., Z. continentalis (Andreeva & Tyshchenko, 1968) comb. res., Z. furcum (Zhu, 1988) comb. res., Z. mongolicum Marusik & Koponen, 2001 comb. res., Z. proszynskii (Nenilin & Fet, 1985) comb. res., Z. nenilini (Eskov, 1996) comb. res., Z. surprisum Andreeva & Tyshchenko, 1968 comb. res., Z. schmidti Marusik & Koponen, 2001 comb. res., Z. sytchevskajae (Nenilin & Fet, 1985) comb. res. and Z. volgouralensis Ponomarev, 2007 comb. res. (all ex. Zodarion); out of these, Z. proszynskii Nenilin & Fet, 1985, previously known only from the type locality in Turkmenistan, is recorded from northeastern Iran for the first time. This paper raises the number of zodariids known from Iran to 22 species from seven genera (including the first Iranian records of Acanthinozodium Denis, 1966, Pax Levy, 1990 and Zodariellum) and those known from Turkmenistan to five species from five genera (including the first record of Acanthinozodium from this country). Regional distribution records of all species are mapped. </p>

Keywords Ant-eating spiders, Aranei, Central Asia, Middle East, new record, taxonomy