The taxonomic position of the poorly known species Roeweriella balcanica Kratochvíl, 1932 from Croatia is discussed. The species is illustrated and re-described on the basis of the female holotype. The genus Roeweriella Kratochvíl, 1932 (type species: R. balcanica Kratochvíl, 1932 by monotypy) is synonymized with Marpissa C.L. Koch, 1846, and therefore the new combination, Marpissa (Marpissa) balcanica (Kratochvíl, 1932) comb.nov., is proposed

Logunov, Dmitri V.

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Logunov, Dimitri V.

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On Roeweriella balcanica, a mysterious species of Marpissa from the Balkan Peninsula (Araneae, Salticidae)

Logunov, Dimitri V

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On Roeweriella balcanica , a mysterious species of Marpissa from the Balkan Peninsula (Araneae, Salticidae)

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Arachnol. Mitt.  37: 9-11  Nürnberg, Juli 2009Dr. Dmitri V. LOGUNOV, The Manchester Museum, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, UK;  E-Mail: dmitri.v.logunov@manchester.ac.ukeingereicht: 28.12.2008, akzeptiert: 10.2.2009On Roeweriella balcanica, a mysterious species of Marpissa from the Balkan Peninsula (Araneae, Salticidae)Dmitri V. LogunovAbstract: The taxonomic position of the poorly known species Roeweriella balcanica Kratochvíl, 1932 from Croatia is discussed. The species is illustrated and re-described on the basis of the  holotype. The genus Roeweriella Kratochvíl, 1932 (type species: R. balcanica Kratochvíl, 1932 by monotypy) is synonymized with Marpissa C.L. Koch, 1846, and therefore the new combination, Marpissa (Marpissa) balcanica (Kratochvíl, 1932) comb.nov., is proposed.Key words: Croatia, jumping spider, new combination, re-description, taxonomic commentsAlthough the European fauna of Salticidae is rela-tively well studied, a few taxa remain obscure and poorly known. Roeweriella balcanica described by KRATOCHVÍL (1932) based on a single female from the Balkan Peninsula is one of such taxa. Since the original description nobody has collected, re-descri-bed or commented on this species. Its male remains unknown. Nevertheless, an independent status of the monotypic genus Roeweriella created for this species has been in serious doubt. Recently, I have been able to borrow the  holotype of R. balcanica, retained in the National Museum of Prague, Czech Republic (NMP; curator - Dr. A. Kůrka), and found out that the species is actually a member of Marpissa C.L. Koch, 1846. Thus, the main purpose of this brief communication is to re-describe this poorly known species and to discuss its proper taxonomic position. The format of species description follows LOGUNOV (2001).Marpissa (Marpissa) balcanica (Kratochvíl, 1932), comb.n.  (Figs 1-7)Roeweriella balcanica Kratochvíl, 1932: 5, 8, 15, ﬁgs 5-8 (D; the holotype in the NMP; examined).Material examined: Holotype  (NMP; P6E-2871), ‘Roeweria (sic!) balcanica, X.1931’; no locality data, but according to the original paper by KRATOCHVÍL (1932: pp. 1, 14; see also RŮŽIČKA et al. 2005: p. 18), the speci-men was collected by C. Drozdek in the close vicinity of Slavonska Pozěga, NW part of Balkan Peninsula [this is the town of Požega located in the south-western part of the valley of Požega river in central Slavonia county, eastern Croatia (c. 42º20’N/17º41’E and 150 to 300 m a.s.l.)].Diagnosis: Compared to other European species of Marpissa (see HARM 1981: ﬁgs 5-8; LOGUNOV 1999: ﬁgs 33-34, 43), M. balcanica differs in having more widely separated copulation openings (Fig. 1) and much shorter and less meandering insemination ducts (Figs 2-3).Comments: By assigning this species to a new genus, KRATOCHVÍL (1932) exaggerated the value of the ﬁssidentate state of the retromarginal tooth of the chelicerae (Fig. 7). On the one hand there are other salticid genera, e.g. Harmochirus Simon, 1885 (see LOGUNOV 2001: p. 223), which con-tain both unidentate and ﬁssidentate species, and hence the ﬁssidentate state of the marginal teeth is of weak taxonomic value. On the other hand, the retromarginal tooth of such species as M. muscosa (Clerck, 1757) and M. pomatia (Walckenaer, 1802) (see LOGUNOV 1999: ﬁgs 18-19) has an extended lateral edge (almost developed as a second cuspid) and looks nearly like a usual ﬁssidentate tooth. Yet, the structure of the retromarginal tooth seems to have been the main reason why in his diagnosis KRATOCHVÍL (1932: p. 5) compared the newly erected genus Roeweriella with two poorly known Neotropical genera Fuentes Peckham & Peckham, 1894 and Balmaceda Peckham & Peckham, 1894. Although the two latter genera are members of the Marpissinae (sensu EDWARDS 2005), they are close to Metacyrba F.O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1901 (see EDWARDS 2005 and RUIZ & BRESCOVIT 2007) rather than to true Marpissa, to which M. balcanica actually belongs.   The genus Marpissa (s.str.; the type species – Araneus muscosus Clerck, 1757, see METZNER 10  D. Logunov1999: table 103) was recently re-deﬁned and proper-ly discussed by LOGUNOV (1999), and M. balcanica possesses all the female diagnostic characters of this genus: viz., the general body shape, with the wide and robust carapace (Figs 4-5); leg formula: IV, I, II, III, as in females of all Marpissa; the fovea is present and visibly depressed; the median septum of the epigyne absent; the spermathecal ducts are long and meandering; no hair-pencil beneath PLEs (but a poorly-marked bunch of hairs, Fig. 4); the sternum is elongated as in all other Marpissa species (cf. Fig. 6 in the present paper and ﬁgs 129-130 in LOGUNOV 1999). Furthermore, legs III and IV of M. balcanica have poor spination (see below), similar to other Marpissa species. Although the species possesses the comparatively short spermathecal ducts (Figs 2-3; cf. ﬁgs 6-8 in HARM 1981 and ﬁgs 66-71 in LOGUNOV 1999), which are more similar to those of the congeners of the subgenus Hyctia Simon, 1876 (sensu LOGUNOV 1999: pp 44-46), the proportions of its body (Fig. 4), with wide carapace and relatively short abdomen (length/width ratio is 1.9, compared to 3.0-5.0 in Hyctia), are evidence that M. balcanica is better placed in the subgenus Marpissa. There is no doubt that M. balcanica is a member of Marpissa (Marpissa), and thus a new combination is proposed here. Distribution: The type locality only: the vicinity of Požega, eastern Croatia.Description: Female (the holotype): Carapace 3.43 long, 2.40 wide, 1.05 high at PLE. Ocular area 1.48 long, 1.83 wide anteriorly and 1.76 wide posteriorly; the 2nd eye row is about in midway between the 1st eye row and PLEs. Diameter of AME 0.50. Abdo-men 3.53 long, 1.83 wide. Cheliceral length 0.70. Clypeal height 0.10. Length of leg segments: I 1.73 Figs. 1-7: The copulatory organs and body of Marpissa (Marpissa) balcanica (Kratochvíl, 1932).  holotype – 1: epigyne, ventral view. – 2: spermathecae, dorsal view. – 3: ditto, ventral view. – 4: body, dorsal view. – 5: ditto, ventral view. – 6: sternum, ventral view. – 7: left chelicera, ventral view. Scale bars: 0.1 mm (1-3), 0.25 mm (6-7), 1 mm (4-5).1 234 5 6 7Notes on Roeweriella  11+ 1.15 + 1.40 + 1.00 + 0.45; II 1.45 + 0.93 + 1.05 + 0.88 + 0.45; III 1.40 + 0.90 + 0.95 + 0.98 + 0.50; IV 1.78 + 1.03 + 1.38 + 1.18 + 0.50. Leg formula: IV, I, II, III. Leg spination: I: Fm d 0-1-1-0, pr 0-1-2; Pt v 0-1-0; Tb v 2-2-2-2ap; Mt v 2-2ap. II: Fm d 0-1-1-0, pr 2ap; Tb v 2-2-2-2ap; Mt v 2-2ap. III: Fm d 0-0-1-1-2; Tb v 2ap; Mt pr and rt 1ap, v 2ap. IV: Fm d 1-1; Tb v 2ap; Mt v 2ap. Colouration: Carapace low, wide and robust, as in all Marpissa species, light yellow-brown, with dark brown eye ﬁeld and black around eyes (Fig. 4); the entire cara-pace covered with white elongated adpressing scales. Fovea present and situated in a distinctly depressed area of the carapace. Anterior-lateral side of the carapace, below the line ALE-PME, with poorly marked bunch of hairs. Clypeus very low, densely covered with long white hairs. Sternum yellow, tinged with grey. Maxillae, labium and chelicerae light yellow-brown. Chelicerae medium-sized: promargin with two small teeth, retromargin with one medium ﬁssidentate tooth (Fig. 7). Abdomen entirely yellow, but dorsum with a reticulate greyish pattern (Fig. 4). Book-lung covers and spinnerets yellow (Fig. 5). All legs and palps yellow, without colour pattern; palps covered with long white hairs. Legs I strongest, as in all other Marpissa species. Epigyne and spermathecae as shown in Figs 1-3.Male: unknown.Acknowledgements:I wish to express my warmest thanks to Dr. A. Kůrka (of the NMP) for giving access to the collections of his museum and to Dr. David Green (Manchester, UK) for preparing digital images of M. balcanica. Two anonymous referees are obliged for their critical comments helping to improve the manuscript.ReferencesEDWARDS G.B. (2005): A review of described Metacyr-ba, the status of Parkella, and notes on Platycryptus and Balmaceda, with a comparison of the genera (Araneae: Salticidae: Marpissinae). – Insecta Mundi 19: 193-226HARM M. (1981): Revision der mitteleuropäischen Arten der Gattung Marpissa C. L. Koch 1846 (Arachnida: Araneae: Salticidae). - Senckenbergiana biologica 61: 277-291KRATOCHVÍL J. (1932): Prispevek k poznání Araneid stredni Slavonie. – Sborník Vysoké Skoly Zemedelské v Brne, Brno C 23: 1-16LOGUNOV D.V. (1999): Redefinition of the genera Marpissa C.L. Koch, 1846 and Mendoza Peckham & Peckham, 1894 in the scope of the Holarctic fauna (Araneae, Salticidae). – Revue Arachnologique 13: 25-60LOGUNOV D.V. (2001): A redefinition of the genera Bianor Peckham & Peckham, 1885 and Harmochirus Simon, 1885, with the establishment of a new genus Sibianor gen. n. (Araneae: Salticidae). – Arthropoda Selecta 9(4) (2000): 221-286METZNER H. (1999): Die Springspinnen (Araneae, Salticidae) Griechenlands. – Andrias 14: 1–279RUIZ G.R.S. & A.D. BRESCOVIT (2007): On the ne-otropical genus Fuentes Peckham & Peckham, 1894 (Araneae, Salticidae). – Revista Ibérica de Arachno-logía 13: 143-146RŮŽIČKA V., A. KŮRKA, J. BUCHAR & M. ŘEZÁČ (2005): Czech Republic - the type material of spi-ders (Araneae). – Časopis Národního muzea, Řada přírodovědná (= Journal of the National Museum, Natural History Series), Praha 174: 13-64

A review of described Metacyrba, the status of Parkella, and notes on Platycryptus and Balmaceda, with a comparison of the genera (Araneae: Salticidae: Marpissinae).

Dimitri V. Logunov

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On<i>Roeweriella balcanica</i>, a mysterious species of<i>Marpissa</i>from the Balkan Peninsula (Araneae, Salticidae)

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On Roeweriella balcanica, a mysterious species of Marpissa from the Balkan Peninsula (Araneae, Salticidae)

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