02_Gnelitsa_01_22.indd UDC 595.44(477.7) A NEW URALOPHANTES FROM THE SOUTH UKRAINE (ARANEAE, LINYPHIIDAE, IPAEINAE) V. A. Gnelitsa Lysenko st., 12, ap. 45, Sumy, 40030 Ukraine E-mail: gnelitsav@gmail.com V. A. Gnelitsa (https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1833-4386) A New Uralophantes from the South Ukraine (Araneae, Linyphiidae, Ipaeinae).  Gnelitsa, V. A. — A Linyphiidae spiders Uralophantes ponticus sp. n. from Ukraine (Kherson, Sumy, Luhansk Regions) and Russia (Penza Region), diff ering from U. troitskensis Esyunin, 1992 from the Southern Urals by the male palp parts and female epigynum, is described. K e y w o r d s : Ukraine, spiders, Linyphiidae, Uralophantes, new species, description. Introduction Uralophantes troitskensis Esyunin, 1992 was described from the Troitsky Nature Reserve (South Urals, Russia). Later, Polchaninova (2012, 2015) reported on fi nding U. troitskensis Esyunin, 1992 from two localities in Rybalche village of Kherson Region and Krynichne village of Luhansk Region (Ukraine) located more than 2000 km WSW of its type locality. Recently, Uralophantes spiders I recollected in Kherson Region revealed good distinctions from U. troitskensis Esyunin, 1992. It clearly belonged to an undescribed new species described below, along with some material previously misidentifi ed as U. troitskensis. Zoodiversity, 56(1): 21–28, 2022 DOI 10.15407/zoo2022.01.021 22 V. A. Gnelitsa Material and methods Author collected specimens by the using a hand-held aspirator. Identifi cation was made with a binocular microscope MBS-10; drawings were made with a camera lucida. Abbreviations of the names of palp and epigynum structures follow Merrett (1963), Hormiga (2000), Millidge (1984), and Saaristo & Tanasevitch (1996). Palp parts: AA1 — fi rst anterior apophysis, AA2 — second anterior apophysis, AM1 — fi rst anterior membrane, AP — paracymbium apical part, EP — embolus proper, FG — Fickert’s gland, MM — median membrane, MP — paracymbium middle part, Pc — paracymbium, PP — paracymbium proximal part, R — radix, RL — radical lamella, St — subtegulum, T — tegulum. Epigynum: BE — median beam, DF — dorsal fl anks, FG — fertilization groove, PMP — posterior median plate, VF — ventral fl anks, VP — ventral plate. Another abbreviations: BH — basal hook of the fi rst anterior apophysis, BS — embolus basal sclerite, C — cymbium, d — dorsal, EC — embolus complex, Fe — femur, l — lateral, LL — embolus lateral lobe, MB — main branch of the fi rst anterior apophysis, Mt — metatarsus, p — prolateral, PA — embolus posterior appendix, r — retrolateral, RFA — appendix of radix frontal edge, SB — secondary branch of the fi rst anterior apophysis, Ti — tibia. Collections: SIZK — I. I. Schmalhausen Inctitute of Zoology, Kyiv. VGC — Valery Gnelitsa personal collection. Maps were made in Simple Mappr (http://www.simplemappr.net). All measurements are in millimetres. Results Uralophantes ponticus, sp. n. (figs 1, 2, 5, 6, 8–16, 21–23, 25, 29) M a t e r i a l .  Type. Holotype {: Ukraine, Kherson Region, Hola Pristan’ District, 46.4320° N, 32.0646° E, 6 km North-North-West of Ivaninka village, bank of the freshwater lake, in dead dry Carex near the water, 26.04.2009 (Gnelitsa) (SIZK). Paratypes. 2 }, idem. Non- type. Ukraine: Luhansk Region, Melovsky District, Krynychne village, Striltsivskyi Steppe section of the Luhansk Nature Reserve, 49.2834° N, 40.0000° E, { (Polchaninova) (VGC); Sumy Region, Krasnopilsky District, Hrunivka village, 50.9918° N, 35.1159° E, 2 {, 4 }, forb grass patch on motley grass meadow, in litter, 20.07.2021 Figs 1–4. U. ponticus sp. n. male palp lateral: 1 — Kherson Region; 2 — Penza Region; ventral: 3 — Kherson Region; 4 — Penza Region. Scale 0.1 mm. Figs 5, 6. U. troitskensis (aft er Esyunin, 1992): 5 — male palp lateral; 6 — embolic division ventral. Scale 0.1 mm. 1 2 3 4 6 5 23A new Uralophantes from the South Ukraine (Araneae, Linyphiidae, Ipaeinae) (Gnelitsa) (VGC). Russia: Penza Region, Kameshkyr District, Krasnaya Polyana village, Privolzhskaya Steppe Nature Reserve, 53.3389° N, 46.8653° E, 3 {, 1 } (Polchaninova) (VGC); Kolyshley District, Berezovka village, 52.7738° N, 44.5174° E (N. Polchaninova, pers. comm.). E t y m o l o g y . Th e species name is derived from its type locality on the shore of Black Sea (Greek Πόντος Εύξεινος). D i a g n o s i s . Th e new species is similar to U. troitskensis diff ering by the male palp parts and female epigynum as summarized in table 3. D e s c r i p t i o n. Male: carapace 0.84 long, 0.64 wide, yellow with no dark pat- tern dorsally. Posterior median eyes are separated 0.8 their diameter. Sternum 0.42 long and 0.42 wide extended between coxae IV, knobbly near the margin, yellow and brown-yellow to the border. Chelicera outer margin with two – three teeth, rare mar- gin with three small teeth close together; stridulating striae are distinctive visible later- ally. Legs spination: FeI — 1l; TiI — 2d:1p:1r; TiII — 2d:1p; TiIII — 2d;TiIV — 2d; MtI-IV — 1d; position of metatarsal trichobothrium: I — 0.17, II — 0.21, III — 0.20, Mt IV with no trichoboth- rium. Length of leg joints (table 1). T a b l e 1 . Uralophantes ponticus sp. n. male: length of leg joints Femur Patella Tibia Metatarsus Tarsus Total I 0.98 0.25 0.97 0.87 0.74 3.81 II 0.88 0.21 0.77 0.74 0.62 3.22 III 0.70 0.20 0.52 0.53 0.43 2.38 IV 0.92 0.21 0.83 0.78 0.59 3.33 Figs 7, 8. U. ponticus sp. n. embolic division from inside: 7 — ventral-apical; 8 — ventral. Scale 0.1 mm. Figs 9–12. U. troitskensis (aft er Esyunin, 1992) male palp: 9 — embolic division from inside; U. ponticus sp. n.: 10 — embolic division from the fi rst anterior apophysis (radix partially re- moved); 11 — embolus from the median membrane; 12 — em- bolus from the embolus proper. Scale 0.1 mm. 7 8 11 9 12 10 24 V. A. Gnelitsa Figs 13–15. U. ponticus sp. n. male palp: mesal: 13 — Kherson Region; 14 — Penza Region; 15 — apical. Scale 0.1 mm. Figs 16–23. Epigynum: U. ponticus sp. n.: 16 — ventral; 17 — caudal; 18 — dorsal; 19 — lateral; U. troitskensis (aft er Esyunin, 1992): 20 — ventral; 21 — caudal; 22 — dorsal; 23 — lateral. Scale 0.1 mm. Figs 24–28. U. ponticus sp. n.: 24 — vulva ventral; 25 — female abdomen dorsal; 26 — female abdo- men lateral (Kherson Region), epigynum lateral (Penza Region); U. troitskensis (aft er Esyunin, 1992): 28 — female abdomen lateral. Scale 0.1 mm. 15 1413 16 17 18 19 23 26 28 27 24 25 22 21 20 25A new Uralophantes from the South Ukraine (Araneae, Linyphiidae, Ipaeinae) Abdomen yellow with grey transverse separated strips. Palp as in fi gs 1–4, 7, 8, 10–15. Paracymbium (fi gs 1, 2) consists of three parts: proxi- mal (PP), middle (MP) and apical (AP). Th e proximal part (PP) is with almost parallel sides, its proximal moiety somewhat curved ahead bears few long spines. Th e middle part (MP) is widened dorso-ventrally with convex upper side and rounded lower edge, nar- rowed apical part (AP) curved upwards. Radix (R) is a large triangle sclerite with the fi rst angle directed backwards, the second angle tends forward toward cymbiun, the third one extends into radical lamella (RL) fi gs 3, 4, 7, 8, 13, 14. Th e frontal edge of radix bears a fi nger-shaped appendix (RFA) fi gs 3, 4, 13–15. Th e robust tooth is placed between appendix of the radical frontal edge (RFA) and the radical lamella (RL) fi gs 3, 4. Radical lamella (RL) consists of long narrow branch divided at the apex curved down gradu- ally and the short wide branch with a rounded end part oriented opposite the long one fi gs 1, 2. Forward of the radix the fi rst anterior apophysis (AA1) is located fi gs 3, 4, 7, 8, 10, 13–15. Th e apophysis on its wide and fl attened base is provided with a basal hook (BH) fi gs 3, 4, 13, 14. Distally AA1 splits into large main branch (MB) fi gs 3, 4, 6, 7, 14, 15 (former “MA” of Esyunin (1992)) and the small secondary branch (SB) fi gs 2, 5, 6, 8, 9, 12 (former “E” of Esyunin (1992)). Flattened fi rst, then main branch (MB) gradually becomes narrowed trough taped dis- tally. AA1 secondary (lower) piece (SB) is covered partially with moderate size sclerite — second anterior apophysis (AA2) fi gs 3, 4, 13–15. Membrane (AM1) is visible at the inner side of the AA1 base fi gs 7, 8, 10. T a b l e 2 . Uralophantes ponticus sp. n. female: length of leg joints Femur Patella Tibia Metatarsus Tarsus Total I 1.06 0.22 1.01 0.92 0.69 3.90 II 0.95 0.22 0.84 0.77 0.58 3.36 III 0.73 0.20 0.56 0.56 0.40 2.54 IV 1.02 0.21 0.87 0.80 0.56 3.46 T a b l e 3 . Main features of the species U. troitskensis U. ponticus sp. n. Male Paracymbium apical part, AP elongated, curved in half ring, directed to lower piece of paracymbium proxi- mal part, PP (fi g. 5) shortened, directed to upper piece of paracymbium proximal part, PP (fi gs 1, 2) Paracymbium proximal part, PP narrow and elongated (fi g. 5) broadened (fi gs 1, 2) First anterior apophysis, AA1 wide appendix at the base, BH with rounded end (fi g. 6) pointed hook like appendix at the base, BH (fi gs 3, 4, 13, 14) Radix, R appendix of the distal edge, RFA undeveloped (fi g. 6) slightly curved fi nger shape appendix of the distal edge, RFA directed to radix lamella, RL (fi gs 3, 4, 13, 14) Radix, R cut of the distal edge between the tooth and radical lamella is rounded (fi g. 9) cut of the distal edge between the tooth and radical lamella is narrow (fi gs 3, 4, 8) Radix, R rounded outgrowth near dostal edge downwards of AA2 (fi g. 6) no outgrowth at this part of radix (fi gs 3, 4) Embolus embolus (“T” — aft er Esyunin, 1992) with distinct tooth like appendage near the base of embolus proper, EP (fi g. 9) embolus with any tooth like appendage near the base of embolus proper, EP (fi gs 7, 8) Female Epigynum ventral plate long and narrow (fi g. 28) ventral plate short and robust (fi gs 26, 27) Femur/carapace length equation FeI is 1.40 carapace length FeI is 1.16 carapace length 26 V. A. Gnelitsa AA2 lateral outgrowth is situated at the side of BH fi gs 3, 4, 13, 14. Th e main part of AA2 covers the base of the embolus proper (EP) fi gs 13, 14. Bare noticeable narrow mem- brane (AM2) grows from the base of AA2 fi g. 15. Oval shape Fickert’s gland is visible between RFA and tooth of the radix (fi gs 3, 4) at the place of the radix from which median membrane (MM) originates fi gs 7, 8, 10, 11. Complex embolus consists of basal sclerite (BS), lateral lobe (LL), embolus proper (EP) and posterior appendix (PA) fi gs 11, 12. Widened basal sclerite (BS) partially prolates dis- tally fi gs 11, 12. Lateral lobe (LL) fl attened and rounded at the end fi gs 9–12 arises from the side of BS fi g. 12. Posterior appendix (PA) fi gs 7, 8, 10–12 resembles radical tailpiece (Hor- miga, 2000) goes opposite to claw shape elongated embolus proper (EP) fi gs 7, 8, 10–12. Female: total length 1.78. Carapace 0.83 long, 0.62 wide, pale brown-yellow with slight- ly darker margin. Posterior median eyes bordered with black are separated by their diam- eter. Sternum 0.48 long and 0.43 wide, yellow-gray gradually darkened to the border. Che- licera outer margin with three teeth: two large and a small one, rear margin with four teeth diminished distally, stridulating striae as in male. Legs spination: FeI — 1l, TiI — 2d:1p:1r, TiII — 2d:1p, TiIII — 2d, TiIV — 2d, MtI-IV — 1d; position of metatarsal trichobothrium: I — 0.18, II — 0.20, III — 0.21, no trichobothrium on MtIV. Length of leg joints (table 2). Abdomen yellow with the pattern of gray separate transverse stripes merged at the sides of abdomen fi g. 25. Epigynum as in fi gs 16–19, 26, 27; vulva as in fi g. 24. Median beam (BE aft er Saaristo, 2007) of the epigynum is reduced so the fertilization grooves (FG) start close to the caudal edge of the ventral plate (VP) fi g. 24. Ventral plate (VP) is short and robust fi gs 26, 27. Elongated posterior median plate (PMP) is straight fi gs 19, 26, 27. Th e dorsal (DF) and ventral (VF) fl anks are noticeable fi gs 16, 18, 19, 24. B i o l o g y . Th e species prefer meadows especially near the freshwater lakes and res- ervoirs (author’s data), yet sporadically can be caught in grass of forb steppe and in patch forests with birch (Polchaninova, Prokopenko, 2013, 2017). D i s t r i b u t i o n . Th e species is known from the Steppe and Wood-and-Steppe zones of the Eastern European plain fi g. 29. Fig. 29. Distribution data: U. ponticus sp. n. — solid triangle; U. troitskensis Esyunin, 1992 — solid circle (data confi rmed); open circle (data need to be confi rmed). 27A new Uralophantes from the South Ukraine (Araneae, Linyphiidae, Ipaeinae) C o m m e n t s : U. troitskensis Esyunin, 1992 from Chornomorsky Biosphere Reserve: Ukraine: Kherson Region, Hola Pristan District, 5 km North wards Ivanivka village (Pol- chaninova, 2012) referes to U. ponticus sp. n. U. troitskensis Esyunin, 1992 (fi gs 5, 6, 9, 20–23, 28, 29) D i s t r i b u t i o n . Russia: type locality: Cheliabinsk Region, Troitsk District, 10 km South of Berlin settlement, Troitskiy Wood-and-Steppe sanctuary, 53.9381° N, 61.2265° E (Esyunin, 1992); Orenburg Region, Sol-Iletsk District, Chybynda cavin, 50.9334° N, 54.8499° E (Esyunin, Tuneva & Farzalieva, 2007); Orsk (S. Esyunin, pers. comm.); Rostov Region, Ust’-Donetsk District, 12 km to the East of Veshenskaya settlement, Razdorskaya settlement vicinity, Atamanskaya gully, 47.5489° N, 40.6537° E (Ponomarev et al., 2017); Lebyazhinsky Khutor vicinity, 49.6040° N, 41.9143° E (Ponomarev et al., 2017) fi g. 29. B i o l o g y . Th e specimens were captured in litter of dry open places (Esyunin, 1992; Ponomarev et al., 2017), on the grass in patch forest with birch (Azheganova, 1951). C o m m e n t s : Data on U. troitskensis Esyunin, 1992 in both Cheliabinsk and Orenburg Regions were confi rmed by Sergey Esyunin. For the rest points in Russia, the correctness of identifi cation of U. troitskensis Esyunin, 1992 need corroboration. D i s c u s s i o n . Drawings of U. troitskensis male palp, although being somewhat schematic, nonetheless are accurate enough for comparison of two Uralophantes species. Judging from the fi gures certain palp parts of U. troitskensis diff er in structure from those of U. ponticus sp. n. or entirely absent of all examined specimens of the new species. Beside that the palps of U. ponticus sp. n. from remote places (Sumy, Kherson, and Penza Regions) are quite conservative in their structure. Th us I consider U. ponticus sp. n. to diff er considerably from U. troitskensis not representing a case of intraspecifi c variability of the last one. I thank Nina Polchaninova (Kharkiv, Ukraine), who kindly provided specimens from Luhansk Region (Ukraine) and Penza Region (Russia), and Sergey Esyunin (Perm, Russia) for unpublished data on U. troitskensis Esyunin, 1992 distribution. References Azheganova, N. S. 1951. То the spider fauna of the Troitsky Forest-Steppe Reserve. Izvestija Yestestvenno- -Nauchnogo Instituta pri Molotovskom Gosudarstvennom Universitete, 13 (2–3), 137–156. Esyunin, S. L. 1992. Remarks on the Ural spider (Arachnida, Aranei) fauna. 2. A new genus and a new species of the family Linyphiidae. Zoologicheskij Zhurnal, 71 (12), 136–139. Esyunin, S. L., Tuneva T. K., Farzalieva G. S. 2007. Remarks on the Ural spider fauna (Arach- nida, Aranei), 12. Spiders of the steppe zone of Orenburg Region. Arthropoda Selecta, 16, 43–63. Hormiga, G. 2000. Higher Level Phylogenetics of Erigonine Spiders (Araneae, Linyphiidae, Erigoninae). Smith- sonian Contributions to Zoology, 1–160. Merrett, P. 1963. 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V., Prokopenko, E. V., Shmatko, V. Yu. 2017. New and interesting records of spiders (Arach- 28 V. A. Gnelitsa nida: Aranei) from the southeastern part of the Russian Plain. Proceedings of the Russian Entomological Society, 88 (1), 103–117. Saaristo, M. I. 2007. A new subfamily of linyphiid spiders based on a new genus created for the key- serlingi-group of the genus Lepthyphantes (Aranei: Linyphiidae). Arthropoda Selecta, 16, 33–42. Saaristo, M. I., Tanasevitch, A. V. 1996. Redelimitation of the subfamily Micronetinae Hull, 1920 and the genus Lepthyphantes Menge, 1866 with descriptions of some new genera (Aranei, Linyphiidae). Berichte des naturwissenschaft lich-medizinischen Vereins in Innsbruck, 83, 163–186. Received 13 September 2021 Accepted