Laminion birenifer Sankaran & Caleb & Sebastian 2020, gen. et comb. nov.

Laminion birenifer (Gravely, 1921) gen. et comb. nov.

Figs 1–5, 9

Storena birenifer Gravely, 1921: 408, fig. 2a–c.

Storena tikaderi Patel & Reddy, 1989: 223, fig. 2a–h. syn. nov.

Type material

Syntypes of S. birenifer

INDIA • ♂♀; Odisha (formerly Orissa), Ganjam, Chilika Lake (= Chilka Lake), Barkuda Island (formerly part of Madras Presidency); 19°33′12.7″ N, 85°08′47.2″ E; 13 m a.s.l.; 15–22 Jul. 1916; F.H. Gravely leg.; NZC-ZSI, Kolkata (no register number specified).

Cotype of S. birenifer

INDIA • ♂; same collection data as for syntypes; NZC-ZSI, Kolkata (no register number specified).

Holotype of S. tikaderi (not examined)

INDIA • ♀; Andhra Pradesh, Visakhapatnam, Araku Valley; 18°19′38.45″ N, 82°52′39.08″ E; 919 m a.s.l.; 18 Oct. 1986; T.S. Reddy leg.; NZC-ZSI, Kolkata (no register number specified). (The original illustrations of habitus and epigynum are diagnostic and were used for comparison.)

Paratypes of S. tikaderi (not examined)

INDIA • 6 ♀♀; same collection data as for holotype; NZC-ZSI, Kolkata (no register number specified).

Allotype of S. tikaderi (not examined)

INDIA • ♂; same collection data as for holotype; NZC-ZSI, Kolkata (no register number specified).

Supplementary description

Male (syntype (2914/H2); Figs 1A, C–D, 2A, C, E)

Colour in alcohol: carapace, eye region, clypeus, chilum, chelicerae, fangs, endites, labium, sternum dark reddish-brown; leg and pedipalp segments yellowish-brown; opisthosoma black; dorsum with paired anterior reniform, paired medio-lateral and a posterior transversely oriented diamond-shaped pale blotches, laterally with obliquely oriented posterior pale stripes, venter with paired broad lateral and a narrow median pale blotches. Chelicerae without teeth or denticles. Chilum unipartite, inverted triangular. Sternum posteriorly bluntly pointed, with prominent coxal and intercoxal extensions (Fig. 2C). Body length 6.65. Carapace length 3.54, width 2.75. Opisthosoma length 3.11, width 2.21. Eye diameters: ALE 0.14. AME 0.16. PLE 0.15. PME 0.12. Eye interdistances: ALE–AME 0.18. ALE– PLE 0.06. AME–AME 0.08. AME–PME 0.13. PME–PLE 0.36. PME–PME 0.12. Chelicerae length 1.00. Clypeus height at ALEs 0.71, at AMEs 0.88. Measurements of pedipalp and legs. Pedipalp 3.37 [1.22, 0.34, 0.31, 1.50], I 9.17 [2.46, 1.06, 1.92, 2.06, 1.67], II 7.82 [2.22, 1.05, 1.66, 1.66, 1.23], III 8.38 [2.14, 1.07, 1.54, 2.21, 1.42], IV 11.30 [2.81, 1.09, 2.34, 3.19, 1.87]. Leg formula: 4132. Pedipalp as in Figs 3 A–C, 4A–I, 5A–D.

Measurements of cotype male: body length 6.56. Carapace length 3.38, width 2.62. Opisthosoma length 3.18, width 2.34.

Female (syntype (2914/H2); Figs 1B, E–F, 2B, D, F)

Like male except the following: sternum with less developed intercoxal extensions (Fig. 2D). Body length 6.75. Carapace length 3.25, width 2.22. Opisthosoma length 3.50, width 2.56. Eye diameters: ALE 0.13. AME 0.15. PLE 0.13. PME 0.11. Eye interdistances: ALE–AME 0.25. ALE–PLE 0.06. AME–AME 0.07. AME–PME 0.10. PME–PLE 0.38. PME–PME 0.11. Chelicerae length 1.05. Clypeus height at ALEs 0.77, at AMEs 0.98. Measurements of palp and legs. Palp 2.64 [0.99, 0.40, 0.46, 0.79], I 6.64 [1.92, 0.86, 1.39, 1.22, 1.25], II 5.73 [1.60, 0.86, 1.22, 1.18, 0.87], III 6.03 [1.63, 0.67, 1.16, 1.64, 0.93], IV (right) 8.27 [2.03, 0.88, 1.79, 2.13, 1.44]. Leg formula: 4132. Epigynum as in Fig. 3D.

Justification of the synonymy

The species S. tikaderi was described on the basis of male and female specimens collected in Andhra Pradesh (Patel & Reddy 1989). Although we did not examine the types of this species, the habitus and the female genitalia illustrated for this species show similarities with that of L. birenifer gen. et comb. nov., including paired, reniform markings on anterior opisthosoma and the shape of median and lateral plates of epigynum (compare Figs 1B, 3D with Patel & Reddy 1989: fig. 2a, c). Moreover, the type localities of both species are only about 320 km apart along the eastern Coast, which reflects a wide distributional range of L. birenifer gen. et comb. nov. Based on these observations, we propose to consider S. tikaderi as a junior synonym of L. birenifer gen. et comb. nov.

Remarks

The ZSI collection has two glass tubes for S. birenifer. First tube labeled as “ Types ” (2914/H2) contains one male and one female specimens in good condition, with intact genitalia. Second tube labeled as “cotype” (2915/H2) contains one male specimen in good condition. We were unable to trace out the types of S. tikaderi in the arachnid collection of ZSI, even though the authors mentioned that the types would be deposited here (Patel & Reddy 1989).