In addition to the genus diagnosis, the following features characterize the species:MALEseveral samples of Euophrys.Description. Male. Cephalothorax uniformly black, in long preserved specimens dark brown, no pale areas behind eyes III, neither vertical white lines on thoracic slope nor marginal streak. Abdomen black when alive, changes post-mortem to dark brown with three to five pairs of small irregular light spots, narrowly spaced. Frontal aspect: face black to brown; single row of sparse white setae hanging down from the ventral edge of clypeus, slightly diagonally - these may be inconspicuous on preserved specimens, colourless or whitish; eyes I surrounded with remnants of very inconspicuous colourless setae. Pedipalps whitish yellow with long, sparse, thin white setae, contrasting with dark face and legs I-II. Legs: I and II uniformly dark (except light tarsi and femora ventrally reddish, in preserved specimens light yellow); ventral mane of dark setae on tibia, patella and femur I; legs III-IV lighter. Striking contrast between light tarsi I-IV and very dark metatarsi, tibiae and patellae I-II, slightly less dark III-IV. Palpal organ: cymbium and bulbus broader than in Eu. gambosa, coil of embolus about two times larger, located more laterally; tibial apophysis long and thin; three median dark bent bristles on ventral surface of tibia, touching the edge of the narrow posterior part of bulbus, less conspicuous than in Eu. gambosa. Ventral aspect: sternum brown with darker rim; coxae I brown, II-IV paler; abdomen dark with thin whitish line around edge of the lateral surfaces. Measurements (mm). Male. Length of cephalothorax 2.09; length of abdomen 1.60. © PRÓSZYŃSKI 2003 Embolus: Shape: circular curved. bent counterclockwise. Distribution: Geographical Distribution: Middle East. FEMALECephalothorax dorsally brown with inconspicuous light hairs, not concentrated into white spots; lighter pigmented median brown spots immediately behind eye field and on the posterior slope of thorax; sides yellow to dark yellow, crossed by three vertical dark grey lines; ventral rim dark grey, broader than in Eu. gambosa; anterior slope of eye field gently rounded, highest point near eyes III and from there prominent flat surface extends beyond eye field about half the length of thorax, posterior slope steep. Abdomen: median longitudinal streak of thin dark transverse lines with weak traces of original triangular components; separated from similarly coloured margins and sides by an irregular white streak on each side, in many parts crossed by thin dark lines.Frontal aspect: area surrounding eyes AME dark pigmented, without dense subocular line of white setae; clypeus yellowish grey, almost bald, less contrasting with dark eye field than in Eu. gambosa; narrow white rectangular stripe on lower clypeus, directly beneath AME, expanding laterally, wedge-like under ALE, leaving edge of clypeus black; single line of thicker sparse whitish setae along ventral edge of clypeus beneath AME, part of these setae overhang cheliceral bases but not forming a triangle, their tips end along a straight line; rims of eyes black with distinct thin colourless, whitish tipped setae, longer and set more diagonally than in Eu. gambosa, which gives them a different appearance. Height of clypeus under AME reduced to about 0.3 of ALE diameter. Chelicerae yellow, slightly darkened or brown, with median and terminal margins whitish yellow. Legs: yellowish fawn, femora lighter. Ventral aspect: sternum yellow with a thin dark grey margin; coxae yellow; abdomen whitish, posteriorly two grey areas broadly separated. Epigynum: differs by location and direction of the thin sclerotised ridge, reaching the small sclerotized plate in the middle of the white membranous "window" transversely from outside. In Eu. gambosa that ridge arrives directly from the posterior edge of the "window", gently curving; in the uncertain species from Jerusalem the ridge also arises from the posterior edge, bends first medially but changes direction at mid-length of epigynum to a lateral direction and reaches the small, central sclerotized plate transversely from the middle. These ridges seems to me the best diagnostic characters, however in related Siberian species were interpreted as just individual variation (Logunov, personal communication), they are also indistinguishable on less sclerotized epigyna. Measurements (mm). Length of cephalothorax 2.13; length of abdomen 1.15. © PRÓSZYŃSKI 2003 Distribution: Geographical Distribution: Middle East. COMMENTSDiagnosis. Male entirely black when alive, with strikingly white pedipalps and single thin line of white setae along edge of clypeus; indistinct abdominal pattern of three to five pairs of lighter spots appears post-mortem.Remarks. Matching of sexes tentative, based on occurrence of male and female on the same wall and at base of wall at the Givat Ram University Campus, and mutual occurrence in several samples of Euophrys. Seasonal appearance of adult specimens. Males - III, V, VI; females: - III, IV, VI. © PRÓSZYŃSKI 2003 |