Research Article |
Corresponding author: Guo Zheng ( zhg1027@yahoo.com.cn ) Corresponding author: Shuqiang Li ( lisq@ioz.ac.cn ) Academic editor: Yuri Marusik
© 2016 Chunxia Wang, Guo Zheng, Shuqiang Li.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation:
Wu Y, Wang C, Zheng G, Li S (2016) Three new species of the genus Leptonetela from Greece (Araneae, Leptonetidae). ZooKeys 569: 23-35. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.569.6921
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Three new species of the spider genus Leptonetela collected from caves in Greece are described: L. arvanitidisi sp. n. (male & female), L. paragamiani sp. n. (male & female) and L. penevi sp. n. (male & female). Detailed illustrations of the new species are provided. DNA barcodes were obtained for future use.
Haplogynae , taxonomy, DNA-barcoding, Balkan Peninsula, spider
The leptonetids are minute (1.0–3.0 mm) spiders that can be easily distinguished from other families by a distinctive 6-eyed pattern, with the posterior median eyes situated behind the posterior lateral eyes; however, in some cave species, the eyes are reduced to vestiges or may be completely absent (
A total of 23 genera and 276 species of the spider family Leptonetidae are known worldwide (
A total of 50 Leptonetela species are known from Europe and Asia. Two species of Protoleptoneta were transferred to Leptonetela by Brignoli in 1979: L. strinatii (Brignoli, 1976) from Greece and L. deltshevi (Brignoli, 1979) from Turkey. Deltshev described L. andreevi from Greece in 1985.
Other than L. deltshevi (Brignoli, 1979) from Turkey and L. pungitia Wang & Li, 2011 from Vietnam which have been collected in epigean habitats, all species are found in caves. Some of them have characters typical to true troglobites, such as lacking eyes and pigmentation and elongated legs.
In this paper, three Leptonetela species collected from caves in Greece are described as new to science. The total number of Leptonetela species from Europe reaches 9 species.
Specimens were examined with a LEICA M205C stereomicroscope. Images were captured with an Olympus C7070 wide zoom digital camera (7.1 megapixels) mounted on an Olympus SZX12 dissecting microscope. Epigynes and male palps were examined after dissection from the spiders’ bodies.
Terminology and abbreviations in this paper generally follow
DNA barcodes were obtained for future use. A partial fragment of the mitochondrial gene cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) was amplified and sequenced for Leptonetela arvanitidisi sp. n., L. paragamiani sp. n. and L. penevi sp. n. following the protocol in
The specimens studied in the current paper are deposited in the
Leptonetela:
Holotype ♂ (
The specific name is dedicated to Dr. Christos Arvanitidis of the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research in Crete, a leading taxonomist on Polychaeta; noun (name) in genitive case.
Leptonetela arvanitidisi sp. n. is similar to L. kanellisi but can be separated by the basal tibial spine with bifurcated tip (Fig.
Male (holotype). Total length 1.75 (Fig.
Female (one of the paratypes). Similar to male in color and general features but larger and with shorter legs. Total length 2.03 (Fig.
Known only from the type locality.
Holotype ♂ (
The specific name is dedicated to Mr. Kaloust Paragamian of the Hellenic Institute of Speleological Research in Crete, a leading speleologist in Greece; noun (name) in genitive case.
Leptonetela paragamiani is similar to L. kanellisi and L. arvanitidisi sp. n. but can be separated by the second tibial spine, which is longest in L. paragamiani sp. n., whereas in L. kanellisi and L. arvanitidisi sp. n. (Fig.
Male (holotype). Total length 1.63 (Fig.
Female (one of the paratypes). Similar to male in color and general features but larger and with longer legs. Total length 1.88 (Fig.
Known only from the type locality.
Holotype ♂ (
The specific name is dedicated to Prof. Dr. Lyubomir Penev, zoologist and founder of Pensoft Publishers; noun (name) in genitive case. Pensoft Publishers is a leading company in publishing taxonomic works.
Leptonetela penevi sp. n. is similar to L. kanellisi and L. paragamiani sp. n. but can be separated by having the basal tibial spine longer than others, and slender (Fig.
Male (holotype). Total length 1.83 (Fig.
Female (one of the paratypes). Similar to male in color and general features but larger and with shorter legs. Total length 2.03 (Fig.
The manuscript benefitted greatly from comments by Yuri M. Marusik (Magadan, Russia), Christo Deltshev (Sofia, Bulgaria) and Joel Ledford (San Francisco, USA). English of the final draft was kindly checked by Sarah Crews. This study was financially supported by the National Natural Sciences Foundation of China to Guo Zheng (NSFC-31172121, 31372224) and Shuqiang Li (NSFC-31272280, 31471960, 31530067). Part of the laboratory work was financially supported by Eco-Environmental Research Center Foundation of Shenyang Normal University (EERC-T-201502), Liaoning Excellent Talents in University (LJQ2012094).