﻿A new species related to Pardosaatrata (Araneae, Lycosidae) from Armenia makes the distribution range of the atrata group disjunctive

﻿Abstract Species of wolf spiders considered in the Pardosaatrata group are surveyed, and comparative figures of all species included in the group are presented for the first time. A new species, P.armeniacasp. nov., is described from the shore of Lake Sevan (Armenia) based on both sexes. Pardosanarymica Savelyeva, 1972 from East Kazakhstan Oblast’ is synonymized with the trans-Palaearctic P.atrata (Thorell, 1873). It was found that the record of P.atrata (sub P.lapponica) by Schenkel from British Columbia and reflected in the World Spider Catalog in fact refers to P.concinna (Thorell, 1877), a member of the P.lapponica group. The distribution of three species consideredin the atrata group are mapped. The discovery of P.armeniacasp. nov. has led to a re-evaluation of the distribution range, previously thought to be continuous, now showing a disjunctive pattern.


Introduction
The Pardosa atrata species-group is one of the smallest ones in the most specious genus of Lycosidae.Currently, three species are considered in this group (Dondale and Redner 1987) vs. 528 in the whole genus (WSC 2023).This taxon was first recognized by Zyuzin (1979).He considered it as a subgroup of the lapponica group, although he noted that P. atrata is the most deviating species: "other species are mountainous while P. atrata is sphagnum dweller" (Zyuzin 1979), and in his work on the Palaearctic Pardosa, Zyuzin placed two species in the atrata subgroup: P. atrata Thorell, 1873and P. narymica Savelyeva, 1972. Dondale and Redner (1987), in their revision of the Nearctic Pardosa, added an additional species in this group, P. fuscula (Thorell, 1875).Pardosa atrata and P. fuscula have wide ranges in the Palaearctic and in the Nearctic, respectively (WSC 2023), while P. narymica is known only from the type locality in northeastern Kazakhstan (Mikhailov 2021).These three species have never been treated in the same work and have never been compared side by side.It is worth mentioning that the embolic division has never been illustrated for P. atrata and P. narymica.
I collected P. atrata in many localities from Finland to Chukotka Peninsula and south to Mongolia, and P. fuscula in several localities in the Yukon ZooKeys 1180: 225-235 (2023), DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.1180.111069Yuri M. Marusik: A new species related to Pardosa atrata Territory and Washington State.All specimens were caught/collected on bogs, especially with Sphagnum, or in wet places near water bodies.While collecting spiders near Lake Sevan (Armenia) in a small boggy place, I caught two specimens of Pardosa similar in general appearance and habitat preference to P. atrata.Study of these specimens revealed that they belong to a new species.Lake Sevan is located far from the known range of the atrata groupover 1700 km by aerial distance and about 15° south of the nearest locality in the Europe (Fig. 6).The goal of this paper is to describe a new species, to compare it with other species of the atrata group, and to evaluate the distribution of Pardosa atrata.

Material and methods
Specimens were photographed using a Canon EOS 7D camera attached to an Olympus SZX16 stereomicroscope, and a JEOL JSM-5200 scanning electron microscope at the Zoological Museum of the University of Turku.Digital images were stacked using CombineZP and edited using CorelDraw graphic design software.Figures of the species were made at different times, resulting in variations in their styles.Lengths of leg segments were measured on the dorsal side.All measurements are given in mm.The distribution map is based on the literature and personal data.Not all localities in Fennoscandia and the Nearctic are shown.The type material will be deposited in the Zoological Museum of Moscow State University (ZMMU).

IBPN
Institute for Biological Problems of the North, Magadan, Russia; ZMUT Zoological Museum, University of Turku, Finland.
Etymology.The species name is derived from the terra typica.
Diagnosis.The male of the new species differs from those of other species of the atrata-group in having longer anterior arm of the tegular apophysis (cf.Fig. 3E, F, G), relatively longer and more abrupt terminal apophysis directed antero retrolaterally (vs directed almost anteriorly) and different shape of the conductor (cf.Figs 2C, D, 3A, B).The female of P. armeniaca sp.nov. is very similar to that of P. atrata but differs in having relatively short, straight, and almost parallel receptacles (vs longer, converging, and roundly bent; cf.Figs 4F, I, 5B, C).

A B C D
Palp as in Figs 1C, D, 2, 3A, B, E; dark brown with light retrolateral stripe on femur; femur 2.7 times longer than wide; patella 1.3 times longer than wide, tibia almost as wide as long; cymbium as long as femur (in lateral view), tip with 1 claw; bulb 1.3 times longer than wide, tegular apophysis (Tg) large, with long anterior arm, ca. as long as palea; terminal apophysis (Ta) claw-like (in lateral view) and stump-like in anterior view; conductor (Co) massive with rounded notch on tip; embolus (Em) straight in ventral view, roundly bent in anterior; tip not modified.

Pardosa atrata
Note.In the entry for P. atrata, WSC (2023) refers to Schenkel's (1951: 25 [♀]) record of P. lapponica (Thorell, 1872) from Banff National Park (Alberta, Canada) as belonging to P. atrata.Schenkel (1951) compared his specimens (females) with those from the eastern Alps (Tyrol).In fact, P. lapponica is absent in the Alps, but there exists the closely related species, P. cincta (Kulczyński, 1887), which was earlier considered as a junior synonym of P. lapponica.On the other hand, P. lapponica in the Nearctic is restricted to the north (north of 58°N; Dondale and Redner 1986), and P. concinna (Thorell, 1877), the only similar species with an almost identical epigyne, is known in southern Canada and even reaches the highlands in New Mexico (Dondale and Redner 1986).Therefore, Schenkel's (1951) record of P. lapponica most likely refers to P. concinna and not to P. atrata, which is unknown from the Nearctic or the European Alps.

A B C D E F G
Diagnosis.This species differs from other atrata-group species in having the shortest tegular apophysis (cf.Fig. 3E-G) and receptacles of intermediate length (Fig. 5A-I).The epigyne of P. atrata differs from that of P. armenica sp.nov. in having the receptacles roundly bent (vs straight), and P. atrata can be distinguished from the Nearctic P. fuscula by the relatively shorter receptacles (cf.Fig. 5F and I), as well as by the base of septum, which has well-developed, rounded margins (Bm) (vs stem gradually turns to the base).
Comments.Two names narymica and P. atrata are synonymised here based on the similarity of the epigynes.Pardosa narymica was described based on the holotype female and male paratype from East Kazakhstan Oblast.The types of this species were lost (destroyed) during shipment (Ovtsharenko pers.comm.).Judging from the original figures, the male was mismatched with the female;  the male it has tegular apophysis like in P. lapponica (Thorell, 1872) and was an undescribed, related species occurring in the region (personal data).In addition, P. atrata is known in the adjacent Altai (Azarkina and Trilikauskas 2013).
On the other hand, P. camtschadalica synonymized by Kulczyński (1926) without comparison with P. atrata may be a valid species.Type locality.The types are from Sweden, Härjedalen Province (ca 62.26°N, 13.5°E, several syntypes) and one female is from Finnish Lapland (ca 68.448°N, 22.484°E) (Thorell 1873).
Comments.Although P. fuscula has been treated in eight taxonomic papers, proper figures showing details of the copulatory organs, including the embolic division, were given only by Dondale andRedner (1987, 1990).It is worth mentioning that Banks (1910) considered P. fuscula to be a junior synonym of P. modica (Blackwall, 1846).
Diagnosis.The male of this species differs from those of the other atratagroup species in having a conical terminal apophysis (Ta) (vs tip of terminal apophysis rounded; cf.Fig. 3E-G).The female of P. fuscula can be distinguished by the lack of round lateral extensions of the septal base (Bm) (vs present) and also in having relatively longer receptacles (cf.Fig. 5 C, F, I).

Figure 1 .
Figure 1.Pardosa armeniaca sp.nov.A paratype female B-D holotype male A, B habitus, dorsal C whole palp, retrolateral D terminal part of palp, ventral.Scale bars: 0.2 mm, if not otherwise indicated.

Figure 6 .
Figure 6.Distribution map with records of Pardosa armeniaca sp.nov.(red square), P. atrata (blue dot), P. fuscula (grey diamond), the type locality of P. narymica (blue triangle), doubtful records of P. atrata (question mark), and Chinese records of P. atrata that may belong to other species (pink dots).