Zoosyst. Evol. 100 (2) 2024, 447-455 | DOI 10.3897/zse.100.118686 Atte BERLIN Taxonomic notes on the genus Epeus Peckham & Peckham, 1886 (Araneae, Salticidae) from India Puthoor Pattammal Sudhin!, Ramankutty Jwala*, Souvik Sen!, Vishwanath D. Hegde? 1 Zoological Survey of India, Prani Vigyan Bhawan, M-Block, New Alipore, Kolkata 700053, West Bengal, India 2 Zoological Survey of India, Western Ghat Regional Centre, Jafferkhan Colony, Kozhikode, Kerala 673006, India 3 Department of Zoology, University of Calicut, Kerala 673635, India https://zoobank. org/EF DF 975 1-EBSB-4A03-8AC6-B3F 3EODE30B2 Corresponding author: Souvik Sen (SensouvikO7@gmail.com) Academic editor: Danilo Harms # Received 12 January 2024 # Accepted 19 March 2024 Published 17 April 2024 Abstract This paper provides the re-description of Epeus albus Proszynski, 1992, with the first description of its male. Additionally, Epeus chilapataensis (Biswas & Biswas, 1992) is synonymised with E£. albus and a new taxonomic combination is proposed: Epeus khan- dalaensis (Tikader, 1977) comb. nov. (ex Phidippus). Clarification on the record of Epeus daigini Patoleta, Gardzinska & Zabka, 2020 from India is provided. The current distribution of the genus in India is also mapped. Key Words Jumping spiders, India, re-description, synonym, taxonomy, type material Introduction Members of the jumping spider genus Epeus Peckham & Peckham, 1886, are medium-to-large-sized spiders recorded from subtropical Himalayan valleys, through India, Indochina, southern China, Philippines and Sunda Archipelago (Patoleta et al. 2020; World Spider Catalog 2024). The living specimens of Epeus are usually light green or yellow in colour with palpi and legs of various colours (Sebastian and Peter 2009; Proszynski and Dee- leman-Reinhold 2012; Mondial et al. 2020). Till now, the genus comprised 22 valid species, of which five have been reported from India: Epeus albus Proszynski, 1992; Epeus chilapataensis (Biswas & Biswas, 1992); Epeus daiqgini Patoleta, Gardzinska & Zabka, 2020; Epeus in- dicus Proszynski, 1992; and Epeus triangulopalpis Mal- amel, Nafin, Sudhikumar & Sebastian, 2019 (Caleb and Sankaran 2024; World Spider Catalog 2024). The origi- nal description of E. albus Proszynski, 1992 was based on the female specimen collected from Orissa (now Odisha). During field surveys conducted in the South- ern Western Ghats of India, we collected both male and female specimens of Epeus albus and this has led to the realisation that several taxa of this genus in India require re-evaluation. The paper thus aims to provide: (1) first description of the hitherto unknown male of E. a/bus and re-description of the female, based on the fresh mate- rials; (2) update the current taxonomic status of E. chi- lapataensis and Phidippus khandalaensis Tikader, 1977, (3) clarify the record of E. daigini Patoleta, Gardzinska & Zabka, 2020 from India; and (4) provide a distribution map of all known Indian Epeus spp. Material and methods The specimens were preserved in 70% ethanol and are deposited in the National Zoological Collections of the Zoological Survey of India (NZC-ZSI), Kolkata, India. The terminology used in the text and figures follows Pa- toleta et al. (2020) and leg spination follows the system used by Bosselaers and Jocqué (2000). Specimens were examined under a Leica M205A stereomicroscope and images were taken using a Flexacam C3 camera attached Copyright Sudhin, P.P. et al. 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. 448 to the stereomicroscope and processed using extended focus montage LAS X software. All measurements are given in millimetres (mm). Pedipalp and leg measure- ments are given as follows: total length [femur, patella, tibia, metatarsus (except for palp), tarsus]. The distribu- tion map was prepared using the online mapping software SimpleMappr (Shorthouse 2010). Abbreviations used in the text and figures are as fol- lows: ALE — anterior lateral eye, AME — anterior me- dian eye, CA — cymbial apophysis, CD — copulatory duct, CO — copulatory opening, do — dorsal, E — em- bolus, EP — epigynal pocket, FD — fertilisation duct, MP — mating plug, pl — prolateral, PLE — posterior lateral eye, PME — posterior median eye, plv — prolat- eral ventral, rl — retrolateral, RTA — retrolateral tibial apophysis, rlv — retrolateral ventral, v — ventral. Taxonomy Family Salticidae Blackwall, 1841 Genus Epeus Peckham & Peckham, 1886 Type species. Epeus tener (Simon, 1877) Diagnosis. Species of this genus can be distinguished from other members of the tribe Plexippini by the high and elevated carapace, male palp with flattened and elon- gated cymbium, postero-ventrally pointing retrolateral basal apophysis, tegulum with a tongue-like basal pro- cess, filiform embolus surrounding the semicircle of teg- ulum and extending to the distal end of cymbium and the epigyne with a shallow anterior depression and long cop- ulatory ducts forming several loops (Meng et al. 2015; Malamel et al. 2019). Epeus albus Prészynski, 1992 Figs 1A-H, 2A-E, 3A-F, 4A-F, 5A-F, 7 Epeus albus Proszynski, 1992: 171, figs 20-21, 25. Lyssomanes chilapataensis Biswas & Biswas, 1992: 386, figs 14-16. New synonymy. Epeus chilapataensis. Logunov, 2004 (transfer from Lyssomanes). Epeus daigini Sibi, Gigi & Sudhikumar, 2023: 80, figs 1A—-F, 2A—E. Misidentification. Type material. Holotype female of Epeus chilapataensis from India, West Bengal: Koch Bihar District (now cooch Behar), Chilapata Forest, 09.1.1985, NZC-ZSI- 5407/18-B. Biswas-coll. Examined. Other material examined. INbpIA: Karnataka: 19 & 1¢@ (NZC-ZSI-8372/18), Shimoga, Hulikal, 13°72'01.12"N, 75°02'54.13"E, 613 m alt., 05.x11.2022, PP. Sudhin coll; 1322 & 14 (NZC-ZSI-8373/18), Shimoga, Mookambika Wildlife Sanctuary, 13°42'18.9"N, zse.pensoft.net Sudhin, P.P. et al.: On the Epeus species from India 75°03'47.7"E, 605 m alt., 07.x11.2022, P.P. Sudhin coll.; Kerala: 14 (NZC-ZSI-8533/18), Wayanad, Kalpet- ta, Elstone Tea Estate, 11°36'11.49"N, 76°5'11.96"E, 778 m alt., 20.1x.2021, R. Jwala coll.; Meghalaya: 59 9 (NZC-ZSI-8849/18), Ri Bhoi, Umsning, 25°45'18.2"N, 91°51'47.2"E, 777 m alt., 16.11.2023, S. Sen & P.P. Sud- hin coll. Diagnosis. The male copulatory organ of Epeus albus Proszynski, 1992 is most similar to that of Epeus glorius Zabka, 1985 in having the similar shaped RTA and ser- rated cymbial apophysis, but it can be distinguished by the following combination of characters: RTA slender and anterodorsally directed (RTA relatively robust and apical- ly directed in EF. glorius); cymbial apophysis relatively short and posteroventrally directed (long and posteriorly directed in EF. glorius) (cf. Figs 2A, B, 3A, B with figs 15-16 in Meng et al. (2015)). The female of EF. albus is most similar to that of Epeus indicus Proszynski, 1992 and Epeus szirakii Patoleta, Gardzinska & Zabka, 2020 in having the similar epigynal morphology, but it can be distinguished by the following combination of characters: epigyne with large and wide atrium (narrower in E. in- dicus), copulatory openings more widely separated from each other, orientated more anteriorly with well-defined posterior margins (closely arranged, orientated face to face without well-defined posterior margins in E. indi- cus). (cf. Figs 2D, E, 3C—F, 4A—-F, 5C, D, with fig. 22 in Proszynski (1992) and figs 6E-F in Patoleta et al. (2020)). Justification of the synonymy of E. chilapataensis. Re-examination of the holotype of FE. chilapataensis shows that the body colour pattern and epigyne struc- ture are similar to those of Epeus albus: pale yellow to white-coloured body without any prominent markings and crescent shaped copulatory openings and the similar course of proximal spermathecal loop (cf. Figs 3E, 5A—C, E with figs 20-21, 25 in Proszynski (1992)). Based on these observations, we consider E. chilapataensis a junior synonym of E. albus. Proszynski (1992) described E. al- bus from Jajpur-Keonjahr District, Orissa and Biswas and Biswas (1992) described E. chilapataensis from Koch B1- har District (now Cooch Behar), West Bengal. Both the Species were described from the eastern part of the coun- try from neighbouring states in the same year, but in dif- ferent months. Proszynski described E. albus in October 1992 and Biswas & Biswas described EF. chilapataensis in November 1992. Here, we are giving preference to the name which was first described. Therefore, the second described species must be a junior synonym of the first. Description. Male (Figs 1A—C, G, 2A—C, 3A-B): Measurements: Body length 4.87. Carapace length 1.96, width 1.76. Abdomen length 2.85, width 1.33. Ocu- lar area length 1.30, width at AEs 1.55. Eye diameters and interdistances: AME 0.57, ALE 0.26, PME 0.07, PLE 0.26; AME-AME 0.03, ALE-ALE 1.21, AME- PME 0.59, PLE-PLE 1.13, PME-PME 1.21, PME-PLE 0.32. Clypeus height 0.08. Length of chelicera 0.80. Zoosyst. Evol. 100 (2) 2024, 447-455 449 Figure 1. Epeus albus Proszynski, 1992. A. Male, dorsal view; B. Same, ventral view; C. Same, lateral view; D. Female, dorsal view; E. Same, ventral view, F. Same, lateral view; G. Male, frontal view; H. Female, frontal view. Scale bars: 1 mm. zse.pensoft.net Sudhin, P.P. et al.: On the Epeus species from India Figure 2. Epeus albus Proszynski, 1992. A. Left male palp, ventral view; B. Same, retrolateral view; C. Same dorsal view; D. Female epigyne, ventral view; E. Vulva, dorsal view. Scale bars: 0.2 mm. Measurement of palp and legs: palp 2.19 [0.76, 0.31, O25 20287 |. lea le 72902|[2- 310 8622129. 12510093). I 6582312 078. ile le DReRO26 9]: Te Fe; | De 286 0:59: 1.70, 1.82, 0.79], IV 6.42 [1.86, 0.58, 1.58, 1.78, 0.62]. Leg formula 1324. Leg spination: femur I pl 3 rl 3 do 3, II-III pl 2 rl 2 do 3, IV pl 1 do 3; patella I-IV pl 1 rl 1; tibia I pl 2 plv 4 rlv 4, Hf pl 1 rl 2 plv 3 rlv 3, III pl 1 rl 2 plv 2 rlv 2, IV pl 2 rl 3; metatarsus I-II pl 2 rl 2 plv 2 rlv 21 pl Qerle2 plvaletive level IV ple2 113 ply. 2lv2 tarsi I-IV spineless. Carapace high and elevated with posteri- or slope, pale yellow, covered with colourless setae (Fig. 1A); margin of carapace with light brown lines; eye field bright yellow, covered with bright yellow setae (Fig. 1A); AMEs rims light brown, encircled by bright yellow setae (Fig. 1A, G). Clypeus low, light yellow-brown (Fig. 1G). zse.pensoft.net Chelicerae small, vertical, pale yellow, frontal side with long white setae (Fig. 1G); promargin with two teeth and retromargin with one tooth. Endites pale yellow, scop- ulate, with light brown margins and small anterolateral protuberance (Fig. 1B). Labium yellow, distally pale yel- low, covered with setae (Fig. 1B). Sternum sub-pentago- nal, whitish-yellow, with pale yellow margins (Fig. 1B). Abdomen nearly cylindrical, posteriorly narrowing, pale white, covered with golden yellow and colourless setae (Fig. 1A). Venter pale white, covered with colourless se- tae, medially and laterally with a pair of yellowish dotted lines (Fig. 1B). Spinnerets pale yellow, covered with light brown setae (Fig. 1A—C). Legs long and slender, covered with colourless and black setae (Fig. 1A). Legs I-III with pale yellow femora, patellae and tarsi; femora covered Zoosyst. Evol. 100 (2) 2024, 447-455 ecceeertina NAIR Hoe wis tho oS emer % C eee te. ert eeeres wt areata ae ea a a3 cant. ae we Tai ww 451 Figure 3. Epeus albus Proszynski, 1992. (A—D) and holotype female of Epeus chilapataensis (Biswas & Biswas, 1992) (E-F). A. Left male palp, ventral view; B. Same, retrolateral view; C, E. Female epigyne, ventral view; D, F. Vulva, dorsal view. Scale bars: 0.2 mm. with light brown longitudinal bands on their prolateral and retrolateral sides; tibiae and metatarsi light yellow- ish-brown; tibia III and metatarsus III lighter in colour. Legs IV light yellowish-brown, with pale yellow femur and tarsus. Palp pale yellow to light yellowish-brown (Fig. 2A—C); RTA short, stout, anterodorsally directed with truncated tip (Figs 2B, 3B); cymbium nearly trian- gular, covered with white and black setae (Fig. 2A); cym- bial apophysis long and slender, its outer margin serrated (Figs 2B, 3B); tegulum with much developed tongue-like flap (Figs 2A, 3A); embolus very thin and long, originat- ing almost at eight o’clock position and extending to the distal end of cymbium (Figs 2A and 3A). Female (Figs 1D—F, H, 2D, E, 3C—F, 4A—-F, 5A-F) (Description based on newly-collected material): Mea- surements: Body length 7.57. Carapace length 3.06, width 2.22. Abdomen length 4.30, width 1.97. Ocular area length 1.57, width at AEs 1.88. Eye diameters and interdistances: zse.pensoft.net 452 At | . - aS. i . w% 5 Sudhin, P.P. et al.: On the Epeus species from India Figure 4. Epeus albus Proszynski, 1992, copulatory organs of the freshly-collected females showing variations. A, C, E. Female epigynum, ventral view; B, D, F. Vulvae, dorsal view. Scale bars: 0.2 mm. AME 0.71, ALE 0.29, PME 0.07, PLE 0.29; AME-AME 0.03, ALE-ALE 1.34, AME-PME 0.63, PLE-PLE 1.34, PME-PME 1.44, PME-PLE 0.40. Clypeus height 0.16. Length of chelicera 0.93. Measurement of palp and legs: palp 2.46 [0.78, 0.34, 0.43, 0.91], leg I 7.67 [2.32, 0.92, DISA 3 SOS POE. 33229 a O01 95. A362 0°82 PAT 8.17 [2.65, 0.68, 2.03, 1.97, 0.84], IV 7.52 [2.18, 0.62, 1.99, 2.02, 0.71]. Leg formula 3142. Leg spination: femur I pl 3-1] 3-do 3,11 pl 2 rl 2°do 3, MI pl 2:do'3, 1V do-3; zse.pensoft.net patella ITI-IV pl 1 rl 1; tibia I-II plv 4 rlv 4, HI-IV pl 1 rl 3 plv 1 rlv 1; metatarsus I-II plv 2 rlv 2, III pl 2 rl 2 plv 2 rlv2v1,IV pl 2 rl 2 plv 2 rlv 2; tarsi I-IV spineless. In all details mostly as male, except for the following: elon- gate and robust than male (Fig. 1D); clypeus pale yellow, densely covered with white setae (Fig. 1H); endites distal tip without anterolateral protuberance (Fig. 1E); abdomen covered with colourless and white setae, venter without any prominent markings (Fig. 1D, E). Epigyne wider than Zoosyst. Evol. 100 (2) 2024, 447-455 HOLeotYPE—1g¢ F Nome $ Lyssomones chilabalaemvis i Sig eset raaes Bnwor k Biivies teeatily + ¢ aida pal Sonn, Dint Koch - — Bihar. , Werk Bengal. | Cols Bisan Binwas Dole: 9.4 1945. Beg: NO: 5407/12 —<— Figure 5. aie albus eran 1992 (the holotype of Epeus chilapataensis (Biswas & Biswas, 1992). A. Female, dorsal view; B. Same, ventral view; C. Female epigyne, ventral view; D. Vulva, dorsal view; E. Female, frontal view; F. Original label. Scale bars: 1 mm (A, B, E); 0.2 mm (C, D). long, with a pair of small epigynal pockets, atrium ovoid (Figs 2D, 3C); copulatory openings widely separated, crescent-like, with closely-arranged posterior margins (Figs 2D, 3C); copulatory ducts very long with several loops, finally entering the spermathecal reservoir poste- riorly (Figs 2E, 3D); fertilisation ducts long, orientated laterally, positioned at the anterior region of spermathecae (Figs 2E, 3D). Distribution. India: Karnataka (new locality record), Kerala (new locality record), Meghalaya (new locality re- cord), Odisha, West Bengal (Fig. 7). Variations. Body length: Male: 4.87—7.83 (n = 3). Fe- male: 4.89-9.58 (n= 19). Remarks. Mating plugs were found covering the copulatory openings of the holotype female of E. chi- lapataensis (Biswas & Biswas, 1992) and of several other females examined from Karnataka and Meghalaya (Figs 3E, F, 4A—F, 5C, D). The record of Epeus daiqini Patoleta, Gardzinska & Zabka, 2020 from India was based on the male and fe- male specimens collected from Pathanamthitta, Kerala (Sibi et al. 2023). However, illustrations of the male and female copulatory organs provided by Sibi et al. (2023) do not match those of the type specimens of E. daigini: the male palp with serrated cymbial apoph- ysis (absent in the holotype male of E. daiqini); rela- tively short and less coiled copulatory ducts (long and strongly coiled in the paratype female of E. daiqini) (cf. figs 3E—G and 4G-H in Patoleta et al. (2020) with figs 1D-F and 2D-E in Sibi et al. (2023)). Their geni- tal morphology is similar to those of freshly-collected male and female specimens of FE. albus (cf. Figs 2A—-E, 3A-D, 4A-F with figs 1D-—-F and 2D, E in Sibi et al. (2023)). Based on these observations, it is apparent that the species is misidentified by Sibi et al. (2023) and it belongs to E. albus. zse.pensoft.net 454 Epeus khandalaensis (Tikader, 1977), comb. nov. Figs 6A—D, 7 Phidippus khandalaensis Tikader, 1977: 98, figs 6-8. Type material. Holotype female of Phidippus khanda- laensis from India, Maharashtra: Poona District, Khan- dala Rest House, Khandala Ghat, 04.x11.1963, NZC-ZSI- 5391/18-B.K. Tikader-coll. Examined. Justification of the transfer. Tikader (1977) described this species, based on a female specimen collected from Poona, Maharashtra. The ZSI collection has a single glass Sudhin, P.P. et al.: On the Epeus species from India bottle for this species, containing a female specimen (la- belled as ‘holotype’) in good conditions with detached abdomen and broken legs. The genitalia of the female was dissected, but was not found inside the bottle and is per- haps lost. The general morphology shows that this species shares the features of Epeus Peckham & Peckham, 1886: carapace high and elevated, AME much larger than ALE and the latter slightly behind AME (Patoleta et al. 2020) and the abdomen dorsally with indistinct black markings and white spots (Fig. 6A—C). Based on these observa- tions, we are provisionally transferring it to Epeus. Distribution. India: Maharashtra (Fig. 7). Name Phidippus khoo | Family SALTICIDAE. Order ARAVEAE PooNns, “akerashtre , (ria/A Coll PR. i. i. TeKedupate 4. H/F ES B ay_-det. by& 4A.X. Kad Figure 6. Epeus khandalaensis (Tikader, 1977) comb. nov. A. Holotype female, dorsal view; B. Same, ventral view; C. Female, frontal view; D. Original label. Scale bars: 1 mm. Se es 65 70 © E. albus : ® E. triangulopalpis : A E. khandalaensis i iY © E. indicus Figure 7. Map showing the distributional records of Epeus species in India. zse.pensoft.net Zoosyst. Evol. 100 (2) 2024, 447-455 Acknowledgements The authors are grateful to Dr Dhriti Banerjee, Di- rector of the Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, for providing all the facilities for conducting this study. We are also thankful to the Chief Conservator of For- ests and Chief Wildlife Warden, Karnataka State For- est Departments, for the collecting permit. We extend our heartfelt thanks to Dr John T. D. Caleb, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, Chennai, for the insightful suggestions that greatly improved the manuscript. We are also grateful to Dr. P. M. Sure- shan, Emeritus Scientist, Zoological Survey of India, Western Ghat Regional Centre, Kozhikode, Kerala for his encouragements and support. Many thanks to Mr Chandan Bera, ZSI, Kolkata, for his curatorial assis- tance. Jwala R is grateful to the UGC for financial as- sistance in the form of a Junior Research Fellowship and the authorities of the University of Calicut for pro- viding facilities and encouragements. We extend our heartfelt thanks to the editor Dr Danilo Harms (Ger- many) and the reviewers, Dr Dmitri V. Logunov (U.K), Dr Wanda Wesolowska (Poland) and Dr Tamas Szitts (Hungary) for their constructive comments and sug- gestions on the manuscript. References Biswas B, Biswas K (1992) Araneae: Spiders. State Fauna Series 3. Fauna of West Bengal 3: 357-500. Bosselaers J, Jocqué J (2000) Studies in Corinnidae: Transfer of four genera and description of the female of Lessertina mutica Lawrence, 1942. Tropical Zoology 13(2): 305-325. https://doi.org/10.1080/039 46975 .2000.10531138 Caleb JTD, Sankaran PM (2024) Araneae of India. 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