Dysdera verkana sp. nov.

Figs 21A-C, 22A-D

Type material.

Holotype ♂ (ZMUT), Iran: Golestan Province: Azadshahr County, Khosh Yeylaq, 36°49'N, 55°20'E, 15.06.2016 (D. Kasatkin).

Etymology.

The specific epithet is a noun in apposition, referring to an Old Persian word for the Gorgan region, meaning "land of wolves".

Diagnosis.

The male of the new species is most similar to that of D. sagartia sp. nov., but differs by the more rounded median crest, the posterior apophysis not bent on right angle (cf. Fig. 22A and Fig. 19A), and the relatively longer psembolus (i.e., length of psembolus/length of tegulum = 1.66 in D. verkana sp. nov., vs. 1.44 in D. sagartia sp. nov.).

Description.

Male. Habitus as in Fig. 21A-C. Total length 10.8. Carapace 5.65 long, 4.26 wide. Eye diameters: AME 0.24, PME 0.23, PLE 0.21. Carapace, sternum, chelicerae, labium, and maxillae reddish brown. Legs orange. Abdomen cream-coloured, without any pattern. Spinnerets uniformly dark yellowish. Measurements of legs: I: 13.04 (3.90, 2.23, 3.10, 3.06, 0.75), II: 11.76 (3.39, 1.98, 2.91, 2.71, 0.77), III: 8.56 (2.64, 1.26, 1.69, 2.33, 0.64), IV: 11.46 (3.32, 1.76, 2.48, 3.20, 0.70). Spination: I: Fe: 2pl. II: Fe: 1pl. III: Fe: 1d, 2pl; Ti: 4pl, 2rl, 5v; Mt: 3pl, 2rl, 6v. IV: Fe: 6d, 1pl; Ti: 4pl, 4rl, 5v; Mt: 4pl, 2rl, 6v.

Palp as in Fig. 22A-D; bulb ca. 2.2 × longer than wide; tegulum bell-shaped, almost as long as wide; psembolus 1.66 × longer than tegulum; median crest rounded, ca. 2.3 × shorter than length of psembolus, ca. 2.7 × wider than high; posterior apophysis broad; incision between tegulum and psembolus present; retrolateral crest roundly bent, forming right angle.

Female. Unknown.

Distribution.

Known only from the type locality in Golestan Province, northern Iran (Fig. 35).

Dysdera crocata species group

Diagnosis. This group can be diagnosed by a combination of the following characters: the chelicerae straight or anteriorly convergent and longer than half of the length of the carapace, carapace broad and flat, and bulb with small or no lateral projection (Deeleman-Reinhold and Deeleman 1988).