Mesiotelus cf. scopensis Drensky, 1935

Zarikian, Noushig A., Propistsova, Evgenia A. & Marusik, Yuri M., 2021, On spider families (Arachnida: Araneae) new to Armenia, Israel Journal of Entomology (Oxford, England) 51 (1), pp. 103-117 : 109

Mesiotelus cf. scopensis Drensky, 1935

( Fig. 5)

Material examined: Vayot Dzor Province: 1♀, Gnishik River canyon, road to Noravank Monastery , 39°41'14"N 45°13'21"E, 1400 m, 10.v.2021 . Kotayk Province: 2♀, env. of Solak , 40°28'24"N 44°42'57"E, 14.v.2021 ; 1♀, Vokhchabert , 40°09'56"N 44°38'59"E, 15.v.2021 ; 9♀, env. of Geghadir , 2 canyons nearby, 40°09'N 44°38'E, 15.v.2021 .

Comments: The absence of males in our collected material does not allow us to identify this species with certainty. The epigyne of the Armenian specimens ( Fig. 5D, E) is most similar to those illustrated for M. scopensis , but still differ in having straight and anteriorly diverging margins of the fovea (vs. converging and concave). The epigyne of our specimens is also similar to those of M. lubricus (Simon, 1880) known from Eastern China but differs in the straight epigynal margins (vs. rounded) and also in the presence of numerous small spines on tarsus I, lacking in M. lubricus ( Fu et al. 2009: fig. 7). We have provided figures for habitus and leg I to illustrate the characteristic features of this species, representing a genus previously not reported in the Caucasus. Mesiotelus scopensis is known from the Balkans, westernmost Anatolia ( Elverici et al. 2013; Nentwig et al. 2021). Record from Iran may refer to the same species as Armenian specimens.