Sarascelis Simon, 1887

Wood, Hannah M., Kulkarni, Siddharth, Ramírez, Martín J. & Scharff, Nikolaj, 2024, Phylogeny and biogeography support ancient vicariance and subsequent dispersal out of Africa in Palpimanidae spiders (Araneae), Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 202 (2), pp. 1-26 : 23

Genus Sarascelis Simon, 1887

Type species: Sarascelis chaperi Simon, 1887 .

Sceliraptor Zonstein & Marusik, 2022 , by original designation

(type species = Sceliraptor murphyorum sp. nov.). New synonymy.

Diagnosis: Distinguished from all other Chediminae by the fused or partly fused tegular sclerites of the male copulatory bulb.

Included species: Ten described species: Sarascelis chaperi Simon, 1887 , Sarascelis jaegeri (Zonstein & Marusik, 2022) , here transferred from Sceliraptor , comb. nov., Sarascelis junquai Jézéquel, 1964 , Sarascelis kilimandjari (Berland, 1920) , Sarascelis lamtoensis Jézéquel, 1964 , Sarascelis luteipes Simon, 1887 , Sarascelis murphyorum (Zonstein & Marusik, 2022) , here transferred from Sceliraptor , comb. nov., Sarascelis namratae , Sarascelis raffrayi Simon, 1893 , and Sarascelis rebiereae Jézéquel, 1964 ; and two undescribed species included in our phylogeny.

Distribution: Africa, including São Tomé and Príncipe, India, and Singapore.

Discussion: Our phylogeny includes one undescribed species, labelled ‘ Sarascelis sp. 34 HW0295’, that would be considered Sceliraptor based on the diagnosis by Zonstein and Marusik (2022a) ( Fig. 7C, F ). This specimen nests within Sarascelis with strong support ( Fig. 2 ), justifying this transfer. Species originally included Sceliraptor , rather than having the fully fused tegular sclerites of Sarascelis , have partly fused sclerites and retain a circular patch of membranous tissue that stands out from the surrounding sclerotized cuticle ( Fig. 7C ). This undescribed specimen (sp. 34 HW 0295) shares other traits of Sceliraptor , including large teeth on the paired tarsal claws and a deep narrow slit-like fovea; however, this specimen has very fine stridulatory ridges. Sarascelis namratae , from India, was transferred to Sarascelis from Palpimanus by Sankaran (2021), but based on the widely separated lateral eyes, it is likely to belongs in Palpimanus .

Figures

Figure 2. Portion of phylogeny, showing Palpimanidae subfamily Chediminae, from the maximum likelihood analysis of the partitioned data at taxon coverage of 25% per locus.Nodes with branch support values of 95%–100% and 90%–94% for both SH-aLRT and UFBoot are marked with a black and grey circle, respectively. Otherwise, node support values of <90% and>50% are shown as SH-aLRT/UFBoot.Circled letters

Figure 7. Morphology of Sitamacho tao (D), Sitamacho lesserti (A, B, E), and an undescribed Sarascelis ‘sp.34 HW0295’ (C, F). A, B, Sitamacho lesserti, male holotype, left pedipalpal bulb: A, ventral view; B, retrolateral view.E, Sitamacho lesserti, male holotype, dorsal view. D, Sitamacho tao, female, dorsal view (CASENT9070078). C, Sarascelis sp. 34 HW0295, male, left pedipalpal bulb, prolateral view (CASENT9070042). F, Sarascelis sp. 34 HW0295, male, dorsal view (CASENT9070042). Abbreviations: C, conductor; E, embolus; MA, median apophysis.Scale bars: 0.25 mm in C; 1 mm in D, F. Images A–B, E by C. Grismado.