Ummidia dudkoi Zamani and Fomichev, 2025

Zamani, Alireza & Fomichev, Alexander A., 2025, Four new species of Mygalomorphae (Araneae) from Tajikistan and Afghanistan, Journal of Natural History 59 (13 - 16), pp. 775-793 : 782-785

Ummidia dudkoi Zamani and Fomichev sp. n.

( Figures 19–28 , 43 –44,47–48)

Types

♂ holotype ( ISEA, 001.9168) and 1♂ paratype ( ISEA, 001.9169); TAJIKISTAN: Khatlon Region, Panj Karatau Mt . Range, between Panj Village and Farkhor Village , 37.2754°N, 69.2469°E, 600–700 m, 29–30 April 2024, leg . A .A. Fomichev.

Etymology

The specific epithet, a noun in the genitive case, is in honour of Roman V. Dudko ( ISEA), a friend of the second author and a well-known Russian coleopterologist, who assisted in organising an expedition to the Khatlon Region of Tajikistan during which the types of this new species were collected .

Diagnosis

Besides Ummidia ferghanensis (Kroneberg, 1875) , which is known only from a juvenile type specimen ( World Spider Catalog 2025), the new species can be distinguished from other congeneric Asian species, ie U. gandjinoi (Andreeva, 1968) ( Tajikistan) and U. mischi Zonstein, 2014 ( Afghanistan), by a smaller number of labial cuspules, by spinose femora II–III, by a less strongly curved embolus, and by the bulbal part of the palpal organ having a distinct ventral bulge (VB) ( Figure 28 , cf. Zonstein 2018a, figs 7, 9). For a list of differences between Asian species of Ummidia see Table 1.

Description

Male (holotype). Habitus as in Figures 19–20 . Total length 15.0. Carapace 7.2 long, 6.6 wide. Sternum 4.0 long, 3.75 wide. Labium 1.0 long, 1.4 wide. Eye sizes and interdistances: AME 0.20 (0.33), ALE 0.31, PLE 0.26, PME 0.19, AME–AME 0.16 (0.10), ALE–AME 0.16 (0.11), ALE–PLE 0.24, PLE–PME 0.10, PME–PME 0.60. Cheliceral rastellum consisting of ca. 20 conical thorns, most of them on a common process. Cheliceral furrow with 5 pro- and 5 retromarginal teeth. Labium with 5 conical cuspules. Each maxilla with ca. 20 conical cuspules. Carapace and chelicerae black. Sternum mostly brown, darker anteriorly. Labium and maxillae dark brown. Leg coxae light brown. Coxae I–II darker than III–IV. Palp: Fe–Pa black; Ti–Ta dark brown. Legs I–II: Fe–Ti black, Mt–Ta brown. Legs III–IV dark brown, Mt–Ta lighter than other segments. Dorsal side of abdomen grey. Lateral and ventral sides of abdomen, book-lung covers and spinnerets yellow. Sternal sigilla confluent, indistinctly outlined. Palp aspinose. Spination of legs: I: Fe d1, Pa p8 r2 v3, Ti p10, r1 v13, Mt p1 r2 v6; II: Fe d2, Pa p8, Ti p3 v9, Mt p1 r3 v5, Ta v5; III: Fe d1, Pa d3 p7 r1, Ti d6 p5 r4 v 2, Mt d5 p2 r1 v9, Ta v14; IV: Mt p6 v8, Ta v8. Ta and Mt I–II with entire, short, and dense scopula. Clavate dorsal trichobothria on Ta of palp (5), leg I (9), leg II (8), leg III (6), and leg IV (5). Paired tarsal claws I–IV with 1 large and acute proximal tooth; unpaired tarsal claws strongly curved, bare. Measurements of palp and legs: palp: 12.45 (4.95, 2.3, 3.6, -, 1.6); leg I: 15.95 (5.8, 2.7, 3.5, 2.7, 1.25); leg II: 14.15 (4.9, 2.5, 2.8, 2.6, 1.3); leg III: 13.55 (4.45, 2.35, 2.45, 2.7, 1.6); leg IV: 17.5 (5.6, 2.6, 3.35, 4.0, 1.95). Spinnerets: PMS 0.45 long, 0.25 in diameter; PLS maximal diameter 1.0, length of basal, medial and apical segments 0.68, 0.28, 0.25, respectively (total length 1.21); apical segment domed.

Palp as in Figures 24–28 ; bulbal part of palpal organ oval, with a ventral bulge (VB) in lateral view; embolus long, tapering, slightly curved, arrow-shaped terminally.

Female. Unknown.

Variation

Paratype male. Total length 16.3. Carapace 7.0 long, 6.8 wide. Sternum 4.0 long, 3.75 wide. Labium 1.13 long, 1.43 wide. Cheliceral rastellum consisting of ca. 25–30 thorns. Labium with 6 cuspules.

Habitat

Loess hills with rocky outcrops and pistachio ( Pistacea vera ) woodland ( Figure 44 ).

Distribution

Known only from the type locality in the Khatlon Region of south-western Tajikistan ( Figure 47 ).

Figures

Figures 19–23. Habitus (19–20), cephalothorax (21–22), and eye tubercle (23) of male of Ummidia dudkoi sp. n.; 19, 21, 23 = dorsal view; 20,22 = ventral view. Scale bars:19–20 = 2 mm; 21–22 = 1 mm; 23 = 0.2 mm.

Figures 24–28. Left palp (24–25) and palpal organ (26–28) of Ummidia dudkoi sp. n.; 24, 26 = prolateral view; 25, 28 = retrolateral view; 27 = anterior view. Scale bars: 24–25 = 1 mm; 26–28 = 0.2 mm. Abbreviation: VB: ventral bulge.

Figures 43–46. Living male of Ummidia dudkoi sp. n. (43), and habitat at type localities of Raveniola farkhor sp. n. and U. dudkoi sp. n. (44), of Anemesia gidzhovak sp. n. (45), and of Raveniola zonsteini sp. n. (46). Photographs: A.A. Fomichev (43–45) and C. Reuter (46).

Figures 47, 48. Type localities of the new mygalomorph species. Diamond = Anemesia gidzhovak sp. n.; triangle = Raveniola zonsteini sp. n.; square = Raveniola farkhor sp. n. and Ummidia dudkoi sp. n. Figure 47 corresponds to the inside of the frame in Figure 48. National borders are shown in black, rivers and lakes are shown in blue.