Zodarion merlijni Bosmans, 1994

Shafaie, Sepideh, Pekár, Stano & Ortiz, David, 2025, Integrative taxonomy of the Iberian Zodarion species of the rubidum and styliferum groups (Araneae: Zodariidae), Zootaxa 5624 (1), pp. 1-69 : 45

Zodarion merlijni Bosmans, 1994

Figs 17L , 30 , 33G–I , 38H , 39H

Zodarion merlijni Bosmans 1994: 127 , figs 33–35 (♂).

Zodarion merlijni — Pekár et al. 2003: 393, figs 24, 32 (♀).— Pekár et al. 2011: 29 (♂ ♀).

Material examined. PORTUGAL: 3♀, Rio Ardila , Moura, 4.V.2011, S. Pekár & S. Korenko leg., CMU ; 1♀, idem, S. Hénriques leg., CMU .

Diagnosis: For diagnosis, refer to Z. alentejanum .

Description: For a detailed description of the habitus and male palp, see Bosmans (1994). Epigyne ( Fig. 17L ): Epigynal plate subcircular, posteriorly slightly widened, anteriorly semi-circular; laterally well defined by chitinous edges. Epigyne with a large, single median copulatory opening, and a pair of small, lateral pits.

Molecular data:

COI mitochondrial barcodes (Genbank accession): MT370091, MW760708, MW760710 , PP373372, PP373373 .

Maximum intraspecific COI divergence (n=5): 1.1 %. Minimum interspecific divergence (to Z. gregua ): 8.6%. Consensus COI distance to the closest species (to Z. styliferum ): 4.4%.

Distribution: Portugal, Spain.

Figures

FIGURE 17. SEM images of epigyne among females of rubidum group (A–J) and styliferum group (K, L) in ventral view. A. Z. alacre. B. Z. atlanticum. C. Z. costablancae. D. Z. costapratae. E. Z. fuscum. F. Z. machadoi. G. Z. minutum. H. Z. rubidum. I. Z. timidum, paralectotype. J. Z. viduum. K. Z. alentejanum. L. Z. merlijni. Arrow colors represent copulatory opening (blue), lamellar shield (green), lateral pit (white), ridge (purple), septum (red), and the connecting groove (yellow). Scale = 40 µm.

FIGURE 30. Habitus of Z. merlijni. A–B. male. C–D. female. A, C. dorsal view. B, D. ventral view. Scale = 0.4 mm.

FIGURE 33. Palp shape comparison among males of styliferum group. A–F. Z. alentejanum. G–I. Z. merlijni. A, D, G. prolateral view. B, E, H. ventral view. C, F, I. retrolateral view. Scale = 0.2 mm. Abbreviations: Co conductor; Em embolus; Es subterminal tooth of embolus; MA median apophysis; RTA retrolateral tibial apophysis; T tegulum.

FIGURE 38. Epigyne shape comparison among females of styliferum group in ventral view.A. Z. alentejanum. B. Z. algarvense, paratype. C. Z. bacelarae, paratype of Z. duriense. D. Z. bosmansi. E. Z. gregua, paratype. F. Z. guadianense, holotype, reproduced with permission of the publisher. G. Z. lusitanicum. H. Z. merlijni. I. Z. segurense. Scale = 0.2 mm.

FIGURE 39. Vulva shape comparison among females of styliferum group in ventral view. A. Z. alentejanum. B. Z. algarvense, paratype. C. Z. bacelarae, paratype of Z. duriense. D. Z. bosmansi. E. Z. gregua, paratype. F. Z. guadianense, holotype, reproduced with permission of the publisher. G. Z. lusitanicum. H. Z. merlijni. I. Z. segurense. Scale = 0.2 mm.