Poecilochroa barmani Tikader, 1982

Sankaran, Pradeep M. & Caleb, John T. D., 2025, On the taxonomic validity of Indian ground spiders: VI. Genera Ladissa Simon, 1907, Melicymnis Simon, 1885, and Poecilochroa Westring, 1874 (Araneae: Gnaphosidae), Zootaxa 5673 (1), pp. 132-142 : 135-137

Poecilochroa barmani Tikader, 1982

Figs 8–11

Poecilochroa barmani Tikader, 1982: 451 , figs 354–358 (♀). Gajbe 2007: 477, figs 157–161 (♀). Type material. Holotype ♀, INDIA: Meghalaya: Shillong: Lady Keane College campus (25°34’N 91°52’E; 1525 m a.s.l.), 20 May 1957, S. Bhuyar leg., repository NZC-ZSI, Kolkata (5073/18), examined.

Diagnosis. Females of P. barmani seem closely similar to the females of the Indian species P. kuljitae as both share epigyne with an anterior epigynal hood, and vulva with large primary and small secondary spermathecae, but can be separated from the latter by an oval epigynal atrium (vs. clavate in P. kuljitae ), well-developed anterior epigynal hood (vs. narrow in P. kuljitae ), oval primary spermathecae (vs. pyriform in P. kuljitae ), and transversally oriented secondary spermathecae (vs. dorsally in P. kuljitae ) (cf. Figs 9–10 and Sankaran et al. 2019: figs 2–3).

Supplementary description. Female (holotype; Fig. 8 ): body length 3.64. Carapace 1.62 long, 1.11 wide. Opisthosoma 2.02 long, 1.23 wide. Genitalia ( Figs 9–10 ): epigyne with oval atrium bordered anteriorly by a prominent moderately long hood ( Fig. 9 ). Copulatory openings small, situated posterolaterally. Primary spermathecae oval, sac-like, lying parallel to each other ( Fig. 10 ). Secondary spermathecae small, pyriform, transversally oriented, situated ventrally ( Fig. 10 ). Fertilization ducts narrow ( Fig. 10 ).

Male. Unknown.

Distribution. India: Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya ( Tikader 1982; Gajbe 2007).

Remarks. The NZC-ZSI collection has one glass tube with P. barmani labeled as ‘holotype’ (5073/18) containing a female specimen in good condition ( Figs 8–11 ). The same tube has a small glass vial containing the dissected genitalia.

Figures

FIGURES 8–11. Poecilochroa barmani Tikader, 1982, holotype female. 8 habitus, dorsal. 9 epigyne, ventral. 10 same, dorsal. 11 original labels found in the holotype vial. Scale bars: 8, 1 mm; 9–10, 0.2 mm.