Minosia simeonica Levy, 1995

Al-Khazali, Azhar Mohammed, 2024, New species and records of ground spiders (Araneae: Gnaphosidae) from Iraq, Ecologica Montenegrina 77, pp. 12-23 : 14-16

Minosia simeonica Levy, 1995 ( Fig. 2 A -E ).

Minosia simeonica Levy, 1995: 924 , figs 9-13 (♂ ♀).

Minosia simeonica : Sadeghi et al., 2016: 6, figs 4b, 5a-b (♀).

Material examined. 2♀♀ ( CBEUS), IRAQ: Thi Qar Province , Al-Nassr district, among the remains of straw on agricultural land, 31.542075 °N, 46.053821 °E, 12 December 2023. Leg. A.M. Al-Khazali .

Description. Female. Overall appearance as in Fig. 2 A-B. Measurements: body length 6.5; carapace 2.43 long, 1.98 wide; opisthosoma 4.07 long, 2.94 wide. Leg measurements: I: 5.55, II: 6.08, III: 6.57, IV: 9.08. Carapace yellow, with a pattern consisting of a black line, arched on each side, ending approximately at the beginning of the fovea, and edges on the outside with a black line. Around the anterior eyes are dark. Sternum yellowish-brown, dark at the edges. Endite and labium yellowish brown. Chelicerae and maxillae brown. Legs uniformly yellowish. Opisthosoma oval, dorsally yellow with scattered black spots, without pattern, covered by fine umber setae, ventrally yellow. Spinnerets light yellow.

Epigyne as in Fig. 2 C-E; for a description see Levy (1995).

Male. See Levy (1995).

Habitat. The collection locality is characterized by sandy, clayey land with no vegetation throughout the year. Occasionally, it is planted with field crops, depending on rainfall and the availability of water. The specimens were found in the morning, hiding under old straw near an Acacia tree ( Fig. 3 A ). Levy (1995) collected similar specimens from a rocky desert and sand. Accordingly, it seems that this species prefers desert or semi-desert habitats and other dry environments far from towns.

Distribution. Previously known from the type locality in Israel ( Levy, 1995), and another locality in northeastern Iran ( Sadeghi et al., 2016). New record for Iraq ( Fig. 9 ).

Comments. There are 14 species of the genus Minosia currently known ( WSC, 2024). Five of these species are found in some countries of the Greater Middle East, while the others are recorded from various countries on the African continent. The first record of the current species outside its type locality was from Iran , a country neighboring Iraq, and therefore, it was expected that this species would also be found in Iraq.

Figures

Figure 2. Minosia simeonica Levy, 1995 female. A. habitus, dorsal view; B. habitus, ventral view; C-E, epigyne. C. intact, ventral view; D. macerated, ventral view; E. vulva, dorsal view.

Figure 3. Minosia simeonica Levy, 1995 A. habitat in semi-desert region 33 km from Al-Nassr District; B. Live specimen in its natural habitat; C. Live specimen in a plastic container.

Figure 9. Map showing the known distribution of Minosia simeonica Levy, 1995 (rings),Minosiella intermedia Denis, 1958 (triangles), Synaphosus shirin Ovtsharenko, Levy & Platnick, 1994 (Red circles), Talanites gilgamesh AL-Khazali, sp. n., (Blue circle(and Talanites sumericus Zamani & Marusik, 2022 (squares).