Zelotes scrutatus (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1872)

Zamani, Alireza, Enayatnia, Masoumeh, Mirshekar, Ali, Mayvan, Mahmood Mehrafrooz, Kováč, Ľubomír & Marusik, Yuri M., 2025, New data on the spider fauna of Iran (Arachnida: Araneae), Part XII, Zootaxa 5601 (1), pp. 1-45 : 25-26

Zelotes scrutatus (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1872)

Figs 13C‒D , 14C‒D , 15A‒D , 16D‒F

Zelotes scrutatus : Levy 1998: 125, figs 35‒36, 37a, 62‒68 (♂ ♀).

For a list of 28 taxonomic references, see WSC (2025).

Material. IRAN: Sistan & Baluchistan Prov.: 1♂ 1♀ ( ZMUT), Zabol, 31°02'12"N 61°32'14"E, 480 m, 2.05.2020 (M. Enayatnia) .

Comment. This species belongs to the puritanus group ( Fomichev & Marusik 2021). Similar to Z. laetus , its palp has never been illustrated in detail, particularly the dorsal side of the bulb. This species differs from all Zelotes sensu lato by its distinctive abdominal pattern—a longitudinal brown band that is, apparently, absent in other congeners.

Records in Iran. Ilam, Kurdistan. New record for Sistan & Baluchistan.

Distribution. Western Palaearctic to Uzbekistan, Africa.

Figures

FIGURE 13. Habitus of Zelotes laetus (A, B) and Zelotes scrutatus (C, D), dorsal view. A, D—males; B, C—females.

FIGURE 14. Male palps of Zelotes laetus (A, B) and Zelotes scrutatus (C, D). A, C—ventral view; B, D—retrolateral view. Scale bars: 0.2 mm.

FIGURE 15. Bulbs of Zelotes scrutatus (A‒D) and Zelotes laetus (E‒H). A, E—retrolateral view; B, F—retrodorsal view; C, G—ventral view; D, H—apical view. Scale bars: 0.2 mm.

FIGURE 16. Epigynes of Zelotes laetus (A‒C) and Zelotes scrutatus (D‒F). A, D—intact, ventral view; B, E—macerated, ventral view; C, F—endogyne, dorsal view. Scale bars: 0.2 mm.