Neurepidosis Spungis 1987

Neurepidosis Spungis, 1987

Neurepidosis is a Palearctic genus of previously 10 species, of which six were treated in our revision of Swedish Porricondylinae (Jaschhof & Jaschhof 2013: 141ff.). We have not seen specimens of the remaining four species, but the original descriptions indicate the following: the Italian N. solinasi Mamaev & Zaitzev, 1998 is a valid species similar to N. gracilis Spungis, 1987; both N. paradisica Fedotova & Sidorenko, 2008 and N. suffusa Fedotova & Sidorenko, 2008 (two Far East Russian species) are similar to, if not even identical with, N. conchata Fedotova & Sidorenko, 2008; and N. delicata (Fedotova & Sidorenko, 2008) (also from Far East Russia) resembles N. grytsjoenensis Jaschhof, 2013. Neurepidosis delicata was described to have a claw-bearing gonostylus, and was therefore placed in a separate genus named Crustepidosis Fedotova & Sidorenko, 2008, but we doubt the correctness of this observation (all the more so as the only specimen known of this species has distorted genitalia). Here we describe three new Neurepidosis, whose discovery in Sweden is remarkable insofar as we had already found six other species (three previously unknown) at an earlier stage of our project (Jaschhof & Jaschhof 2013). This confirms previous experience indicating that much collecting effort is needed to unearth Neurepidosis (Spungis 1987, Jaschhof & Jaschhof 2013), even though it remains a mystery why adults of this genus are so rarely encountered in nature. Interesting in this context is that two nature reserves in Sweden provide the habitat for five (Ekdalen, in Uppland) or six (Grytsjön, in Småland) different species. While both reserves protect woodland, Ekdalen is a young, secondary mixed forest growing among older oak trees, and Grytsjön is a remnant of oldgrowth, hemiboreal taiga predominated by aspen trees. According to Spungis (1987) larvae of Neurepidosis are terricolous.

Notes on the generic diagnosis. The diagnosis of Neurepidosis we presented earlier (Jaschhof & Jaschhof 2013: 142f.) fits all the three species described here as new, but several character states observed in N. emarginata sp. nov. were previously unknown to occur in this genus. These peculiarities are detailed under the heading of N. emarginata.