Published August 4, 2025 | Version v1

Poecilochroa barmani Tikader 1982

  • 1. Division of Arachnology, Department of Zoology, Sacred Heart College, Thevara, Cochin, Kerala 682 013, India
  • 2. Department of Anatomy, Saveetha Medical College & Hospital, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 602 105, India.

Description

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.

Notes

Published as part of 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), pp. 132-142 in Zootaxa 5673 (1) on pages 135-137, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5673.1.9, http://zenodo.org/record/16983378

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Linked records

Additional details

Biodiversity

Scientific name authorship
Tikader
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Arthropoda
Order
Araneae
Family
Gnaphosidae
Genus
Poecilochroa
Species
barmani
Taxon rank
species
Taxonomic concept label
Poecilochroa barmani Tikader, 1982 sec. Sankaran & Caleb, 2025

References

  • Tikader, B. K. (1982) Part 2. Family Gnaphosidae. In: The fauna of India. Spiders: Araneae. Vol. II. Zoological Survey of India, Calcutta, pp. 295-536.
  • Gajbe, U. A. (2007) Araneae: Arachnida. In: the Director, Zoological Survey of India (Ed.), Fauna of Madhya Pradesh (including Chhattisgarh). State Fauna Series Vol. 15. Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, pp. 419-540.
  • Sankaran, P. M., Caleb, J. T. D. & Sebastian, P. A. (2019) On the taxonomic validity of Indian ground spiders: I. Genus Scopoides Platnick, 1989 (Araneae: Gnaphosidae). Zootaxa, 4648 (1), 155-164. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4648.1.8