urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 22EE9CC4-BCC0-4E96-B57C-C84E920297E7

Type species. Hersiliola pallida Kroneberg, 1875.

Etymology. The genus name is a patronym honoring our friend and colleague, and a prominent araneologist, Vladimir Ovtsharenko of New York, USA. Gender: feminine.

Diagnosis. Ovtsharenkoia gen. n. can be easily distinguished from other genera of Hersiliidae by its short spinnerets and the shape of the copulatory organs. The male palp has a unique conformation for the family due to the presence of a complex outgrowth in the basal part of the tegulum. All other genera similar to Hersiliola have only one apophysis (tegular). Females of Ovtsharenkoia gen. n. can be recognized by a small median plate of the epigyne, a transverse translucent fertilization duct, large pale areas next to the median plate, and absence of distinct spermathecae.

Description. Same as for the type species.

Comments. A discoidal tegulum and whip-like embolus in O. pallida indicate that Ovtsharenkoia gen. n. is more closely related to Hersiliola than to two other Central Asian genera, Deltshevia gen. n. and Duninia gen. n., both of which have a globular tegulum and a thick, short embolus. A discoidal tegulum and whip-like embolus are also found in Hersilia. Embolus base modified, and differs from that in all other hersiliid genera. The epigyne of O. pallida has some similarity with those in Duninia gen. n. due to its pockets, but has an entirely different vulva. The type of embolus in O. pallida is similar to those in some Neotama species (cf. figs 45c, 46c in Baehr and Baehr 1993).

Composition and distribution. Type species only, Ovtsharenkoia pallida (Kroneberg, 1875), found widely across the mountains and foothills from southern Turkmenistan to Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan; south to northern Pakistan.