Troglohyphantes iulianae Brignoli 1971

Troglohyphantes iulianae Brignoli, 1971

Troglohyphantes iulianae Brignoli, 1971: 175, figures 61–63; Brignoli 1972: 57; Gasparo, 2001: 1, figures 1–5. Troglohyphantes delmastroi Pesarini, 2001: 117; Isaia et al., 2010 (new synonymy).

Material examined. Italy, Emilia Romagna, Province of Parma: Tornolo, Trasogno, 800 m, 11/1992– 4/1993, 1Ψ; [no date]1994, 4ɗ, 3Ψ, P. Pantini and M. Valle legerunt (pitfall traps). Lombardia, Province of Pavia: Santa Margherita di Staffora, beech wood near Colletta hotel, 1380 m, 26/4/2002 – 27/6/2002, 1ɗ, P. Pantini legit (pitfall traps).

Note. This epigean species is occasionally found in caves. The distribution ranges from the South-western Alps to the Apuan Alps (Tuscany). Pesarini (2001) described T. delmastroi based on specimens from Cissone (Piemonte, Province of Cuneo) and Tornolo (Lombardia, Province of Parma). In the same year Gasparo (2001) described the previously unknown male of T. iulianae from Sesta Godano (Liguria, Province of La Spezia). The illustrations published by the two authors are very similar and indeed seem to show two males of the same species. Although we could not study the specimen described by Gasparo (formally stored at the University of Roma La Sapienza, but apparently lost), the examination of the paratypes of T. delmastroi from Tornolo, together with the material from Piemonte (Isaia et al., 2010) and the specimens here reported from Tornolo and Pavia, allowed the comparison of the lamella characteristica with the one illustrated by Gasparo (2001), suggesting that Troglohyphantes delmastroi Pesarini is a junior synonym of Troglohyphantes iulianae Brignoli.