Notes on Cesonia , a newly recorded genus for the Asian spider fauna (Araneae, Gnaphosidae)

2007·1.3 MB·English

by  Osman Seyyar

Arachnol.Mitt. 34:25-26 Nürnberg,Dezember2007
Notes on Cesonia, a newly recorded genus for the Asian spider fauna
(Araneae,Gnaphosidae)
Osman Seyyar, NusretAyyildiz&AydinTopcu
Abstract.ThespiderspeciesCesoniaaspidaChatzaki,2002,togetherwithitsgenusCesowaSimon,1893,wasfound
inAnatolia(Turkey)andrepresentnewrecordsfortheAsianspiderfauna.Itscharacteristicfeatures,drawings
ofgenitalia,a photographofthegeneral habitusandadistribution mapforEurasiaarepresented.
Keywords:Anatolia,Cesoniaaspida,spider,Turkey
Cesonia is a rare and striking Palaeartic gnaphosid
genus which is widely distributed in North and
Central America, including the West Indies.
Members of this genus are fast-moving, agile
hunters,usuallyfoundinsandyhabitats,underloose
leaflitterandstones.Theycaneasilyberecognised
bytheirdistinctcolourpatternontheabdomenand
&
carapace (PLATNICK SHADAB 1980).
Thirty species, belonging to four species
groups, within the genus Cesonia are known
from America (PLATNICK 2007). In Europe
only a single species of Cesonia has so far been
reported,stemmingfromtheGreekislandofCrete
(CHATZAKIetal.2002).Untilnow,nomemberof
thisgenushasbeenrecordedfromAsia (TOP(/Uet
al.2005,PLATNICK2007).Here,wedescribeboth
the male and female of Cesonia aspida Chatzaki,
2002 from Anatolia,Turkey.
Materialandmethods
The two specimens were collected from southern Fig.1:General habitusoffemaleofCesoniaaspidaChatzaki,
2002.
TurkeyandhavebeendepositedintheArachnology
Museum ofNigde University (NUAM GNA 80/ 900 ma.s.l., 1.V.2007,leg. O. Seyyar&.H.Demir.
0001-2). Identification was made using a SZX61 Remarks.The adult male and female were found
Olympus stereomicroscope based on the study of in Mayin Anatolia. Both specimes were collected
Chatzaki et al. (2002). under flat, broad stones from a Pinus forest in the
YarpuzvalleyinTurkey.The specimens ofCesonia
CesoniaaspidaChatzaki,2002 (Figs. 1-3)
aspidawere found associated with ants, on which
Identification anddescription. CHATZAKI et al. theymayfeed.However,weobservedthisassociation
2002
( ) atonlyone collectionsite;furtherobservations are
Materialexamined. TURKEY: (16,19) (NUAM),
needed to confirm a myrmecophilous life style.
OsmaniyeProvince,Yarpuzvalley(37° 03’N,36°25’E),
This new record of Cesonia aspida in Anatolia
Peninsula indicates that this taxon occurs in Asia
OsmanSEYYAR&Dr.NusretAYYILDIZ,ErciyesUniversity,Science too and along part of the eastern border of the
andArtsFaculty,DepartmentofBiology,TR-38039Kayseri,
Turkey.E-Mail:[email protected] Mediterranean (Fig. 2).Itis predictedthatcareful
Dr.AydinTOP^U,NigdeUniversity,ScienceandArtsFaculty, searchingwill reveal further localities in Anatolia,
DepartmentofBiology,TR-51200Nigde,Turkey. aswell as otherparts ofAsia.
26 0.Seyyar,N.Ayyildiz&A.Topgu
Distribution. Crete (CHATZAKI et al. 2002,
PLATNICK 2007) and Anatolia (first record for
Asia).
Acknowledgements
TheauthorsacknowledgetheScientificandTechnological
Research Council ofTurkey (TUBITAK) (Project No.
106T133) and Erciyes University Scientific Research
Project Unit (Project No. FBT-07- 81) for financial
support ofthis work.This studyis part ofthe doctoral
thesis of the first author. We also thank Mr. Hakan
Demir(GaziUniversity,Turkey)who collectedsomeof
the materialpresentedinthispaper.
References
CHATZAKI M., K.Thaler &M. Mylonas (2002):
Ground spiders (Gnaphosidae; Araneae) of Crete
(Greece).TaxonomyanddistributionII.-Rev.Suisse
Zool. 109: 603-633
PLATNICKN.I.(2007):Theworldspidercatalog,Version
7.5.AmericanMuseum ofNaturalHistory.-Inter-
net: http://research.amnh.org/entomology/spiders/
catalog/index.html
PLATNICK N.I. & M.U. SHADAB (1980): A revision
Fig.2:Distribution mapofCesoniaaspidaChatzaki,2002in ofthespidergenus Cesonia(Araneae,Gnaphosidae).
Eurasia. -Bull.Am.Mus.Nat.Hist. 165: 337-385
TopguA.,H.Demir&0.Seyyar(2005):Achecklist
ofthe spiders ofTurkey.- Serket9: 109-140
Fig.3:GenitaliaofCesoniaaspidaChatzaki,
2002.Malepalp;a-ventralview,b
-retrolateralview.Epigyne;c-ventral
view,d-dorsalview,e-ventralview
(photograph).