The spider family Oecobiidae in Madagascar, including four new species and a new record
Author
Magalhães, Mayara D. F.
Author
Santos, Adalberto J.
text
Zootaxa
2018
2018-12-04
4527
1
37
48
journal article
27867
10.11646/zootaxa.4527.1.3
98eff97b-3170-445e-b92e-217fdf7afb1d
1175-5326
2611952
981018E0-2132-433D-878E-801C97C460C9
Genus
Oecobius
Lucas, 1846
Type
species.
Oecobius cellariorum
Dugès, 1836
.
Emended genus diagnosis.
Oecobius
can be distinguished from
Uroctea
Dufour, 1820
,
Urocteana
Roewer, 1820
and
Uroecobius
Kullmann & Zimmermann, 1976
by the presence of a cribellum and calamistrum. It resembles
Paroecobius
in the ocular quadrangle as long as or longer than wide (
Santos & Gonzaga, 2008
;
Chamberlin & Ivie, 1935
), while in
Platoecobius
Chamberlin & Ivie, 1935
the ocular quadrangle is wider than long.
Oecobius
species differ from
Paroecobius
by the eyes with approximately the same size, and only the anterior lateral eyes and the posterior median eyes opalescent. The anterior median eyes and the posterior lateral eyes are dark with a black ring on cuticular base (
Lamoral 1981
;
Chamberlin & Ivie 1935
: fig. 4).
Remarks.
Oecobius
is the largest genus of the family, comprising an impressive morphological diversity (see illustrations in
Shear 1970
,
Shear and Benoit 1974
,
Wunderlich 1987
,
1992
,
1995a
,
Santos & Gonzaga 2003
,
2008
). The wide distribution and high morphological diversity of the genus suggest it could not be monophyletic and should be divided in several genera. Thus, the diagnosis presented above should be seen as provisional.
Composition and distribution.
89 species with worldwide distribution (
World Spider Catalog 2018
).