Hersilia aadi Pravalikha, Srinivasulu & Srinivasulu, 2014 a junior synonym of Hersilia savignyi Lucas, 1836 (Araneae: Hersiliidae) Author Caleb, John T. D. Author Pravalikha, G. B. Author Johnson, Benaiah Ebenezer Author Manyu, Mitemlu Author Mungkung, Soreiphy Author Mathai, Manu Thomas text Zootaxa 2017 4254 3 396 400 journal article 33204 10.11646/zootaxa.4254.3.11 bd429e5b-5640-45c6-ae72-fc14fed35b5b 1175-5326 546874 D3A7CA97-E801-4391-BE0F-8976E3C82E4F Hersilia savignyi Lucas, 1836 Figs 1–13 Hersilia savignyi Lucas, 1836 : 10 , pl. 13, fig. 1 (Description & illustration of ♀); Simon, 1885d: 19, pl. 10, figs. 18-19 (Description and illustration of ♂); Simon, 1893a: 414, figs. 417, 426 (Description and illustration of ♂&♀); Pocock, 1900a: 241, fig. 82 (Description and illustration of ♀); Gravely, 1922: 1050, pl. 5, fig. 13 (Description in part); Benoit, 1974c : 995 , figs. 1, 4 (Description and illustration of ♀); Tikader & Biswas, 1981: 47, figs. 74-76 (Illustration of ♀); Gajbe, 1993a: 117, figs. 1–3 (Description and illustration of ♂&♀); Baehr & Baehr, 1993b : 29 , figs. 5, 22a–f (Description and illustration of ♂&♀); Gajbe, 2004: 135, figs. 1–3 (Description and illustration of ♂&♀); Gajbe, 2007: 434, figs. 26–30 (Description and illustration of ♂&♀). Hersilia indica Walckenaer, 1837: 372 (Description in part). Hersilia calcuttensis Stoliczka, 1869: 216 , pl. 20, figs. 9 (Description and illustration of ♀ ). Hersilia clathrata Thorell, 1895: 56 (Description of ♀); Barrion & Litsinger, 1995: 411, figs. 246a–k (Description and illustration of ♂&♀). Hersilia aadi Pravalikha, Srinivasulu & Srinivasulu, 2014 : 5554 , images 1a–j, 2, 3a–f, f. 1a–c (Misidentification; description and illustration of ♂&♀). Types kept at the Natural History Museum of Osmania University, Hyderabad, re-examined. New synonymy FIGURES 1–4. General habitus photographs of H. savignyi Lucas, 1836 . 1 & 2 male, dorsal view; 3 & 4 female, dorso-lateral view. Material examined: Types of H. aadi , 6♂ ( OUNHM .ART.ARA. 2011.13,15-19) and 7♀ ( OUNHM .ART.ARA. 2011.14,20-25). Additional material: (MCC-ARA-HER-01 to 27)— 2♂ & 3♀ , Madras Christian College , Tambaram , India , (12.921293˚ N, 80.121971˚ E) Altitude 32m , leg. John Caleb & Soreiphy Mungkung ; 2♂ & 3♀, 13 July 2016 , leg. Mitemlu Manyu & Benaiah Johnson; 4♀, 14 July 2016 ; 4♀, 22 July 2016 ; 2♂ & 1 immature ♀, 13 Sept 2016 ; 2♂ , 1 immature ♂ & 3 ♀ , 6 Oct 2016 same location, all leg. Benaiah Johnson & Mitemlu Manyu ; 1♀ (NCBS-QA479), Kothanur , Bangalore , Karnataka , India (13.062085˚ N, 77.650576˚ E) Altitude 899m , 0 8 October 2014 leg. John Caleb . Diagnosis. H. savignyi Lucas, 1836 can be distinguished from related species by its rather short cymbium; tegular apophysis with a strongly projecting basal process and upper surface with pilose field on the latero-apical process ( Figs. 6 & 10 ). The vulva is somewhat narrow and elongate with circular spermathecae; well sclerotized copulatory openings situated medially ( Figs. 8–9 , 12–13 ) ( Baehr & Baehr, 1993 ). Description. For detailed description see Baehr & Baehr (1993) and Pravalikha et al . (2014) . Justification of synonymy. Pravalikha, Srinivasulu & Srinivasulu (2014) described H. aadi from the Osmania University campus, Hyderabad, (presently in Telengana state), India. The original description is based on 13 specimens (6♂ & 7♀). Pravalikha et al . (2014) mention that H. aadi belongs to the H. savignyi species group but do not provide any distinct diagnostic characters to distinguish between H. aadi and H. savignyi . However, they provide good illustration of the epigyne and vulva which are clearly distinct and show no difference to that of H. savignyi (cf. Image 3b-d in Pravalikha et al . (2014) and Figs. 8–9 herein with fig. 22e-f in Baehr & Baehr (1993) and figs. 1, 4 in Benoit (1974)) . Though the illustrations of the male palp is neither in a proper ventral nor retrolateral view the diagnostic characters such as the pilose latero-apical process of the tegular apophysis and embolus are however clearly evident (cf. Image 1i-j in Pravalikha et al . (2014) and Figs. 5–7 with fig. 22c-d in Baehr & Baehr (1993)) . Examination of fresh material from the Madras Christian College campus and re-examination of the types of H. aadi revealed that H. aadi is indeed a junior synonym of H. savignyi . Distribution. H. savignyi is a widespread species known to be distributed from India , Sri Lanka to Philippines (World Spider Catalog 2017).