IntroductionThe crab spider genus Thomisus was erected in 1805

by Walckenaer. Presently, the genus consists of 144 valid species, of which only 47 species are reported from India (World Spider Catalog 2021). Thomisus granulifrons Simon 1906 has never been reported for 113 years since its original description. This species was originally described by Simon (1906) on the basis of both sexes. The distribution of this species ranges from India to Sri Lanka (World Spider Cata-log 2021). While examining species collected during a field survey in Odisha state of India, we found the male specimen of this species. The present paper provides detailed rede-scription of this species, and also reports extension of its range to east India from its previous known distributional record from southern India.

Materials and MethodsSpecimen was collected by sweep net collection on gen-

eral vegetation, preserved in 70% ethanol, and studied under Leica EZ4 HD. The specimen photographs were taken using M205A stereomicroscope attached with a Leica DFC295 camera. All measurements are given in millimeters. Leg measurements are given as: total length [femur, patella, tib-ia, metatarsus, tarsus]. The studied specimen is deposited at the National Zoological Collections, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata.

Abbreviation used in the text are as follows: ALE – ante-rior lateral eyes, AME – anterior median eyes, PLE – poste-rior lateral eyes, PME – posterior median eyes, I-IV – 1st to 4th leg.

TaxonomyGenus Thomisus Walckenaer 1805Thomisus granulifrons Simon 1906

Thomisus granulifrons Simon 1906, p. 290, fig. 1A

Material examined. India: Odisha, Cuttack- Paradip Road, Jagatsinghapur (N 20.40°, E 86.03°), 9 m, 2020.03.18, leg. Priya Prasad, 1♂ (ZSI-AA-1709).

Diagnosis. The species can be identified by the presence of blunt and small basal apophysis of tibia and the tip of em-bolus is thick and straight.

Description. Cephalothorax brown, lateral side of cara-pace with serrated edges, V-shaped cephalic region. Gran-ules present on the edge of the thoracic region. Body length 2.37. Carapace length 1.01, width 1.30. Opisthosoma length 1.36, width 1.34. Eyes present on tubercles. Eye sizes and interdistances: ALE 0.06, AME 0.02, PLE 0.04, PME 0.02, AME-AME 0.20, AME-ALE 0.17, ALE-ALE 0.63, PME-PME 0.34, PME-PLE 0.24, PLE-PLE 0.86. Sternum heart shaped, pale yellow; endites and maxillae light brown. Ab-domen light brown, pentagonal with five conspicuous dots. Posterior part of abdomen with minute black hairs (Fig. 1D), ventral side pale in colour with small minute 5 dots forming a V-shaped pattern (Fig. 1B). Legs brown, lighter near coxa and trochanter. Leg measurements: I 2.52 [0.66, 0.51, 0.65, 0.40, 0.30], II 2.22 [0.64, 0.38, 0.57, 0.36, 0.27], III 1.15 [0.30, 0.17, 0.24, 0.25, 0.19], IV 1.46 [0.49, 0.21, 0.31, 0.26, 0.19]. Leg formula: 1234. Spinnerets short, pale yellow. Embolus long and curved; retrolateral tibial apophysis short; tibia with a short basal apophysis (Fig. 1E-F).

Distribution. So far, the species was known from Pondi-

Rediscovery and redescription of crab spider Thomisus granulifrons Simon 1906 (Araneae: Thomisidae) from India

Priya Prasad1, Goutam Kumar Saha2, Vikas Kumar1 & Kaomud Tyagi1*

1Centre for DNA Taxonomy, Molecular Systematics Division, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.2Department of Zoology, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, West Bengal, India

E-mail: kumud.tyagi5@gmail.com, *Corresponding author

Abstract ― Thomisus granulifrons Simon 1906 is recorded from the Indian state of Odisha. The species is re-ported after 113 years since its original description. Diagnostic characters and photographs are provided along with the distribution map.

Key words ― Araneae, India, Odisha, Taxonomy, Thomisidae

Acta Arachnologica, 70 (1): 21–23, June 28, 2021

P. Prasad, G. K. Saha, V. Kumar & K. Tyagi

Fig. 1. Thomisus granulifrons. A, habitus, dorsal view; B, same, ventral view; C, cephalic area, frontal view; D, abdomen, dor-sal view; E, right male palp, ventral view; F, same, dorsal view; Scales = 0.5 mm (A–D); 0.1 mm (E–F).

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Rediscovery of Thomisus granulifrons from India

cherry and Ginjee (southern India) and Sri Lanka (World Spider Catalog 2021). The present specimen is collected from Odisha, India (present record, Fig. 2).

Acknowledgement

The authors are grateful to Dr Kailash Chandra, Director, Zoological Survey of India for providing necessary facilities. The authors like to ex-tend our sincere thanks to Master Shivendra Kumar Singh for extending his energetic and unconditional support during field survey in Odisha. Our sincere thanks to the reviewers whose comments greatly improved the

manuscript. This work is part of the Ph.D. thesis of the first author.

References

Simon, E. 1906. Arachnides (2e partie). In: Voyage de M. Maurice Maindron dans l’Inde méridionale. 8e Mémoire. Ann. Soc. Entomol. France, 75: 279–314.

World Spider Catalog 2021. World Spider Catalog. Version 21.5. Nat-ural History Museum Bern, online at http://wsc.nmbe.ch, accessed on 12 January, 2021. doi: 10.24436/2.

Received December 25, 2019 / Accepted February 18, 2021

Fig. 2. Distributional records of Thomisus granulifrons Simon 1906 from India.

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Acta Arachnologica, 70 (1), June 2021 ⒸArachnological Society of Japan