Abstract

The native Nearctic species of the family Sparassidae are revised. Eight synonymies are proposed, reducing the number of species to five: Olios schistus Chamberlin 1919, O. scepticus Chamberlin 1924 and O. positivus Chamberlin 1924 with O. peninsulanus Banks 1898; O. albinus Fox 1937 and O. foxi Roewer 1951 with O. naturalisticus Chamberlin 1924. Olios concolor Keyserling 1884 and O. pragmaticus Chamberlin 1924 are removed from the synonymy of O. fasciculatus Simon 1880 and synonymized with O. giganteus Keyserling 1884. All species currently included in the genus Olios Walckenaer 1837 are redescribed and illustrated, and new distribution records are presented. Comparisons between these species and the type species of the genus Olios, Olios argelasius (Walckenaer 1805), shows that none of them are congeneric and that true Olios does not occur in the Nearctic region. Nevertheless, the correct placement of these species in new genera will only be possible after a more thorough revision of the Nearctic and Neotropical fauna, especially that of Mexico and Central America. The Nearctic region comprises most of the North American continent, including Greenland and the northern highlands of Mexico (Udvardy 1975). To date, only thirteen Sparassidae species have been described from this region (eight from the USA and five from Northern Mexico), all assigned to the genus Olios Walckenaer 1837: Olios franklinus Walckenaer 1837, O. concolor Keyserling 1884, O. giganteus Keyserling 1884, O. peninsulanus Banks 1898, O. schistus Chamberlin 1919, O. naturalisticus Chamberlin 1924, O. positivus Cham- berlin 1924, O. scepticus Chamberlin 1924, O. pragmaticus Chamberlin 1924, O. albinus Fox 1937, O. bibranchiatus Fox 1937, O. mojavensis Fox 1937 and O. foxi Roewer 1951 (Platnick 2010). Olios franklinus, the first sparassid to be described from the Nearctic region, was proposed by Walckenaer (1837) from the USA. Nevertheless, the female type was never located and the identity of the species is considered doubtful. Olios fasciculatus was described by Simon (1880), based on a male and female from Mariposa County, California, USA. Roth (1988) examined the type series and, based on Simon's description, designated a male lectotype. Nevertheless, no females fitting the original description were found amongst those in the type series suggesting that these were added posteriorly and were not conspecific with the described male. Also, since no other Olios specimens were found in the collections from California, Roth raised the possibility that the vial was actually mislabeled. Jager & Kunz (2005) confirmed Roth's suspicions and matched the lectotype to specimens from Tanzania. Thus, the species is not native and most likely does not occur in the Nearctic region. Keyserling (1884) described O. giganteus, O. concolor and O. abnormis from New Mexico, USA. The name abnormis was preoccupied by Sparassus abnormis Blackwall 1866 and the species was given the new name Olios foxi by Roewer (1951). Olios concolor and O. giganteus were synonymized with O. fasciculatus by Banks (1893) and the latter removed from this synonymy by Roth (1988). Olios peninsulanus was described by Banks (1898), based on a male and a female from San Jose del Cabo, Baja California, Mexico. Chamberlin (1919) described O. schistus from Claremont, Los Angeles, USA, and a few years later (1924), O. naturalisticus, O. positivus, O. scepticus and O. pragmaticus from the Gulf of California (Tiburon Island, San Francisco Island, Ceralba Island, and San Lorenzo Island, respectively), Mexico. Olios pragmaticus was synonymized with O. fascicu- latus by Fox (1937) who revised the Nearctic fauna of Sparassidae and described three new species: Olios albinus, from Phoenix, Arizona, O. bibranchiatus, from Madera Canyon, Arizona, and O. mohavensis, from the Mojave desert, California. He also recorded the presence of two non native sparassid species: Heteropoda venatoria (Linnaeus 1767), a widely distributed pantropical species, and Pseudosparianthis cubana Banks 1909, originally described from Cuba, in Southwestern USA and Florida, respectively. Olios mohavensis was recently transferred to Macrinus by Rheims (2010). In this paper I present the taxonomic revision of the native Nearctic fauna of Sparassidae. All species, currently included in the genus Olios, are redescribed and illustrated. Compar- isons between these species and the type species of Olios, Olios argelasius (Walckenaer 1805), show that none of them are congeneric and that true Olios does not occur in the Nearctic region. Nevertheless, the correct placement of these species in new genera will only be possible after a more thorough revision of the Nearctic and Neotropical fauna, especially that of Mexico and Central America.

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