Abstract
Indian species of Drassyllus and Nodocion are revised, mostly based on the type material available in the National Zoological Collection, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata. All the Indian representatives of the former genus are transferred to Cryptodrassus, with a synonymy of Drassyllus jabalpurensis syn. nov. with Cryptodrassus khajuriai comb. nov., while the Indian species of the latter genus are transferred to Setaphis, with a provisional transfer of Nodocion solanensis. All the examined type specimens are imaged and supplementary descriptions are provided.
Highlights
This paper, the second in a series on the taxonomic validity of Indian ground spiders of the family Gnaphosidae Pocock, 1898, deals with the species described under the Holarctic genus Drassyllus Chamberlin, 1922 and the Nearctic genus Nodocion Chamberlin, 1922
To clarify the taxonomic ambiguity on Indian species of Drassyllus and Nodocion and to make their identity more transparent, we examined the types of these species available in the National Zoological Collection, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata and the results are presented below
Pickard-Cambridge, 1872) (Levy 1998: fig. 126; Chatzaki & Russell-Smith 2017: fig. 5) and Cryptodrassus helvoloides (Levy, 1998) (Chatzaki & Russell-Smith 2017: fig. 11): PMEs largest, irregular, all other eyes round, cheliceral promargin with three and retromargin with one tooth and epigyne with wide, anterior atrium. Considering these observations, we propose to transfer D. khajuriai to Cryptodrassus
Summary
This paper, the second in a series on the taxonomic validity of Indian ground spiders of the family Gnaphosidae Pocock, 1898, deals with the species described under the Holarctic genus Drassyllus Chamberlin, 1922 and the Nearctic genus Nodocion Chamberlin, 1922. The former genus includes five nominal species in India, viz. Drassyllus jabalpurensis Gajbe, 2005, Drassyllus khajuriai Tikader & Gajbe, 1976, Drassyllus mahabalei Tikader, 1982, Drassyllus platnicki Gajbe, 1987 and Drassyllus ratnagiriensis Tikader & Gajbe, 1976, whereas the latter has two species, viz. Nodocion solanensis Tikader & Gajbe, 1977 and Nodocion tikaderi (Gajbe, 1993) (World Spider Catalog 2020). To clarify the taxonomic ambiguity on Indian species of Drassyllus and Nodocion and to make their identity more transparent, we examined the types of these species available in the National Zoological Collection, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata and the results are presented below
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
