East meets West: on the true identity of Cheiracanthium rupestre and Xysticus albomaculatus (Arachnida: Araneae: Eutichuridae, Thomisidae)

Abstract

Cheiracanthium rupestre Herman, 1879, and Xysticus albomaculatus Kulczyński, 1891, both originally described from Hungary, are among the most rarely reported species of their genera in Europe. Here we report that both of these species have very close relationships to similarly uncommon species originally described from France at about the same time. The specimens currently considered as Cheiracanthium rupestre turn out to be very closely related to, but distinct from, Cheiracanthium striolatum Simon, 1878. However, the original description of C. rupestre does not match these specimens nor any other known species of Cheiracanthium. We therefore consider C. rupestre a nomen dubium and suggest that all previous records of this species after the original description actually refer to Cheiracanthium macedonicum Drensky, 1921. Xysticus albomaculatus, on the other hand, turns out to be a junior synonym of Bassaniana baudueri (Simon, 1877) syn. nov., expanding the range of this species considerably to the East and at the same time confirming that it is a genuine European species, rather than a recent immigrant from North America as previously suspected.

Keywords

• Bassaniana
• Coriarachne
• doubtful species
• new synonyms
• nomen dubium
• Ozyptila
• species inquirendae