A new species of Alopecosa Simon, 1885 (Araneae, Lycosidae) from the Altai Mountains (South Siberia, Russia).

Alopecosa Simon, 1885 is a large genus of wolf spiders containing more than 166 named species (World Spider Catalog 2015), of which 81 valid species have been recorded from the territory of ex-USSR (Mikhailov 2013). In the mountains of South Siberia, to which the Altai Mts belong, 35 species of Alopecosa have been recorded to date (Mikhailov 2013), but findings of some of them require confirmation upon reference to the pertinent material. Yet, some authors (e.g., Marusik & Kovblyuk 2011) argue that the genus Alopecosa is a paraphyletic taxon that needs to be split up into a number of separate genera. To date, 75 species of Lycosidae Sundevall, 1833 have been recorded from the Altai Mts (the flat part of administrative unit ‘Altai Province’ is not included) (Azarkina & Trilikauskas 2013a, b; Fomichev & Marusik 2011; Kronestedt & Marusik 2011; Levina & Mikhailov 2004; Marusik et al. 1996, 2004; Marusik, Logunov 2009; Trilikauskas 2012; Trilikauskas & Azarkina 2014; Trilikauskas & Ponomareva 2013; Volynkin et al. 2011), of which 15 belong to the genus Alopecosa Simon, 1885. The aim of the present work is to describe a new species of Alopecosa collected recently from Altai Republic. Despite doubts on the limits of the genus, the species we describe here is similar to the type species of the genus, Alopecosa fabrilis (Clerck, 1757), and thus indeed belongs to the genus Alopecosa. The type material has been deposited in the collections of the Institute of Systematics and Ecology of Animals SB RAS, Novosibirsk, Russia (ISEA; curator—G. N. Azarkina) and the Manchester Museum, University of Manchester, UK (MMUE; curator—D. V. Logunov). Photographs were taken in a dish with paraffin at the bottom. Specimens were photographed using an AxioCam MRc5 (Zeiss) camera attached to a Zeiss Stemi 2000-C stereomicroscope in the ISEA. Digital images were prepared using “Helicon focus 3.10” image stacking software. Epigynes were macerated in KOHwater solution and then examined in submerged in ethanol. The terminology follows Logunov (2010). The following comparative material was used: Alopecosa kasakhstanica Saveljeva, 1972: 4♂ 1♀ (ISEA 001.7796), RUSSIA, Novosibirsk Region, Iskitim Distr., Koynicha River valley, 1 km S from Koynicha Village. (54°33’22”N, 83°15’14”E), stony steppe slope with rocks, 140 m, 28.09.2014 (A.A. Fomichev, A.P. Chernyshov). Alopecosa fabrilis (Clerck, 1757): 1♂ (MMUE G7512.2141), [UK, no exact locality], meadow heath, 09.1962, P. Merrett; 1 ♂ 3 ♀ (MMUE G7502.425), [UK, no exact locality and date], A. La Touche. Abbreviations used in the text and figures: Leg segments: Fe—femur, Pt—patella, Mt—metatarsus, Ta—tarsus, Ti—tibia. Leg spination: d—dorsal, p—prolateral, r—retrolateral, v—ventral. Eye sizes and inter-distances: ALE—anterior lateral eyes, AME—anterior median eyes, PLE—posterior lateral eyes, PME—posterior median eyes. All measurements are in mm. Length of leg segments was measured on their dorsal side. While describing leg spination, apical spines on metatarsi were not counted.