A new species of Langelurillus Próchniewicz, 1994 (Araneae, Salticidae, Aelurillina) from western India

A new jumping spider species, Langelurillus tertius sp. nov. (♂♀), is described from the Ajanta and Sathmala hill ranges of the Deccan plateau in Maharashtra (India). Detailed description, illustrations, and a map showing the distribution of all known Indian congeners are provided.


Introduction
Langelurillus Próchniewicz, 1994, a genus of grounddwelling jumping spiders, includes 20 known species distributed in the Afrotropical (18 species) and Indian (2 species) regions (WSC 2022). Of the 20 species, eight are described based on both sexes, five based only on males, and seven based only on females; furthermore, 13 of these species are known only from their respective type localities (Logunov and Azarkina 2018). In India, the genus was first recorded from the western states of Maharashtra and Gujarat in 2017, with the description of two species from dry deciduous forest patches (Sanap et al. 2017). Both Indian species, namely L. lacteus Sanap, Joglekar &Caleb, 2017 andL. onyx Caleb, Sanap, Joglekar &Prajapati, 2017, are known solely based on males. Here, we describe another Langelurillus species based on both sexes from Maharashtra.

Materials and methods
Specimens were hand collected and preserved in 70% ethanol. Images of live specimens were captured with a Canon 60D with 60 mm macro lens. Morphological examination of the specimens was done with the help of Labovision KS f2000 model stereomicroscope. The male pedipalp was removed, examined and photographed. The female genitalia was dissected and cleared in 10% KOH. Leg measurements are given as follows: total length (femur, patella, tibia, metatarsus, tarsus). All measurements are in mm. Distributional map was prepared using QGIS software. The type specimens are deposited in the research collection of National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.
Etymology. The name is derived from Latin for third ('tertius') indicating that this is the third Langelurillus species described from India.
Diagnosis. Males of L. tertius sp. nov. can be recognized by the small, thin slightly hook-shaped RTA; females by the simple, round copulatory openings; vertically oriented spermathecae, on which ducts have three loops (Fig. 3B-H).
Natural history. The new species was found inhabiting rocky patches in scrubland habitat. But they appear to be more common in forest patches than open scrubland. We often observed them perching on small rocks or dry leaf on the forest floor, where forest cover is up to 60-70%.
Langelurillus was confined to the Afrotropics until the recent discovery of two species from the Indian subcontinent (Sanap et al. 2017). At present, a greater diversity of Langelurillus (18 species) has been recorded from the Afrotropics (WSC 2022) similar to the case of the genus Stenaelurillus Simon (32 species). While Stenaelurillus has a few representatives in the Palaearctic region and Southeast Asia, Langelurillus has none as yet; this may be because the aelurilline fauna of Southeast Asia is rather poorly studied (Logunov and Azarkina 2018). All three Indian species are known from localities falling within a radius of ~300 km.
Langelurillus tertius sp. nov. is the third member of the genus described from a largely unexplored region in northern Maharashtra. More extensive fieldwork and molecular analyses would unveil the true Langelurillus diversity in India.