Taxonomic Study of Eriovixia panigrahii (Araneae: Araneidae) from Kalahandi, Odisha, India

Abstract

Eriovixia Archer, 1951 is a genus of the spider family Araneidae Clerck, 1757, with 35 named species occurring three species in Africa and thirty two species in Asia.Four Eriovixia species were identified during our survey in the hilly area of Kalahandi, Odisha; three were identified as Eriovixia laglaizei, Eriovixia excelsa, and Eriovixia poonaensis and one was a new species. The new one was described as Eriovixia panigrahisis based on morphological characters and the COI mitochondrial gene sequence. But the species epithet was corrected from Eriovixia panigrahisis to Eriovixia panigrahii by the World Spider Catalog and treated as a “nomen nudum”, as the original description did not designate type specimens and lacked genitalia descriptions. This study presents the revised and complete taxonomic description of Eriovixia panigrahii, based on both male and female holotypes. The holotype and paratypes are clearly designated, and detailed observations of genital morphology are provided. Key diagnostic characters are described to support accurate identification of the species. It also registered in ZooBank.