Marusik Yu.M.1, Nekhaeva A.A.2, Koponen S.3 2019. On four sibling Erigone species occurring in the Arctic (Aranei: Linyphiidae) // Arthropoda Selecta. Vol.28. No.1: 135–146 [in English].
1 Institute for Biological Problems of the North RAS, Portovaya Str. 18, Magadan 685000, Russia. E-mail: yurmar@mail.ru
2 A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, Leninsky prospekt 33, Moscow 119071, Russia.
3 Zoological Museum, Biodiversity Unit, FI-20014 University of Turku, Finland.
doi: 10.15298/arthsel. 28.1.12
ABSTRACT. Four similar species belonging to the Erigone longipalpis group and cooccurring in the tundra zone are illustrated and diagnosed: E. arcticola Chamberlin et Ivie, 1947, E. hypoarctica Eskov, 1989, E. longipalpis (Sundevall, 1830) and E. remota L. Koch, 1869. Their distribution is commented on, all of the species have disjunctive ranges, either west-east, or north-south. Study of size variations of all four species, each taken from a single population, revealed that E. arcticola, E. hypoarctica and E. longipalpis can be differentiated by carapace length / femur I length ratios. Erigone remota displays a high level of size variation, overlapping with all three other species.
KEY WORDS: Araneae, spider, Erigoninae, tundra, distribution, shore communities, size variation.