Arachnologische Mitteilungen 57

Arachnologische Mitteilungen / Arachnology Letters 57: 1-3 Karlsruhe, April 2019 The genus Saitis (Araneae: Salticidae) is represented by six species in Europe and 32 species worldwide (Nentwig et al. 2018,World Spider Catalog 2018).The European species in- clude S. ariadneae Logunov, 2001, S. barbipes (Simon, 1868), S. graecus Kulczyński, 1905, S. imitatus (Simon, 1868), S. sen- gleti (Metzner, 1999) and S. tauricus Kulczyński, 1905. For Italy, only S. barbipes (Simon, 1868) is known so far; S. imi- tatus was omitted in Pantini & Isaia (2018) because, besides Simon (1871), no recent record is known and its unconfirmed listing for Italy might be due to mistakes in localisation and from regions of Dalmatia (Croatia) that were formerly part of Italy (Dobroruka 2004). For the northernmost province of Italy, Bozen – South Tyrol, S. barbipes was reported from multiple observations (FloraFaunaSüdtirol 2018). Here we present the first findings of another species of the genus Saitis , S. tauricus Kulczyński, 1905, for South Tyrol and for Italy. In the last two decades, since the last published checklist (Noflatscher 1996), over 200 new species records of Araneae for South Tyrol were made (e.g. Ballini & Steinberger 2009, Stauder et al. 2010, Ballini et al. 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, Ballini unpubl.). This includes mostly species already known from neighbouring countries such as Austria and Switzerland [e.g., Linyphiidae: Erigone dentigera O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1874, Thyreosthenius biova- tus (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1875), Lycosidae: Pardosa agrestis (Westring, 1861), Araneidae: Leviellus stroemi (Thorell, 1870), Gnaphosidae; Parasyrisca vinosa (Simon, 1878), Philodro- midae; Thanatus arenarius (L. Koch, 1873)], invasive Medi- terranean species coming from the South [e.g., Zoropsidae: Zoropsis spinimana (Dufour, 1820)] or imported species [e.g., Salticidae: Hasarius adansoni (Audouin, 1826), Dictynidae: Cicurina japonica (Simon, 1886)]. Material and methods Three of the four specimens of S. tauricus were stored in 75 % ethanol until identification under the stereo microscope (Lei- ca M205 C); the fourth specimen was identified alive by hol- ding it in place between cotton in a glass tube. Photos of the left pedipalp were made using a microscope camera (Motic Moticam 5 and the software Motic Images Plus 3.0) and combining 15 photos with stacking software (Helicon Focus version 6.0). Habitus photos of a live specimen were taken by Andreas Hilpold (Canon EOS 5d Mark II). Results Saitis tauricus Kulczyński, 1905 (Fig. 1a–d) Material. ITALY, South Tyrol: Bozen/Bolzano, main buil- ding of Eurac Research – Institute for Alpine Environment, 46.4945°N, 11.3461°E, 3 )) , collected manually by chance 15.11.2016, 24.05.2017 and 31.05.2018, leg. M. Steinwand- ter, collection Museum of Nature South Tyrol, Bozen/Bolza- no, Italy (2 )) , N o s. ARV 4459, ARV 4990) and 1 ) coll. S. Ballini. Meran/Merano, train station of Untermais/Maia Bassa, 46.6561° N, 11.1483° E, 1 ) , collected by chance on 11.04.2017, leg. S. Ballini. Determination. Metzner (1999) Distribution. Saitis tauricus is known from Hungary (Szita et al. 2004), on the Balkan Penisula from Bulgaria (Deltshev & Blagoev 2001), Macedonia (Komnenov 2005) and Greece (Deltshev & Paraschi 1990, Metzner 1999), from the Mar- mara Region/Turkey (Topçu et al. 2005, Uyar & Uğurtaş 2012) and from Crimea/Ukraine (Kuvblyuk et al. 2016); see van Helsdingen (2018) and World Spider Catalog (2018). To date, no record is known from Italy (Pantini & Isaia 2018). Habitat. Three of the four findings were made between No- vember 2016 and May 2018 close to the city centre of the capital Bozen/Bolzano, in the main building of Eurac Re- search – Institute for Alpine Environment. These occasional records were found on walls and floors close to offices. Spe- cimens were discovered as they were walking on computer screens and separation walls.One further specimen was found First records of Saitis tauricus (Araneae: Salticidae) from Italy in South Tyrol Michael Steinwandter, Simone Ballini & Alexander Rief doi: 10.30963/aramit560 doi: 10.30963/aramit5701 Abstract. From 2016 to 2018, four males of Saitis tauricus Kulczyński, 1905 were recorded in the northernmost province of Italy, Bozen – South Tyrol. These findings were made by chance in urban areas of the capital city of Bozen/Bolzano and the city of Meran/Merano, and represent the first findings of this species for South Tyrol and Italy. No females were recorded so far. Photos of the habitus and pedipalps are given. We assume that the specimens could have been imported several times from Balkan countries such as Bulgaria, Greece, Mace- donia andTurkey, or fromHungary. They may have formed a short-time population of S. tauricus for SouthTyrol, as the findings of the ma- les were made in three consecutive years. These findings are very similar to those of S. barbipes in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. More investigations are needed to understand how this species arrived in the area of South Tyrol and if it has established successfully. Keywords: Alto Adige, Eurac Research, imported species, jumping spider, new findings, Saitis barbipes Zusammenfassung. Erste Nachweise von Saitis tauricus (Araneae: Salticidae) in Italien aus Südtirol. Von 2016 bis 2018 wurden vier Männchen von Saitis tauricus Kulczyński, 1905 in der nördlichsten Provinz Italiens, Bozen – Südtirol, nachgewiesen. Diese Zufallsfunde wurden in urbanen Gegenden in der Hauptstadt Bozen und in der Stadt Meran gemacht und stellen die ersten Funde für Südtirol und Italien dar. Es wurden bis jetzt keine Weibchen nachgewiesen. Fotos des Habitus und der Pedipalpen werden präsentiert. Wir nehmen an, dass die Art mehrmals aus Balkanstaaten wie Bulgarien, Griechenland, Mazedonien und Türkei, oder aus Ungarn importiert wurde. Es könnten sich kurzfristig etablierte Populationen von S. tauricus gebildet haben, da die Funde in drei aufeinanderfolgenden Jahren erfolgten. Diese Funde sind mit Nachweisen von S. barbipes in Deutschland, Belgien und den Niederlanden vergleichbar. Weitere Unter- suchungen sind nötig, um zu verstehen wie die Individuen nach Südtirol gekommen sind und ob sie sich erfolgreich etabliert haben. Michael STEINWANDTER, Institute for Alpine Environment, Eurac Research, Viale Druso 1, 39100 Bozen/Bolzano, Italy; E-mail: michael.steinwandter@eurac.edu Simone BALLINI, Gartenstraße 8A, 39010 Gargazon/Gargazzone, Italy; E-mail: simone.ballini@gmx.at Alexander RIEF, Hechenbergweg 11, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria; E-mail: alexander.rief@chello.at submitted 3.8.2018, accepted 18.12.2018, online 20.2.2019