New Synonymy of Tegecoelotes mizuyamae (Araneae: Agelenidae: Coelotinae) from Japan

Abstract

The classification of two coelotine species from Japan is reviewed. Comparison of the male and female copulatory organs of multiple specimens of Tegecoelotes mizuyamae Ono, 2008 and T. echigonis Nishikawa, 2009, including the type specimens, and phylogenetic analyses based on partial sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I are presented. The results show that the morphology of the copulatory organs is highly similar between the two species in both sexes. Molecular phylogenetic analyses, including phylogenetic trees and p-distances, also revealed no significant genetic differentiation between them. Therefore, the two species should be regarded as conspecific.