New data on the least known zelotines (Araneae, Gnaphosidae) of Greece and adjacent regions
In this paper six of the least or poorly known zelotine species from Greece belonging to the genera Trachyzelotes (2) and Zelotes (4) are presented. Following the examination of material from several islands in the East Mediterranean Sea, Trachyzelotes stubbsi Platnick & Murphy, 1984 is critically distinguished from T. adriaticus (Caporiacco, 1953). The examination of old material lead to the taxonomic re-evaluation of several poorly known species in the area of Greece and adjacent regions. Based on these studies, three new synonymies are proposed: Z. ilotarum Simon, 1884 as a new synonym of Z. cingarus (O. P.Cambridge, 1874) and Z. balcanicus Deltshev, 2006 and Z. baram Levy, 2009 as new synonyms of Z. argoliensis (C.L. Koch, 1839). Furthermore, a species from Crete closely associated to Z. ilotarum is represented and considered as a new species, Z. helicoides n.sp. Among the species listed above, T. stubbsi is a new record for the Greek territory, while Z. olympi (Kulczyński, 1903) is excluded from the Greek list of spiders based on the present knowledge of its distribution.