SREL Reprint #2329

Sougambus georgiensis Chamberlin & Ivie, a junior synonym of Goneatara platyrhinus (Crosby & Bishop) (Araneae, Linyphiidae, Erigoninae)

Michael L. Draney

Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Drawer E, Aiken, South Carolina 29802

Introduction: Sougarmbus georgiensis Chamberlin & Ivie 1944 has not been collected since it was described from a series of females (Chamberlin & Ivie 1944). After trapping a female at Jackson, South Carolina which matched the description of S. georgiensis, I was hopeful that extensive pitfall trapping I was then conducting would turn up the male of the species. However, collecting a female in conjunction with males of Goneatara platyrhinus (Crosby & Bishop 1927) in Barnwell County, South Carolina suggested that these specimens could be conspecific.
The most direct method of demonstrating this putative synonymy, comparison of female type material of both species, is unfortunately not possible: the type material of G. platyrhinus (originally described as Oedothorax by Crosby & Bishop (1927) and subsequently transferred as the type of the new genus Goneatara by Bishop & Crosby (1935)) was never entered into the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) type catalog when the Cornell University Collection was moved there. These types are presumed lost. No material from the type locality has been located at AMNH, although the specimens from the three other records listed in the description (Crosby & Bishop 1927) were found. Unfortunately, the female material in these vials is inadequate for definite comparison. A female was missing from a vial from North Carolina and a vial from Pennsylvania contained only a single female without an abdomen. A third vial referenced in Crosby & Bishop (1927), from Virginia, contained only males. A vial of two females collected in Mississippi by H. Dietrich in 1930 represents the only complete females of G. platyrhinus at AMNH.   Because Dietrich and C.R. Crosby are sometimes listed as co-collectors of material in the Cornell University Collection, it might be assumed that Dietrich had access to authoritatively determined specimens of G. platyrhinus.

SREL Reprint #2329

Draney, M.L. 1997. Sougambus georgiensis Chamberlin & Ivie, a junior synonym of Goneatara platyrhinus (Crosby & Bishop) (Araneae, Linyphiidae, Erigoninae). The Journal of Arachnology 26:247-248.

This information was provided by the University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (srel.uga.edu).