A survey of the spider genus Ischnocolus Ausserer, 1871 (Aranei: Theraphosidae) in Israel, with description of a new species

The genus Ischnocolus Ausserer, 1871 is found to include three species represented in Israel: the recently described I. ignoratus Guadanucci et Wendt, 2014, I. meron sp.n. described herein, and an additional congener inhabiting the Negev Desert and known only from a subadult specimen (most likely, belonging to I. jickelii L. Koch, 1875). The new spe-cies differs from I. ignoratus as well as from other congeners by a specific configuration of the spermath-ecae and by integral leg tarsi I-IV lacking the trans-verse suture. Regarding the type series of I. ignoratus, a controversial information concering the collection data is discussed in detail. Ischnocolus meron sp.n. and I. ignoratus are diagnosed, depicted and (re)described; the data on their ecology and distribution are also pro-vided.