Tegenaria averni Brignoli 1978

Tegenaria averni Brignoli, 1978 Figs 8 D, E, 13 A – D Tegenaria averni Brignoli, 1978 a: 50, fig. 10 (♀). Tegenaria lazarovi Dimitrov, 2020: 48, figs 1–12 (♂ ♀). Syn. nov. Material. Turkiye: Mersin Prov.: • 2 ♂ 2 ♀ (ZMUT), Silifke, Cennet Cave, 36°26'12"N, 34°06'22"E, 20.09.2010 (Y. M. Marusik). Comments. Tegenaria averni was described based on a single female from Cennet Cave in Mersin (Brignoli 1978 a). In his review of the ariadnae species-group, Dimitrov (2020) described T. lazarovi based on material of both sexes collected in a cave in Mersin. Although the type locality of T. lazarovi is only 65 km away from that of T. averni, and both are in the same provincial district, T. averni is not mentioned in Dimitrov (2020) at all, likely due to a lack of males. Collection of material of both sexes at the type locality of T. averni revealed that these two populations are conspecific. Therefore, T. lazarovi syn. nov. is proposed as a junior synonym of T. averni. Distribution. Known only from two caves in Mersin Province, southern Turkiye.