Fecenia protensa Thorell, 1891

Bayer, Steffen, 2014, Seven new species of Psechrus and additional taxonomic contributions to the knowledge of the spider family Psechridae (Araneae), Zootaxa 3826 (1), pp. 1-54 : 41-42

Fecenia protensa Thorell, 1891

Figs 24 , 34

Fecenia protensa Thorell 1891: 31 (Description of subadult ♀). Levi 1982: 136 (Synonymy with F. macilenta [Simon 1885]) . Bayer 2011: 29 , figs 55–70, 98–99, 108–110, 119 (Removed from synonymy with F. macilenta ; Description and illustration of ♂ and ♀).

Fecenia travancoria Pocock 1899: 750 (Description of ♀). Lehtinen 1967: 234 (Synonymy with F. macilenta ). Murphy 1986: 65 (Removed from synonymy with F. macilenta ). Bayer 2011: 36 , figs 71–78, 111–113 (Description and illustration of ♀). Malamel et al. 2013: 360, figs 1, 2a–c, 3a–c, 4a–b, 5a–b, 6–10, 11a–b, 12a–b, 13a–b, 14a–b, 15 (Synonymy with F. protensa ).

Fecenia sumatrana Kulczyński 1908: 568 , pl. 23, fig. 20 (Description and illustration of ♀). Bayer 2011: 30 (Synonymy with F. protensa ).

Psechrus nicobarensis Tikader 1977: 208 , fig. 27A–E (Description and illustration of ♂ and ♀). Bayer 2011: 31 (Synonymy with F. p rot e n s a).

Fecenia nicobarensis— Levi 1982: 138 (Transfer from Psechrus ). Bayer 2011: 31 (Synonymy with F. protensa , see above).

Fecenia macilenta— Levi 1982: 136 , figs 83–87, ad part, figs 83, 86–87 misidentified (figs 83 & 86–87: Illustration of subadult ♀ & ♀). Koh 1989: 76, figure embedded in the text (Illustration of ♀, misidentified).

Psechrus alticeps— Jose & Sebastian 2001: 304 , fig.1 (Description and illustration of ♂ & ♀, misidentified).

Material examined (1 ♀): VIETNAM: Quang Ninh Prov., Yen Tu Mountain, pilgrim trail, 21°08'30''– 21°09'08''N, 106°43'17''– 106°43'14''E, 200–500 m, evergreen forest, P. Schwendinger leg. 27.– 29.V.2012, sample number VN-12/09 , 1 ♀ ( SB 1239 ), MHNG.

Remarks. The female listed above (SB 1239) is of special interest for two reasons: it is larger than all F. protensa females previously examined; additionally, the character states of its copulatory organ are intermediate between F. protensa and F. travancoria Pocock, 1899 (the latter species was recently proposed as junior synonym of the former, see taxonomic remark, below). Hence, a detailed description of SB 1239 is provided here.

Description. Female (measurements and character patterns listed in Bayer 2011 are here partly included; spination is highly variable within all Fecenia species, consequently the most common of the many different patterns are listed here with all patterns for each limb in parentheses, except that for patellae which are always spineless). Body and eye measurements: Carapace length 3.3–6.1, maximal carapace width 1.9–3.9, anterior width of carapace 1.6–2.8, opisthosoma length 5.5–9.9, opisthosoma width 2.4–4.7. Eyes: AME 0.22–0.31, ALE 0.15–0.22, PME 0.17–0.23, PLE 0.16–0.25, AME–AME 0.19–0.26, AME–ALE 0.10–0.18, PME–PME 0.23–0.31, PME–PLE 0.29–0.49, AME–PME 0.23–0.29, ALE–PLE 0.16–0.19, clypeus height at AME 0.33–0.43, clypeus height at ALE 0.29–0.38.

Cheliceral furrow with three promarginal and four retromarginal teeth. Palpal claw with 8–11 (SB1239: 10) teeth.

Spination: Palp: (110,120,121), (110,000,010), (0100,0000,0010), (1004,1003,1012). Legs: femur I (310,312,320,301), II (310,312,320,212), III (011,012,021,122), IV (020,021,012,120); patella I–IV 000; tibia I (3006,2006,3005), II (3006,3004,2006), III (0023,0014,0013), IV (0024,0013,0023); metatarsus I–II (2025,2015,2035), III (1024,1022,2015), IV (1014,1015,1025).

Measurements of palp and legs: Palp 3.5–6.5 [1.2–2.3, 0.6–1.1, 0.6–1.1, 1.1–2.0], I 19.2–35.9 [4.8–9.7, 1.5–2.7, 5.4–10.1, 5.1–9.5, 2.4–3.9], II 11.3–22.5 [3.0–6.1, 1.1–2.2, 3.1–6.3, 2.7–5.3, 1.4–2.6], III 7.1–13.3 [2.1–3.8, 0.8–1.7, 1.8–3.3, 1.5–2.9, 0.9–1.6], IV 10.7–20.0 [2.8–5.5, 1.1–2.1, 3.1–5.6, 2.5–4.7, 1.2–2.1]. Leg formula: 1243.

Colouration (see also description for Fecenia in Bayer 2011, p. 9): Parallel light patches ventrally on dark opisthosoma elongated oval. Median band on carapace darker than adjacent areas. Median band slightly constricted in area of fovea. Carapace laterally with dark bands, these half as broad as the median band.

Intraspecific variation of female copulatory organs. The epigyne of the adult female examined (SB 1239, Figs 24 A,C) generally corresponds to that of other females of Fecenia protensa . However SB 1239 lacks the pointed distal section of the median folding of the transversal ridge of the median septum ( Fig. 24 A). Females with this variation have also been reported from other parts of the species’ distribution. The borderline between the strongly sclerotised section and the transparent section of the internal duct system is neither transversal like in the holotype of Fecenia sumatrana Kulczyński, 1908 (ca. 15°) as illustrated in Bayer (2011, fig. 56) nor longitudinal like in the holotype of F. travancoria Pocock, 1899 (ca. 75°) ( Bayer 2011, fig. 77), but intermediate (ca. 45°) ( Figs 24 B,D).

Taxonomic remarks. This intermediate orientation of the borderline between the strongly sclerotised section and the transparent section of the internal duct system of SB 1239 (see above) provides additional evidence that F. travancoria is indeed a junior synonym of F. protensa like proposed by Malamel et al. (2013).

Distribution. India (also Nicobar Islands), Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia (Sumatra, Borneo, Bali) (distribution in continental South East Asia is shown in Fig. 34 ).

Figures

FIGURE 24. Fecenia protensa, female SB 1239, MHNG, from Yen Tu, Quang Ninh Prov., Vietnam: copulatory organ. A. Epigyne, ventral view. B. Vulva, dorsal view. C. Epigyne, ventral view, photographical image. D. Vulva, dorsal view, photographical image. AML: Anterior margin of lateral lobe; AS: Anterior part of median septum; BL: Borderline between SSI and TSI; EF: Epigynal field; EM: Epigynal muscle sigilla; FD: Fertilisation duct; LL: Lateral lobe; PS: Posterior part of median septum; SHA: Spermathecal head area; SO: Slit sense organ; SSI: Strongly sclerotised section of internal duct system; TR: Transversal ridge (edge) of median septum; TSI: Transparent section of internal duct system.

FIGURE 34. Distribution of some Psechrus spp. and of Fecenia protensa in continental Southeast Asia.