Heliophanus (Helafricanus) heurtaultae, Rollard & Wesołowska, 2002

Rollard, Christine & Wesołowska, Wanda, 2002, Jumping spiders (Arachnida, Araneae, Salticidae) from the Nimba Mountains in Guinea, Zoosystema 24 (2), pp. 283-307 : 293-296

Heliophanus (Helafricanus) heurtaultae n. sp. ( Figs 8 ; 9 )

TYPE MATERIAL. — Holotype: Pierré Richaud, 1200- 1350 m a.s.l., under low vegetation, 23.III.1991, leg. C. Rollard,; paratypes: Sempéré, 1600 m a.s.l., under stones, 8.III.1991, leg. C. Rollard, 1, 2, 1 juv. — Road to Zouguépo , 1360 m a.s.l., meadow, 8-9.VIII.1951, leg. M. Lamotte & R. Roy , 1. — Pierré Richaud , 1600 m a.s.l., meadow, autumn 1951, leg. M. Lamotte & R. Roy , 1, 1 juv. — Same locality, on ground and low vegetation, 27.XI.1961, leg. P. Aguesse & M. Lamotte, 1. — Mountain Richard Mollard , 1600 m a.s.l., 9.XI.1951, leg. M. Lamotte & R. Roy , 1, 3 juv. — Mountain Richard Mollard , 1650 m a.s.l., on rock, 21.III.1991, leg. C. Rollard, 1. — Between Grand Rocher and Mountain Richard Mollard , 1620 m a.s.l., on ground, 20.III.1991, leg. C. Rollard, 1, 2 juv. — Grand Rocher, 1550 m a.s.l., 13.III.1991, leg. C. Rollard, 1, 1 juv. — Nion crest, 1380 m a.s.l., under stones, 16.III.1991, leg.

A B

C. Rollard, 1. — Mountain Leclerc, 1550 m a.s.l., under vegetation, 23.III.1991, leg. C. Rollard, 1. — Mountain Tô, 1620 m a.s.l., 10.III.1991, leg. C. Rollard, 3, 2.

ETYMOLOGY. — This species is dedicated to the late Dr Jacqueline Heurtault, general secretary of the CIDA (International Society of Arachnology) for many years, curator of Arachnida at the Natural History Museum in Paris and a prominent authority on pseudoscorpions.

DIAGNOSIS. — The male may be separated from other species of the subgenus Helafricanus with three tibial apophyses by the form of the embolus, the shape of the apophyses and lack of a process at the cymbium base. The female is rather difficult to distinguish, but this species has shorter seminal ducts than similar species.

DESCRIPTION

Male. Measurements: carapace length 1.5-1.6, width 1.1, height 0.6. Abdomen length 1.5-1.7, width 1.0-1.1. Eye field length 0.8, anterior width 1.0, posterior width 1.0. Small spider. Carapace dark, almost black, clothed in prostrate thin brown hairs. Brown bristles near eyes. Chelicerae dark brown. Labium, maxillae and sternum brown. Abdomen blackish, covered with dark hairs. Venter dark. Spinnerets brownish. Legs dark brown, their hairs dark. Pedipalps brown. Three tibial apophyses, ventrodistal on very thin, spine-shaped ( Fig. 8 A-D). Patellar apophysis wide and truncated ( Fig. 8 B-D).

Female. Measurements: carapace length 1.7-1.9, width 1.3, height 0.6-0.7. Abdomen length 2.2- 2.6, width 1.4-1.6. Eye field length 0.7-0.8, anterior width 1.0, posterior width 1.1. Slightly larger than male. Carapace brown, ocular area black. Prostrate dense brown and grey hairs cover carapace, long bristles near eyes. Chelicerae and labium brown, maxillae light brown with pale tips, sternum yellow. Abdomen russet, with thin whitish line on anterior margin and traces of yellowish irregular median stripe. Venter light, in some specimens with wide dark streak medially. Dense brown hairs on dorsal surface of abdomen. Spinnerets brown. Legs yellow, sometimes lateral surfaces of femora and terminal ends of patellae and tibiae brownish. Epigyne with large central depression ( Fig. 9B ). Internal structures shown in Fig. 9C, D.

REMARKS

This species belongs to the marshalli group species within the subgenus Helafricanus .

Figures

FIG. 8. — Heliophanus heurtaultae n. sp., paratypes; A, B, palpal organ, ventral views; C, D, palpal organ, retrolateral views; E, palpal organ, dorsal view; F, palpal femur. Scale bar: 0.2 mm.

FIG. 9. — Heliophanus heurtaultae n. sp., paratypes; A, B, epigynes; C, D, internal structure of epigynes. Scale bar: A, B, 0.2 mm; C, D, 0.1 mm.