Selenops juxtlahuaca, Valdez-Mondragon, 2007

MONDRAGÓN, ALEJANDRO VALDEZ, 2007, A new species of the selenopid crab-spider genus Selenops Latreille, 1819 (Araneae: Selenopidae) from Guerrero, Mexico, Zootaxa 1449 (1), pp. 65-68 : 65-68

Selenops juxtlahuaca sp. nov.

Figures 1 –8

Type material. Holotype: male, from near entrance of the caves named Grutas de Juxtlahuaca , 938 m, 5 km northwest of the town of Colotlipa, 59 km southeast of Chilpancingo, [17° 26’ 32.4” N, 99° 09’ 57.0”, Guerrero, Municipaly of Quechultenango, Mexico], 17 January 2006, Valdez, A. and Montaño, H. (CNAN T0239 ).

Paratypes: 1 male, 2 females, 7 immatures, 9 and 15 September 2005, same locality as holotype (CNAN T0240 - T0244 ) .

Etymology. The specific name is a noun in apposition and refers to the type locality.

Diagnosis. Males can be distinguished by the unique shape of VTA which points towards the base of the RTA, and by the thin and short conductor with curved form in his distal part ( Figs 4, 5 ). Females can be distinguished by the epigynum with two heavily chitinized structures anteriorly and by the middle field which extends beyond the epigastric furrow ( Figs 7, 8 ).

Description. Male (Holotype). Total length 10, prosoma 4.8 long and 4.8 wide. Prosoma pale orange, circular, with a projection to the anterior portion ( Fig. 1 ). Chelicerae oblique, pale orange like the prosoma, with a white spot on prolateral face and dark spots in front of each chelicera ( Fig. 2 ). Promargin of the chelicerae with three teeth, the middle one bigger; retromargin with two teeth of equal length ( Fig. 3 ). Size of clypeus a little more than half of diameter of AME ( Fig. 2 ). AER and PER with four eyes. Diameter of PLE 0.5, ALE 0.2, AME 0.3 and PME 0.4. AME–ALE 0.5. PME– PLE 0.5. Sternum circular, pale orange. Coxae long. Opisthosoma pale grey. Leg lengths: I femur 5.5/ patella 2.3/ tibia 5.3/ metatarsus 5.3/ tarsus 3.2/ total 21.6. II 6.2/ 2.3/ 5.6/ 5.5/ 3.0/ 22.6. III 6.5/ 2.2/ 5.5/ 5.6/ 3.0/ 22.8. IV 6.5/ 1.9/ 5.7/ 5.8/ 3.1/ 23.0. Leg formula: 4-3-2-1. Legs grey, coxae and trochanters lighter, patellae, tibiae, metatarsi and tarsi darker. Ventral spines formula: Tibiae I and II 2+2+2, tibiae III and IV 2+2; metatarsi I-IV 2+2. Femura lighter ventrally. All leg segments with irregular dark spots. RTA longer than tibia ( Fig. 4 ). Embolus short, almost half of the bulb length ( Fig. 4 ).

Female (Paratype). Total length 12, prosoma 5.3 long and 5.3 wide. Prosoma circular, dark orange ( Fig. 6 ). Chelicerae teeth and clypeus as in the male. Diameter of PLE 0.5, ALE 0.2, AME 0.3 and PME 0,4. AME – ALE 0.5. PME – PLE 0.5. Sternum, coxae and form and coloration of the opisthosoma similar to the male. Leg lengths: I femur 5.1/ patella 2.4/ tibia 4.5/ metatarsus 4.15/ tarsus 2.3/ total 18.45. II 5.9/ 2.5/ 4.8/ 4.4/ 2.3/ 19.9. III 6.1/ 2.2/ 5.0/ 4.5/ 2.3/ 20.1. IV 6.0/ 2.1/ 5.2/ 4.7/ 2.3/ 20.3. Leg formula: 4-3-2-1. Legs orange, patellae, tibiae, metatarsi and tarsi darker. Femora pale ventrally. All leg segments with irregular dark spots, well marked on tibiae and metatarsi. Ventral spines formula as in the male. Genital openings in the anterior portion of the middle field ( Fig. 7 ). Oval and separated spermathecae with solid copulatory ducts ( Fig. 8 ) .

Distribution. Known only for the type locality.

Remarks. Selenops juxtlahuaca sp. nov. can be included in the debilis group, by having a leg formula 4-3-2-1, the shape of the tibial apophyses ( Fig. 4 ), and by the shape of the epigynum with a subquadate middle field ( Fig. 7 ). Six mexican species belong to the debilis group: Selenops abyssus Muma, 1953 ; S. actophilus Chamberlin, 1924 ; S. debilis Banks, 1898 ; S. lepidus Muma, 1953 ; S. nesophilus Chamberlin, 1924 ; and S. scitus Muma, 1953 . Locus typicus of the latter is located in Guerrero State.

Selenops juxtlahuaca sp. nov. resembles S. actophilus in the general shape of the tibial apophyses, but in the new species the VTA has a projection towards the base of the RTA. The conductor of S. juxtlahuaca is smaller and thinner than that of S. actophilus . The females of S. juxtlahuaca differ from those of S. actophilus in the shape of the middle field with a posterior projections to the epigastric furrow.

Acknowledgements. Thanks are due to: Dra. Gabriela Castaño Meneses, Laboratorio de Ecología y Sistemática de Microartrópodos, Facultad de Ciencias, UNAM for the field work support; to Dr. Oscar Francke for the revision of the manuscript and his guidance; and to the Colección Nacional de Arácnidos (CNAN) Instituto de Biología, IBUNAM, for their support; to the microarachnologist and friend Héctor Montaño Moreno, for his great help in the field work; and to J. A. Corronca for help with the literature and his advice on spider taxonomy.

ALEJANDRO VALDEZ MONDRAGÓN Colección Nacional de Arácnidos (CNAN), Departamento de Zoología, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). Apto. Postal 70-153, C.P. 04510, Ciudad Universitaria, Distrito Federal, México. E-mail: [e-mail]

Figures

FIGURES 1–5. Selenops juxtlahuaca sp. nov. Male: 1 Prosoma and opisthosoma, dorsal view; 2 Prosoma, frontal view; 3 Left quelicera, teeth of promargin and retromargin; 4 Left palp, ventral view; 5 Left palp, retrolateral view.

FIGURES 6–8. Selenops juxtlahuaca sp. nov. Female: 6 Prosoma and opisthosoma, dorsal view; 7 Epigynum, ventral view; 8 epigynum, dorsal view.