Ixchela, HUBER, 2000

HUBER, BERNHARD A., 2000, New World Pholcid Spiders (Araneae: Pholcidae): A Revision At Generic Level, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2000 (254), pp. 1-348 : 150-153

IXCHELA , NEW GENUS

TYPE SPECIES: Coryssocnemis furcula F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1902 .

ETYMOLOGY: The generic name is derived from Ixchel, the Yucatec goddess of divination, midwifery, and curing, who was identified with the spider. Gender feminine.

DIAGNOSIS: Large (total length usually ~ 6 9 mm), dark, eight-eyed pholcids, with relatively long, robust legs and high opisthosoma; distinguished from all other pholcids by the distinctive roundish outgrowth prolateroventrally on the palpal bulb (see fig. 43 in Huber, 1998b); from the somewhat similar genus Physocyclus (which occurs in the same geographic area) by the slender, tapering procursus and the absence of numerous cones on the male chelicerae.

DESCRIPTION: Total length usually ~ 6 9 mm. Carapace with thoracic groove sometimes slightly widened anteriorly into de- pression resembling pit of some other genera ( Holocnemus group, Physocyclus , Artema ); ocular area moderately elevated, with eight eyes, AME smallest; distance PME-ALE large (~ 100% of PME diameter). Male clypeus unmodified. Male chelicerae with pair of frontal apophyses [ I. furcula, pecki (Gertsch) ], or rounded protrusions [ I. simoni (O. Pickard-Cambridge) ], or both [ I. abernathyi (Gertsch) ]; without stridulatory ridges laterally. Male sternum without humps. Male palpal coxa with retrolateral apophysis, femur with retrolateral apophysis proximally, in some species ( I. furcula, pecki, simoni ) with tiny ventral protrusion distally (see fig. 44 in Huber, 1998b); procursus very simple, bulb with distal spines and distinctive prolateroventral roundish protrusion. Tarsal organ exposed (examined: I. furcula : fig. 92). Legs relatively long, very robust (leg 1 about 6 9 × total length; tibia 1 l/d about 30 40), leg formula 1423 (leg 4 only slightly longer than leg 2); legs without spines, without curved and vertical hairs; retrolateral trichobothrium of tibia 1 at ~ 7 8%; tarsus 1 with ~ 40 very distinct pseudosegments. Opisthosoma high, either rounded or angular posteriorly, with large dark spots dorsally, often also with white spots. Male gonopore without epiandrous spigots (examined: I. furcu- la). ALS with only one piriform gland spigot each (examined: I. furcula ), other spinnerets typical for family.

Sexual dimorphism slight; epigynum prominent, with conspicuous protrusions, paired or unpaired.

MONOPHYLY: The species included share the unique prolateroventral protrusion on the genital bulb. Also, the almost identical overall shape of the entire male pedipalp in all known species strongly supports the monophyly of the group.

GENERIC RELATIONSHIPS: This genus shares several apomorphies with typical New World genera (exposed tarsal organ, male palpal coxa with retrolateral apophysis, male gonopore without epiandrous spigots, ALS with only one piriform gland spigot each, large PME-ALE distance). It particularly resembles Aymaria in overall shape, but no synapomorphies are known to me that would link the two genera, or that link Ixchela with any other sister group.

DISTRIBUTION: Widely distributed from northeastern Mexico to Nicaragua (see below).

COMPOSITION: The genus as construed here includes the five named species listed below, all of which were previously included in Coryssocnemis Simon. I have seen the types of all of these, and some unpublished material in the AMNH. Apart from that I have seen one undescribed species from Nicaragua, Matagalpa, Fuente Pura, 13 deposited in Museo Entomologico Nicaraguense, León, Nicaragua.

Ixchela abernathyi (Gertsch, 1971) , new combination

Coryssocnemis abernathyi Gertsch, 1971: 56 57, figs. 19 22. Gertsch, 1973: 147.

This species is widely distributed in northeastern Mexico (San Luis Potosí, Tamaulipas, Nuevo León).

Ixchela furcula (F. O. Pickard-Cambridge,

1902),

new combination Coryssocnemis furcula F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1902: 371 ; pl. 35, figs. 8, 8a b. Kraus, 1955: 14; pl. 2, figs. 22 23. Huber, 1998b: 63 67, figs. 41 52; 1998d: fig. 3E. Known from Guatemala, Honduras, and El

Salvador.