Tylorida flava, Sankaran & Malamel & Joseph & Sebastian, 2017

Sankaran, Pradeep M., Malamel, Jobi J., Joseph, Mathew M. & Sebastian, Pothalil A., 2017, On the genus Tylorida Simon, 1894 with the first record of the genus Atelidea Simon, 1895 from India (Araneae: Tetragnathidae, Leucauginae), Zootaxa 4353 (2), pp. 294-326 : 296-297

Tylorida flava sp. nov.

( Figs 1A , 3A–F , 4A–H )

Type material. Holotype: Female ( ADSH 100451 ), INDIA: Kerala: Ernakulam, Koovappara in Bhoothathankettu Forest Reserve , 10o08'06.84''N, 76o39'39.84''E, 38 m alt. , 10 October 2013, M.S. Pradeep leg., from web, by hand; Paratype: 1 female, ( ADSH 100452 ), same data as holotype .

Additional material examined. INDIA, Kerala: Ernakulam, Cherukadu (10o08'22''N, 76o40'02''E) in Bhoothathankettu Forest Reserve, 37 m alt., 6 November 2013, M .S. Pradeep leg., from web, by hand: 2 females (ADSH 100453). Ernakulam, Illithodu, 10o11'55.94''N, 76o33'00.57''E, 24 m alt., 25 February 2014, M.S. Pradeep leg., from foliage, by hand: 1 female (ADSH 100454). Kottayam, Palai, Areeppara in Edappady , 9o42'35.62''N, 76o42'48.42''E, 27 m alt., 12 May 2014, M .S. Pradeep leg., from foliage, by hand: 1 female with egg sac (ADSH 100455). Ernakulam, Kothamangalam, Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary ( Thattekkadu Bird Sanctuary ), 10o07'48.3''N, 76o41'43.24''E, 96 m alt., 2 October 2014, M .S. Pradeep leg., from foliage, by hand: 1 female (ADSH 100456).

Diagnosis. Females of T. flava sp. nov. are most similar with the females of T. striata , but can be distinguished from the latter by the following combination of characters: Female opisthosoma oval with caudal tubercle and without shoulder humps (opisthosoma of female T. striata triangular with paired shoulder humps and without caudal tubercle), copulatory ducts with median twist less evident and less number of wrinkles (copulatory ducts of T. striata with sharp median twist and numerous wrinkles) and nearly uniformly enlarged spermathecal bulb ( T. striata with narrow spermathecal bulb) (compare Figs 3D–F , 4E–H with Figs 13D–F , 14E–F , Yin et al. 2012: fig. 216b–c). Females of T. flava sp. nov. can be separated from the females of T. ventralis , the common representative of the genus with high intraspecific variations by the following combination of characters: copulatory ducts large, equally wide along the entire length ( T. ventralis with short copulatory ducts with narrow distal half) and enlarged spermathecal bulb (spermathecal bulb compact in T. ventralis ) (compare Fig. 4H with Fig. 18C, F, I, L, O ; Song et al. 1999: fig. 129D; Yin et al. 1999: fig. 216c; Zhu et al. 2003: fig. 172G; Jäger & Praxaysombath 2009: fig. 25).

Description. Female (holotype, Figs 1A , 3D–F , 4B, D ). Prosoma uniformly yellowish without markings or patches ( Fig. 3D ). Ocular area yellowish with anterior half of median ocular quadrangle black; lateral eyes nearly contiguous, situated on a shallow tubercle. Fovea deep. Clypeus black. Chelicerae, sternum yellowish. Sternum suffused with a broad median inconspicuous black patch; distal half bears long black hairs. Fangs, labium, maxillae yellowish-brown. Cheliceral promargin with three teeth, retromargin with four teeth ( Fig. 4D ). Opisthosoma oval, greyish with a prominent caudal tubercle ( Fig. 3F ); dorsum and laterals provided with closely packed golden yellow spots of irregular size and shapes; dorsum posteriorly with a pair of black spots, one on each side of the caudal tubercle; venter provided with paired black patches lying just above the spinnerets, posteriorly bears a pair of black spots, one on each side of the posterior lateral spinnerets. Legs yellowish with black annulations on I, II and IV, prominent on leg I; leg III without annulations; femur III prolaterally with a single row of trichobothriae (7 in number); femur IV prolaterally with two rows of trichobothriae (22 in number). Spinnerets greyish. Palpal segments yellowish to yellowish-brown towards distally. Body length 7.13. Prosoma length 2.47, width 1.95, height 0.69. Opisthosoma length 4.66, width 3.31, height 3.28. Eye diameter: ALE 0.15. AME 0.20. PLE 0.11. PME 0.13. Eye interdistance: AME–ALE 0.16. AME–AME 0.12. AME–PME 0.17. PME–PLE 0.24. PME–PME 0.15. Clypeus height at ALE 0.26, at AME 0.16. Length of chelicerae 1.28. Measurements of palp and legs: Palp 2.96 [1.03, 0.35, 0.54, 1.04], I 23.17 [6.57, 1.20, 6.04, 7.87, 1.49], II 14.94 [4.41, 0.95, 3.45, 4.91, 1.22], III 6.71 [2.28, 0.59, 1.26, 1.82, 0.76], IV 11.34 [3.89, 0.68, 2.45, 3.39, 0.93]. Leg formula: 1243. Spination. Palp. 0 0 0 0, 0 0 0 0, 0 220, 2225; legs: femur I 4030, II 0 0 20, III 0 0 10, IV 2110; patellae I–IV 0000; tibia I 1220, II 0 210, III 1100, IV 1200; metatarsus I 1110, II 0 200, III 1100, IV 2100; tarsi I–IV 0 0 0 0. Epigynum ( Fig. 4E–H ): Epigynum represented by broad, flat, slightly irregular epigynal plate constricted postero-laterally to form a prominent postero-median lobe, the posterior borderline of which modified to form short lateral and a wide, median lobes ( Fig. 4E–F ). Copulatory openings baso-laterally placed, hardly visible ventrally. Copulatory ducts large, sclerotized, with a median twist, apical and basal parts lie away from each other, median part lies close to each other, basal part folded dorsally ( Fig. 4E–H ). Spermathecal bulb membranous, enlarged, slightly irregular, inflated balloon-like ( Fig. 4H ). Fertilization ducts narrow, tubular, sclerotized, originating baso-retrolaterally to spermathecal bulb, with a basal twist ( Fig. 4G–H ).

Etymology. The specific epithet is an adjective and refers to the body colour of the new species. Latin flavus = yellow. Gender feminine.

Species transfer, redescription and synonyms within Tylorida

Figures

FIGURE 1A–F. Field photographs of Tylorida spp. A Female Tylorida flava sp. nov. from Illithodu, Ernakulam (ADSH100454); B–C Tylorida marmorea (Pocock, 1901) comb. nov. from Ponmudi, Trivandrum (ADSH100458): B Male; C Female;D Femaleof Tylorida striata (Thorell, 1877)from MuriyadKol Wetland, Thrissur,Kerala (CATE99462); E–FFemales of Tylorida ventralis (Thorell, 1877): E Silver morph from Pathiramanal Island, Alappuzha (ADSH1004515); F Yellow morph from Kanakappalam, Kottayam (ADSH1004518). Photo credit A & E, Pradeep M. Sankaran; B & C, Jimmy Paul; D, Nafin K.S.; F, Dhruv A. Prajapati.

FIGURE 4A–H. Tylorida flava sp. nov.. A Subadult male prosoma, retrolateral; B Female prosoma, retrolateral; C Subadult male left chelicera, prolateral; D Female left chelicera, prolateral; E–F Epigynum, ventral; G–H Internal female genitalia, dorsal.Abbreviations:CD copulatory duct, EP epigynal plate,FD fertilization duct,ll lateral lobeof thepostero-median lobeof epigynal plate, ml median lobe of the postero-median lobe of epigynal plate, pEP postero-median lobe of epigynal plate, SB spermathecal bulb.Scale bars A–B, 1 mm; C–D, 0.5 mm; E–H 0.2 mm.

FIGURE 13A–F. Tylorida striata (Thorell, 1877) from Thalacode, Ernakulam. A–C Male habitus: A dorsal; B ventral; C prolateral; D–F Female habitus:D dorsal;E ventral, F retrolateral.Scale bar A–F, 1 mm.

FIGURE 14A–F. Tylorida striata (Thorell, 1877) from Thalacode, Ernakulam. A–D Male left pedipalp: A prolateral; B ventral; C retrolateral; D dorsal; E–F Female genitalia: E Epigynum, ventral; F Internal genitalia, dorsal; G Original drawings of Tylorida nicobarensis (Tikader,1977) (=Tylorida striata (Thorell, 1877)) adopted from Tikader(1977) without modification. Scale bars A–D, 0.5 mm; E–F, 0.2 mm.

FIGURE 18A–O. Tylorida ventralis (Thorell, 1877): female genitalia illustrating intraspecific variations. A–F variety II, female with distinct caudal tubercle (A–C from Kumarakom, Kottayam and D–F from Kulathupuzha, Kollam): A–B, D–E Epigyna, ventral; C, F Internal female genitalia, dorsal; G–I, M–O variety III, female without caudal tubercle (G–I another female from Kulathupuzha, Kollam and M–O from Perumbalam, Alappuzha): G–H, M–N Epigyna, ventral; I, O Internal female genitalia, dorsal; J–L variety I, female with indistinct caudal tubercle (from Edappady, Kottayam): J–K Epigyna, ventral; L Internal female genitalia, dorsal. Scale bars A–C, J–L, 0.2 mm; D–I, M–O, 0.5 mm.

FIGURE3A–F. Tylorida flava sp. nov. A–C Subadult male habitus: A dorsal; B ventral; C retrolateral; D–F female habitus:D dorsal; E ventral; F retrolateral.Scale bars A–C, 1 mm; D–F, 2 mm.