Trachelas sinensis Chen, Peng et Zhao, 1995

Zhang, Feng, Fu, Jian-Ying & Zhu, Ming-Sheng, 2009, A review of the genus Trachelas (Araneae: Corinnidae) from China, Zootaxa 2235, pp. 40-58 : 53-57

Trachelas sinensis Chen, Peng et Zhao, 1995

( Figs. 36–41 )

Trachelas sinensis Chen, Peng & Zhao 1995: 161 , f. 1–4; Song, Zhu & Chen 1999: 429, f. 256A–B, I–J.

Diagnosis. Among its close Trachelas relatives in China, this species is very similar to Trachelas japonicus Bösenberg et Strand, 1906 , and can be distinguished from the latter only by: (1) bursa club-shaped, while oval in the latter; (2) triangular tibial apophysis from retrolateral view, subrectangular in the latter; (3) wider conductor, nearly trapeziform from ventral view, while relatively narrow, elongate oval in the latter.

Redescription. Male. Total body length 3.94–4.23. A male was measured (Mt. Shennongjia), total length 4.23: cephalothorax 1.78 long, 1.53 wide; abdomen 2.45 long, 1.48 wide. Carapace red brown ( Fig. 36 ), ovoid in dorsal view, narrower at anterior margin, highest between fovea and PER; densely covered with minute granulations. Fovea shallow, short and indistinct, located on posterior slope of carapace. Clypeal height 0.12.

Eye diameter: AME 0.12, ALE 0.08, PME 0.10, PLE 0.10. Eye interdistance: AME–AME 0.08, AME–ALE 0.04, PME–PME 0.10, PME–PLE 0.10; MOA 0.31 long, anterior width 0.36, posterior width 0.30. Chelicerae dark orange, stout, covered with minute granulations; promargin with three teeth, retromargin with two teeth. Endites longer than wide, convex on lateral margin. Sternum shield-shaped, light brown. Legs brown, without spines and cusps. Leg formula 1423 ( Table 9 ).

Abdomen yellow brown, with two pairs of sigilla, posterior part with five light grey chevrons on its dorsal surface. Venter of abdomen light brown.

Male palp as illustrated ( Figs 37–39 ). Femur largely concave on the distal part ventrally; patella with long finger-shaped apophysis ventrally and a small distal apophysis dorsally; tibia with a triangular apophysis retrolaterally. Cymbium round at base, long and slender, bent ventrally on distal part and without cymbial furrow. Tegulum rounded at base, enclosing twisted loop of sperm duct from embolus to upper part of tegular apophysis. Embolus broad, curved, flattened and long, originating prolaterally, with broad tip composed of membranous and sclerotic parts; tegular apophysis hook-shaped retrolaterally; conductor large and flat, trapezoid, situated prolaterally distally.

Female. Carapace colour, eye arrangement, abdominal colouration as for male. Total body length 4.18– 5.30. A female specimen was measured (Mt. Shennongjia), total length 4.37; cephalothorax 1.89 long, 1.62 wide; abdomen 2.48 long, 1.58 wide. Clypeal height 0.12. Eye diameters: AME 0.12, ALE 0.11, PME 0.10, PLE 0.10. Eye interdistances: AME–AME 0.05, AME–ALE 0.03, PME–PME 0.08, PME–PLE 0.08; MOA 0.28 long, anterior width 0.27, posterior width 0.30. Legs brown, without spines and cusps. Leg formula 1423 (Table 10).

Epigynum as illustrated ( Figs. 40–41 ). Copulatory openings concave, longitudinally oval, expanded to an oval atrium on the anteromedian. Bursa club-shaped, situated laterally of copulatory openings; spermathecae small globose, smaller than bursa, situated in the posterior part of epigynum, connecting with the copulatory ducts through thinner and longer ducts; fertilization ducts short, arising from the posterolateral ends of the spermathecae.

Material types. Male holotype, 22 October 1991, female ‘allotype’, 26 December 1991, 1 female paratype, 10 April 1991, 1 female paratype, 10 June 1991, all collected from Xincun Tea farmland (alt. 134m), Jiujiang Town, Xiushui County, Jiangxi Province, the specimens were deposited in Biology Department, Hubei University, not examined.

Material examined. CHINA: Hubei, Shennongjia Natural Reserve, Muyuping, 2Ƥ, 13, 24 September 2001, M. S. Zhu and J. X. Zhang leg. ( MHBU); Fang County, Cave Guanyin, 9Ƥ, 53, 26 September 2001, M. S. Zhu and J. Y. Yang leg. ( MHBU); Shiyan City, 1Ƥ, 28 September 2001, J.Y. Yang leg. ( MHBU). Guizhou, Daozhen County, Dashahe Natural Reserve, 1Ƥ, 23 May 2004, Z. S. Zhang leg. ( MHBU). Anhui, 1 3, no locality or date, Y. J. Xu leg. ( MHBU).

Figures

FIGURES 36 – 41. Trachelas sinensis Chen, Peng et Zhao, 1995. 36. Male body, dorsal view. 37. Left male palp, ventral view. 38. Same, prolateral view. 39. Same, retrolateral view. 40. Epigynum, ventral view. 41. Vulva, dorsal view. Scale bars: 1 mm (36); 0.3 mm (40 – 41); 0.4 mm (37 – 39).

Tables

TABLE 9. Leg measurements of Trachelas sinensis Chen, Peng et Zhao, 1995, male.

	Femur	Patella	Tibia	Metatarsus	Tarsus	Total
I	1.98	0.65	1.80	1.90	0.85	7.13
II	1.89	0.55	1.60	1.30	0.80	6.14
III	1.10	0.45	0.95	1.11	0.63	4.24
IV	1.68	0.58	1.73	1.78	0.65	6.42