Pisaboa lionzae Huber, 2020

Huber, Bernhard A. & Villarreal, Osvaldo, 2020, On Venezuelan pholcid spiders (Araneae, Pholcidae), European Journal of Taxonomy 718, pp. 1-317 : 216-219

Pisaboa lionzae Huber sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:448EB909-BF2F-4E09-BC04-6746B571529E

Figs 745–746 , 758–762 , 767–769 , 1063

Diagnosis

Distinguished from known congeners by shape of procursus ( Figs 758–760 ; wide in lateral view, narrow and strongly bent in dorsal view; with distinctive distal elements; more S-shaped in lateral view than in very similar P. fombonai Huber sp. nov.), by shape of genital bulb (very similar to P. fombonai Huber sp. nov.; cf. Figs 754–756 ), and by shape of epigynal plate ( Fig. 767 ; anterior plate oval with pair of deep pockets in anterior half; with pair of whitish processes in front of epigynum), and by internal female genitalia ( Figs 762 , 768–769 ; long narrow pore plates; distinctive shape of anterior putative receptacle). From very similar P. fombonai Huber sp. nov. also by more proximal position of male cheliceral apophyses ( Fig. 761 ).

Etymology

This species is named for María Lionza, a central figure in one of the most widespread indigenous religions in Venezuela that blends African, indigenous, and Catholic beliefs.

Type material

VENEZUELA – Mérida • ♂ holotype, ZFMK (Ar 22074), forest above Mesa Bolívar (8.467° N, 71.614° W), 1300 m a.s.l., 12 Feb. 2020 (B.A. Huber, O. Villarreal M., Q. Arias C.) .

Other material examined

VENEZUELA – Mérida • 6 ♀♀, ZFMK (Ar 22075), and 3 ♀♀ in pure ethanol, ZFMK (Ven20-133), same collection data as for holotype .

Description

Male (holotype)

MEASUREMENTS. Total body length 2.3, carapace width 1.0. Distance PME–PME 80 µm; diameter PME 100 µm; distance PME–ALE 80 µm; distance AME–AME 20 µm; diameter AME 25 µm. Leg 1: 25.9 (6.0 +0.4 +6.2+11.5 + 1.8), tibia 2: 3.6, tibia 3: 2.7, tibia 4: 3.4; tibia 1 L/d: 69; femora 1–4 approximately same maximum diameter (0.20–0.22).

COLOR (in ethanol). Carapace pale ochre-yellow, with dark ochre median mark behind ocular area and two pairs of dark ochre lateral marks; ocular area medially light, posterior lateral margins dark ochre; clypeus with large dark mark below ocular area; sternum medially ochre-yellow, laterally with pair of darker ochre marks, anteriorly whitish; legs ochre-yellow, with indistinct dark rings on femora (subdistally) and tibiae (proximally, subdistally); abdomen greenish-gray, with dark and whitish internal marks, ventrally with light brown plate in front of gonopore.

BODY. Habitus as in Fig. 745 . Ocular area moderately raised. Carapace with shallow but distinct thoracic groove. Clypeus unmodified. Sternum wider than long (0.72/0.44), with pair of very low whitish and elongate humps anteriorly. Abdomen slightly elongated, pointed at spinnerets.

CHELICERAE. As in Fig. 761 , with pair of articulated apophyses frontally.

PALPS. In general very similar to P. silvae and P. mapiri (cf. Huber 2000: figs 1137, 1143, 1146); largely indistinguishable from P. fombonai Huber sp. nov. but larger (femur length: 400 vs 310 µm; tibia length: 380 vs 300 µm; bulb length: 640 vs 440 µm); coxa with large retrolateral-ventral apophysis, trochanter barely modified, femur proximally with retrolateral process, distally widening, with short finger-shaped ventral process; tarsus with two short rounded processes dorsally; procursus ( Figs 758–760 ) wide and slightly S-shaped in lateral view, narrow and strongly bent in dorsal view, with distinctive distal elements; genital bulb largely identical to P. fombonai Huber sp. nov. (cf. Figs 754–756 ).

LEGS. Without spines and curved hairs; with vertical hairs in high density on all tibiae; retrolateral trichobothrium of tibia 1 at 6%; prolateral trichobothrium absent on tibia 1; tarsus 1 with ~25 pseudosegments, distally fairly distinct.

Female

In general similar to male ( Fig. 746 ) but sternum dark brown, dark rings on legs more distinct; sternum without humps but with longer hairs than in male, especially posteriorly; vertical hairs on tibiae in usual low density. Tibia 1 in nine females: 3.9–4.8 (mean 4.3). Epigynum ( Fig. 767 ) oval light brown plate, posteriorly weakly protruding, with pair of deep pockets in anterior half; internal structures partly visible in uncleared specimens; with short but wide posterior plate and pair of low whitish processes in front of epigynum. Internal genitalia ( Figs 762 , 768–769 ) with long narrow pore plates, distinctive shape of anterior putative receptacle (W-shaped).

Distribution

Known from type locality only, in Venezuela , Mérida (Fig. 1063).

Natural history

The spiders were collected in a well-preserved forest along a small stream. All specimens were found ~ 1–2 m above the ground, in masses of dead leaves suspended among the twigs or lianas, one specimen in a dead Heliconia leaf, one specimen on a tree trunk. Adults and juveniles looked similar and occupied the same microhabitat.

Figures

Figs 742–749. Pisaboa Huber, 2000; live specimens. 742–744. P. fombonai Huber sp. nov.; male and females with egg sacs from Mérida, Caño Azul. 745–746. P. lionzae Huber sp. nov.; male and female with egg sac from Mérida, Mesa Bolívar. 747–749. P. laldea Huber, 2000; male and females from Táchira, La Trampa.

Figs 758–763. Pisaboa lionzae Huber sp. nov.; from Mérida, Mesa Bolívar (758–762; type locality; ZFMK Ar 22074–75) and P. laldea Huber, 2000; from Táchira, La Trampa (763; ZFMK Ar 22076). 758– 760. Left palpal tarsus and procursus, prolateral, dorsal, and retrolateral views. 761. Male chelicerae, frontal view. 762–763. Cleared female genitalia, dorsal views (arrow: distinctive anterior arc). Scale lines: 0.3 mm.

Figs 764–772. Pisaboa Huber, 2000; epigyna, ventral views and cleared female genitalia, ventral and dorsal views. 764–766. P. fombonai Huber sp. nov.; from Mérida, Caño Azul (type locality; ZFMK Ar 22073). 767–769. P. lionzae Huber sp. nov.; from Mérida, Mesa Bolívar (type locality; ZFMK Ar 22075). 770–772. P. laldea Huber, 2000; from Táchira, La Trampa (ZFMK Ar 22076).

Figs 750–757. Pisaboa fombonai Huber sp. nov.; from Mérida, Caño Azul (type locality; ZFMK Ar 22072–73). 750–752. Left palpal tarsus and procursus, prolateral, dorsal, and retrolateral views (arrow: ventral femur apophysis). 753. Cleared female genitalia, dorsal view. 754–756. Left genital bulb, prolateral, dorsal, and retrolateral views. 757. Male chelicerae, frontal view. Scale lines: 0.3 mm.