Litoporus curimagua Huber, 2020

Huber, Bernhard A. & Villarreal, Osvaldo, 2020, On Venezuelan pholcid spiders (Araneae, Pholcidae), European Journal of Taxonomy 718, pp. 1-317 : 68-70

Litoporus curimagua Huber sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:EAA9BFD6-9534-4342-9944-41DB61CF2891

Figs 203–207 , 210–211 , 1041

Diagnosis

Easily distinguished from most congeners (except L. aerius Simon, 1893 ) by male cheliceral armature ( Fig. 210 ; pair of transversal apophyses); from very similar L aerius by proximal cheliceral apophyses horizontal rather than inclined (compare Figs 208 and 210 ), by anterior margins of pore plates weakly bent towards posterior (arrows in Figs 201 and 206 ), and by absence of pair of processes originating from pore plates (compare Figs 209 and 211 ).

Etymology

The species name refers to the type locality; noun in apposition.

Type material

VENEZUELA – Falcón • ♂ holotype, ZFMK (Ar 21866), Sierra de San Luis , E Curimagua (11.1748° N, 69.6273° W), 960 m a.s.l., 18 Nov. 2018 (B.A. Huber, O. Villarreal M.) .

Other material examined

VENEZUELA – Falcón • 2 ♂♂, 1 ♀, and one female abdomen (transferred from Ven18-192), ZFMK (Ar 21867), and 1 ♀ in pure ethanol, ZFMK (Ven18-192), same collection data as for holotype. – Yaracuy • 11 ♂♂, 4 ♀♀, ZFMK (Ar 21868), and 1 ♂, 3 ♀♀, 3 juvs in pure ethanol, ZFMK (Ven20-155), Yurubi National Park (10.4913° N, 68.6564° W), 140 m a.s.l., forest along stream, 16 Feb. 2020 (B.A. Huber, O. Villarreal M., Q. Arias C.) • 3 ♂♂, 3 ♀♀, ZFMK (Ar 21869), Guaquira , ‘site 1’ (10.2951° N, 68.6535° W), 120 m a.s.l., forest along stream, 16 Feb. 2020 (B.A. Huber, O. Villarreal M., Q. Arias C.) • 5 ♂♂, 4 ♀♀, 5 juvs, ZFMK (Ar 21870), Guaquira , ‘site 2’ (10.2807° N, 68.6530° W), 150 m a.s.l., forest along stream, 17 Feb. 2020 (B.A. Huber, O. Villarreal M., Q. Arias C.) .

Assigned tentatively (see description of females below)

VENEZUELA – Táchira • 4 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀, 1 juv., ZFMK (Ar 21871), and 1 ♀, 2 juvs in pure ethanol, ZFMK (Ven20-124), SE Pregonero, forest near La Trampa (7.9236° N, 71.7152° W), 1300 m a.s.l., 10 Feb. 2020 (B.A. Huber, O. Villarreal M., Q. Arias C.) .

Description

Male (holotype)

MEASUREMENTS. Total body length 2.1, carapace width 0.7. Distance PME–PME 140 µm; diameter PME 55 µm; distance PME–ALE 55 µm; distance AME–AME 30 µm; diameter AME 30 µm. Leg 1: 37.9 (10.7 +0.3+8.8 +16.4 +1.7), tibia 2: 6.3, tibia 3: 4.5, tibia 4: 5.9; tibia 1 L/d: 98.

COLOR (in ethanol). Prosoma pale ochre-yellow, carapace with thin dark median line; legs darker ochre, femora and tibiae with whitish tips, metatarsi distal third to distal half whitish, whitish areas particularly prominent on legs 1, 2, and 4; abdomen pale greenish gray, light brown plates in front of gonopore and in front of spinnerets.

BODY. Habitus as in Fig. 203 . Ocular area slightly raised. Carapace with shallow but distinct thoracic groove. Clypeus unmodified. Sternum wider than long (0.60/0.40), unmodified. Abdomen oval.

CHELICERAE. As in Fig. 210 , pair of proximal transversal apophyses and pair of small distal apophyses; lateral view very similar to L. aerius (cf. Huber 1997d: fig. 9e).

PALPS. Apparently indistinguishable from L. aerius (cf. Huber 1997d: figs 9a–c); coxa with retrolateral apophysis, trochanter barely modified, femur proximally with retrolateral-ventral process, distally with large ventral protrusion; procursus simple and slender, distally curved towards dorsal; genital bulb with large distal process, ventrally sclerotized, dorsally membranous and whitish.

LEGS. Without spines and curved hairs; few vertical hairs; retrolateral trichobothrium of tibia 1 at 2%; prolateral trichobothrium present on tibia 1; tarsus 1 with ~25 pseudosegments, indistinct.

Male (variation)

Tibia 1 in 15 males from Falcón and Yaracuy: 6.9–9.3 (mean 8.3); in four males from Táchira: 7.7, 7.8, 8.0, 8.4. Males from Táchira apparently indistinguishable from holotype.

Female

In general similar to male ( Fig. 204 ) but carapace with dark Y-mark, legs pale ochre-yellow with darker patellae and tibia-metatarsus joints, without distinct whitish tips. Tibia 1 in seven females from Falcón and Yaracuy: 3.8–4.7 (mean 4.3). Epigynum ( Fig. 205 ) weakly sclerotized, internal structures partly visible through cuticle. Internal genitalia ( Figs 206–207 , 211 ) with pore plates medially fused, with anterior median receptacle connected posteriorly to heavily sclerotized structure. Females from Falcón and Yaracuy with pair of posterior protrusions on epigynal plate (arrows in Fig. 211 ); females from Táchira without such protrusions, i.e., in this respect more similar to females of L. aerius (but internally like females from Falcón and Yaracuy); specimens from Táchira are thus assigned tentatively; tibia 1 in two females from Táchira: 4.4, 4.8.

Distribution

Known from the Venezuelan states Falcón, Yaracuy, and Táchira (Fig. 1041); specimens from Táchira are assigned tentatively.

Natural history

At the type locality, the spiders were found in a well-preserved humid forest where they built their rather flat, exposed webs among the vegetation at ~ 1–2 m above the ground. Males were constantly swinging in slow movements; females were not seen moving and were often hidden under a leaf rather than exposed like males. In Yurubi National Park, the spiders were abundant along the stream, and males were easy to spot from a distance due to the white sections on their legs and the swinging movement. Females were also able to swing but they usually ran away on the web when disturbed. Most webs with males were at ~ 20–50 cm above the ground, while webs of solitary females used to be higher above the ground. At Guaquira, there was also a distinct difference between webs with males (close to the ground, often only ~ 10 cm) and webs with females only or with juveniles (often at 1–2 m above the ground).

Figures

Figs 200–207. Litoporus Simon, 1893; epigyna, ventral views; cleared female genitalia, ventral and dorsal views (arrows: distinctive slopes of anterior margins of pore plates); and live specimens. 200–202. L. aerius Simon, 1893; from Miranda, El Ávila National Park (ZFMK Ar 21864). 203– 207. L. curimagua Huber sp. nov.; from Falcón, Curimagua (female genitalia: ZFMK Ar 21867).

Figs 208–211. Litoporus aerius Simon, 1893; from Miranda, El Ávila National Park (208–209) (left; ZFMK Ar 21864) and L. curimagua Huber sp. nov.; from Falcón, Curimagua (right; ZFMK Ar 21867) (210–211). 208, 210. Male chelicerae, frontal views. 209, 211. Cleared female genitalia, dorsal views (arrows: pair of posterior protrusions in females from Falcón and Yaracuy; absent in females from Táchira). Scale lines: 0.2 mm.