Patu bicorniventris, Lin, Yucheng & Li, Shuqiang, 2009

Lin, Yucheng & Li, Shuqiang, 2009, First described Patu spiders (Araneae, Symphytognathidae) from Asia, Zootaxa 2154, pp. 47-68 : 50

Patu bicorniventris spec. nov.

Figs. 1–2 ; 18

Type material. Holotype female, 1 female paratype from Mt. Bawangling Nature Reserve (19°02´N, 109°06´E; Alt.: 698 m), Qicha Town, Changjiang Lizu Autonomous County, Hainan Province, China, 29 July 2007, S. Q. Li and C. X. Wang leg. ( IZCAS).

Etymology. The specific name derives from Latin bicornus (bicorn) and venter (abdomen), in reference to the posterior region of the female abdomen.

Diagnosis. This new species resembles Patu samoensis Marples, 1951 from Samoa, but can be distinguished by the presence of a short scapus, the distinct course of copulatory ducts and the posteriorly quadrate-shaped abdomen ( Fig. 2 A, B).

Description. Holotype female. Total length 0.90. Carapace 0.38 long, 0.34 wide. Clypeus 0.05 high. Sternum 0.23 long, 0.22 wide. Abdomen 0.58 long, 0.60 wide. Carapace yellow and smooth in the middle, with darkish margin, without modified pattern. Six eyes in three diads, subequal in size, round and white, ocular base black. PER straight, ALE and PLE adjacent. Clypeus with short setae. Palp absent. Chelicerae slender, with two sharp adnate teeth, covered with long setae and modified pits at frontal surface, fused in the middle. Cheliceral fang with modified denticles. Sternum almost round, fused to the labium. Legs yellow, with a dorsal spine on patella, a dorsal spine and three trichobothria on tibia. Leg measurements: I 1.13 (0.37, 0.12, 0.26, 0.17, 0.21); II 1.03 (0.31, 0.11, 0.22, 0.14, 0.25); III 0.80 (0.24, 0.10, 0.16, 0.11, 0.19); IV 1.04 (0.33, 0.11, 0.22, 0.10, 0.28). Leg formula: I-IV-II-III. Abdomen iron-gray, anteriorly round and posteriorly quadrate, covered with long setae dorsally, slightly wider than long (length/width 0.97), posteriorly expanded beyond spinnerets, with a pair of posterolateral corners. Anterior and posterior spinnerets same size; median spinnerets smallest; colulus absent. Two spiracles located at posterolateral margin of the epigynal plate.

Epigynum weakly sclerotized, spermathecae relatively large, visible through the pale cuticle. Epigynal surface smooth, covered with sparse long hairs. Vulva relatively simple. Spermathecae near round, strongly sclerotized. Copulatory ducts long, starting at ventral spermathecae, turning four times before fusing to a “Y”- shaped atrium. Copulatory opening small, located at basal scapus. Scapus slightly projected at posterior margin. Fertilization ducts short, weakly sclerotized, derived from inboard spermathecae, end dissociative ( Fig. 2 A, B).

Male. Unknown.

Distribution. Known only from the type locality (Hainan) ( Fig. 18).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Patu bicorniventris spec. nov. A. Female, dorsal view. Scale bar: 0.10.

FIGURE 2. Patu bicorniventris spec. nov. A. Epigynum, ventral view; B. Ditto, dorsal view; C. Female chelicerae, anterior view; D. Ditto, posterior view. Scale bars: 0.05.