Pardosa

Tso, I-Min & Chen, Jun, 2004, Descriptions Of Three New And Six New Record Wolf Spider Species From Taiwan (Arachnida: Araneae: Lycosidae), Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 52 (2), pp. 399-411 : 400-401

Pardosa sp.

( Figs. 1-5 )

Material examined. – 1 female, Kenting National Park , Pingtong County, Taiwan, Feb.2001, coll. Yu-Lung Hsieh (NMNS-THU-Ar- 02-0160) ; 1 male, Kenting National Park , Pingtong County, Taiwan, Feb.2001, coll. Yu-Lung Hsieh (NMNS-THU-Ar-02-0159) ; 1 male, Kenting National Park , Pingtong County, Taiwan, Mar.2000, coll. Yu-Lung Hsieh (NMNS-THU-Ar-02-0163) .

Diagnosis. – Total lenght5.82-6.50; posterior part of median band of carapace with almost parallel and regular lateral margins; legs without annulation; median septum of epigynum inversed “T”-shaped, handle thin and long, anterior margin of expanded part protruding ventrally; median apophysis of pedipalp organ like a triangular plate, directed laterally, anterior margin slightly waved, distal end hooked, curved ventrally.

Description. – Female: Total length 6.50; carapace length 3.13, width 2.45; abdomen length 3.49, width 1.96. Body with brown pubescence. Median band of carapace yellowish brown, distinct, slightly expanded anteriously and extending between PLEs, posterior part with regular margins; lateral belts brown, wide and continuous; sublateral bands continuous. Anterior eye row slightly procurved, AME larger than ALE distinctly, AME-AME longer than AME-ALE. Chelicerae with 3 promarginal and 3 retromarginal teeth. Legs yellowish brown, without annulation. Epigynum with two hoods, median septum inversed “T”-shaped ( Fig. 1 ), handle thin and long, anterior margin of expanded part protruding ventrally, copulatory tube thick and short, spermatheca slightly expanded ( Fig. 2 ).

Male: One specimen: total length 5.82, carapace length 3.00, width 2.21, abdomen length 2.94, width 1.78. Another specimen: carapace length 3.19, width 2.27 (abdomen damaged). Similar to female in general shape and colour. Pedipalp brown. Cymbium of pedipalp with two thick apical setae. Median apophysis shape like a triangular plate, directed laterally, anterior margin slightly waved, distal end hooked, curved ventrally; embolus thin and long ( Figs. 3-5 ).

Distribution. – Taiwan.

Remarks. – This species is similar to P. oriens ( Chamberlin, 1924) . In this species, posterior part of median band of carapace not expanded, with regular lateral margins, lateral belts relatively wide, continuous; anterior margin of median apophysis slightly waved, annulation of legs absent and body relatively larger. In P. oriens , posterior part of median band of carapace expanded, with serrated lateral margins, lateral belts broken, anterior margin of median apophysis almost straight, annulation of legs distinct and body relatively smaller.

According to the characters of epigynum and pedipalp, this species should be a member of the nebulosa -group. The species of this group are very difficult to be separated from each other. A revision of this group is badly needed, but is currently not available. In order not to arouse more complexity, we decided to identify these specimens just to the genus level.

Figures

Figs. 1-5. Pardosa sp. 1-2. epigynum (1. ventral view; 2. dorsal view); 3-4. left pedipalp of male (3. ventral view; 4. retrolateral view); 5. terminal part of right pedipalp (ventral view). Abbreviations:ct: copulatory tube; cy: cymbium; em: embolus; h: hood; ma: median apophysis; ms: median septum; sp: spermatheca; st: subtegulum; t: tegulum. Scale bars: Figs. 1-2 = 0.15 mm; Figs. 3-5 = 0.20 mm.