Asceua curva, Zhang, Bao-Shi & Zhang, Feng, 2018

Zhang, Bao-Shi & Zhang, Feng, 2018, Three new species of the spider genus Asceua from Malaysia (Araneae, Zodariidae), ZooKeys 789, pp. 37-49 : 40-43

Asceua curva sp. n. Figs 4, 5

Type material.

Holotype ♂, Malaysia, Sabah, Pitas, 06°29.598'N, 117°18.499'E, elev. 45 m, 20 October 2015, Z.Z. Gao leg.

Diagnosis.

The male of this species resembles A. wallacei Bosmans & Hillyard, 1990 (from Sulawesi, Indonesia) in having the very complicated copulatory organ. The two species can be easily distinguished by: the thinner and longer retrolateral pointed processes of the distal conductor in the new species, which is shorter and bifurcated in A. wallacei ; the longer posterior projection of the cymbium in the new species, which is shorter in A. wallacei ; and the hook-like median apophysis which is almost straight in A. wallacei (Figs 4 C–F, 5 A–C).

Etymology.

The specific name is from the Latin word curvus, in reference to the shape of the posterior projection of the cymbium; adjective.

Description.

Male (holotype): Total length 3.15; carapace 1.39 long, 1.12 wide; opisthosoma 1.49 long, 1.17 wide. Habitus as in Fig. 4 A–B. Carapace shiny, brown, lateral margins dark brown, part of carapace swollen, radial grooves inconspicuous. Clypeus 0.30 high, brown. Eye sizes and inter-distances: AME 0.11, ALE 0.08, PME 0.08, PLE 0.13; AME–AME 0.05, AME–ALE 0.02, ALE–ALE 0.43, PME–PME 0.11, PME–PLE 0.10, PLE–PLE 0.59, ALE–PLE 0.02. MOA 0.27 long, frontal width 0.25, back width 0.27. Chelicerae brown, with two promarginal teeth and one retromarginal tooth, and terminal part armed with black hairs. Endites brown, apices bright and furnished with dense black hairs. Labium triangular, 0.20 long, 0.25 wide, brown, median part with a semicircular dark brown patch. Sternum 0.68 long, 0.66 wide, brown, lateral margin slightly dark brown, furnished with sparse black setae. Coxae of legs white, other sections brown, each femur with two dorsal spines, tibiae with long longitudinal dark stripes. Measurements of legs: I 3.74 (0.77 + 0.31 + 1.24 + 1.07 + 0.35), II 3.45 (0.89 + 0.36 + 0.94 + 0.88 + 0.38), III 3.46 (0.78 + 0.34 + 0.85 + 1.02 + 0.47), IV 3.80 (0.79 + 0.36 + 1.28 + 0.99 + 0.38). Leg formula: 4132. Opisthosoma covered with grey short hairs, dorsal scutum violin-like, dark brown. Dorsum of opisthosoma black, with a pair of white transversal chevrons, followed by three pairs of transversal stripes, the first two pairs being conjoint in the middle of the opisthosoma; anterior part of venter yellow, posterior part grey and lateral with two pairs of black oblique stripes, spinnerets brown.

Palp (Figs 4 C–F, 5 A–C). Tibia with two broad apophyses: dorsal apophysis and ventral apophysis, with a large concavity between them, in which fits a posterior projection of the cymbium; cymbium with a median semi-circular projection, which appears to be strongly excavated below in lateral view; tip of median apophysis hook-like; conductor large and semi-circular, with retrolateral and posterior pointed processes, not very chitinised except for the retrolateral processes; embolar base triangular; thread-like embolus very long, at first running to dorsal cymbium, then turning to ventral palp and following dorsal margin of conductor.

Female unknown.

Distribution.

Malaysia (Sabah).

Remarks.

Eight described Asceua species from nearby countries are only based on female specimens: A. amabilis Thorell, 1897 (from Myanmar), A. anding Zhang, Zhang & Jia, 2012 (from China), A. daoxian Yin, 2012 (from China), A. elegans Thorell, 1887 (from Myanmar), A. kunming Song & Kim, 1997 (from China), A. longji Barrion et al. 2013 (from China), A. piperata Ono, 2004 (from Vietnam), and A. quinquestrigata (Simon, 1905) (from Java). The patterns of the dorsal opisthosoma of these species are different by comparisons of illustrations and descriptions. The first pair of transversal chevrons are reniform in the new species, but are oval or long ovoid in all the other species, except for A. quinquestrigata . However, the new species can be distinguished from A. quinquestrigata by the broad bands on its posterior opisthosoma, which are only small in A. quinquestrigata . Also, the other white patches and transversal stripes on the opisthosoma of the new species contrasts with the lack of stripes in the other seven species except for A. piperata . However, the new species can be distinguished from A. piperata by its immaculate carapace. This new species is thus less likely to be conspecific with any of these 8 species that are only known from female specimens.