Crossopriza manakhah, Huber, 2022

Huber, Bernhard A., 2022, Revisions of Holocnemus and Crossopriza: the spotted-leg clade of Smeringopinae (Araneae, Pholcidae), European Journal of Taxonomy 795 (1), pp. 1-241 : 160-164

Crossopriza manakhah sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:96A574A1-6DEA-42AF-9AF0-F88916EF8A04

Figs 353B , 625–642

Crossopriza pristina (misidentification) – Deeleman-Reinhold & van Harten 2001: 195 (part; see Remark under C. sanaa sp. nov.).

Diagnosis

Easily distinguished from known congeners by details of male palp ( Figs 628–633 ; procursus with distinctive prolateral process; distal sclerite of genital bulb with two simple pointed processes); also by male chelicerae ( Figs 634–635 ; pair of very strong medially-directed apophyses originating from dark sclerotized U-shaped area) and female genitalia ( Fig. 639 ; epigynum triangular, with strong median ridge).

Etymology

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

Type material

Holotype YEMEN • ♂; 12 km NW of Manakhah , “1521”; 15.12° N, 43.68° E; 28 Aug. 2001; A. van Harten leg.; ZFMK Ar 22439.

Other material examined

YEMEN • 1 ♀; same collection data as for holotype; ZFMK Ar 22440 • 1 ♂; same locality as for holotype, “1742”; 27 Mar.–5 May 2002; A. van Harten leg.; ZFMK Ar 22441 • 1 ♀; “ Manakhah x Khamis Bani Sa’d ”, “1428”; 15.12° N, 43.63° E; 3 Jul. 2001; A. van Harten leg.; ZFMK Ar 22442 • 1 ♀; Khamis Bani Sa’d , “788”; 15.18° N, 43.51° E; 11 Oct. 1999; A. van Harten leg.; NMNL • 1 ♀; same locality as for preceding, “760”; 27 Jul. 1999; A. van Harten leg.; NMNL • 1 ♂, 1 ♀; locality uncertain ( Khamis Bani Sa’d area ?), “960”; 1999; A. van Harten leg.; NMNL ARA 15212 • 1 ♂; near Sana’a, “564” (part); 15.3° N, 44.2° E; 3 Dec. 1998; A. van Harten leg.; NMNL • 1 ♂; Al Kawd [Al Kowd], “1195”; 13.09° N, 45.36° E; 16 Jan. 2001; A. van Harten leg.; ZFMK Ar 22443 • 1 ♀; Ja‘ar , “1200”; 13.22° N, 45.30° E; 15 Jan. 2001; A. van Harten leg.; ZFMK Ar 22444 • 3 ♀♀, “ Aden x Little Aden ”, “461”; 12.75° N, 44.86° E; 24 Mar. 1998; A. van Harten leg.; NMNL .

Remark

The coordinates of Khamis Bani Sa’d in Deeleman-Reinhold & van Harten (2001) are approximately 10 km W of Khamis Bani Sa’d (coordinates above). The actual collecting point is not clear.

Description

Male (holotype)

MEASUREMENTS. Total length 3.4, carapace width 1.3. Distance PME–PME 75 µm; diameter PME 90 × 105 µm; distance PME–ALE 30 µm; diameter AME 90 µm; distance AME–AME 30 µm. Leg 1: 33.2 (9.3 + 0.6 + 8.7 + 12.4 + 2.2), tibia 2: 5.6, tibia 3: 4.0, tibia 4 missing; tibia 1 L/d: 70; femora 1–3 diameters: 0.21, 0.18, 0.18.

COLOR (in ethanol). Carapace ochre-yellow, median pit anteriorly light brown; sternum brown, with black radial marks; legs ochre-yellow, without darker rings, with distinct black lines on femora and tibiae; abdomen ochre-gray, with distinct dark and white marks dorsally and laterally; ventrally with distinct black median band, partly disrupted, with two parallel longitudinal marks behind gonopore.

BODY. Habitus similar to C. sahtan sp. nov. (cf. Fig. 391 ). Ocular area slightly raised. Deep thoracic pit and pair of furrows diverging from pit toward posterior margin. Clypeus unmodified, only rim slightly more sclerotized than in female. Sternum wider than long (0.9/0.5), unmodified. Abdomen oval, dorsoposteriorly angular.

CHELICERAE. As in Figs 634–635 , with pair of strong frontal apophyses provided with one large modified cone-shaped hair each; distance between tips of modified hairs 60 µm; proximally partly whitish and slightly protruding; lateral stridulatory ridges fine but visible in dissecting microscope.

PALPS. As in Figs 625–627 ; coxa with rounded retrolateral hump; trochanter barely modified; femur distally strongly widened, with rounded ventral protrusion, proximally with prolateral stridulatory pick, with retrolateral transversal line, without retrolateral proximal process; femur-patella joints slightly shifted toward prolateral side; tibia-tarsus joints shifted toward retrolateral side; tarsus without macrotrichia; procursus ( Figs 628–630 ) slightly curved towards ventral, proximally on prolateral side with strong hump set with numerous long hairs, dorsal hairs not curved, procursus tip with short ventral sclerite, distinctive prolateral process, and further membranous processes; genital bulb ( Figs631–633 ) with simple basal sclerite connected to distal (main) sclerite, sperm duct opening not seen; distal sclerite with two simple processes.

LEGS. Femur 1 with single row of ~18 ventral spines; without curved hairs; few vertical hairs; retrolateral trichobothrium of tibia 1 at 3.5%; prolateral trichobothrium absent on tibia 1, present on other leg tibiae; tarsal pseudosegments not seen.

Male (variation)

Tibia 1 in three other males: 6.1, 7.7, 8.6. The only male from the three southern localities (from Al Kawd) with slightly different procursus tip: long transparent process shorter and prolateral process slightly less curved.

Female

In general similar to male but without spines on legs, apparently without stridulatory files on chelicerae, and with stridulatory organ consisting of pair of weakly sclerotized but distinct processes posteriorly on carapace and pair of barely visible plates anteriorly on abdomen. Tibia 1 in seven females: 6.3–7.0 (mean 6.7). Epigynum as in Figs 638–639 , main epigynal plate roughly triangular, weakly protruding; with pair of shallow pockets close to median line on both sides of wide median ridge (distance between pockets 30 µm); internal sclerotized arc poorly visible in uncleared specimens; posterior plate large, widened laterally. Internal genitalia ( Figs 636–637 , 640–642 ) with relatively small crescent-shaped pore plates, dorsal arc strongly sclerotized, ventral arc only medially strongly sclerotized, apparently without median pouch or pocket.

Distribution

Known from several localities in western Yemen ( Fig. 353B ).

Figures

Fig. 353. Known distribution of Crossopriza Simon, 1893; autochthonous species part 2 (cf. Fig. 352): species with main cheliceral apophyses in frontal position and epigynal pockets close together. The figure is split into two to avoid too much overlap; the split is not meant to reflect any natural grouping of species. The single record of C. maculipes from China is not shown (see text).

Figs 625–627. Crossopriza manakhah sp. nov.; male from Yemen, 12 km NW of Manakhah (ZFMK Ar 22441); left palp, prolateral, dorsal, and retrolateral views. Scale bar = 0.5 mm.

Figs 628–637. Crossopriza manakhah sp. nov.; male from Yemen, 12 km NW of Manakhah (ZFMK Ar 22441), female from Yemen, Ja‘ar (ZFMK Ar 22444). 628–630. Left procursus, prolateral, dorsal, and retrolateral views; arrows: distinctive prolateral process. 631–633. Left genital bulb, prolateral, dorsal, and retrolateral views. 634–635. Male chelicerae, frontal and lateral views. 636–637. Cleared female genitalia, ventral and dorsal views. Abbreviation: vs = ventral sclerite. Scale bars = 0.3 mm.

Figs 638–642. Crossopriza manakhah sp. nov.; female from Yemen, Ja‘ar (ZFMK Ar 22444). 638– 639. Abdomen and epigynum, ventral views. 640–642. Female internal genitalia, dorsal view (with dorsal arc tilted backwards), ventral view, and regular dorsal view. Scale bars = 0.5 mm.

Figs 391–398. Crossopriza Simon, 1893, live specimens. 391–392. C. sahtan sp. nov., male and female from Oman, Wadi Ghul. 393–395. C. tiwi sp. nov., males and female with egg-sac from Oman, Wadi Tiwi. 396–398. C. dhofar sp. nov., male and female from Oman, Ain Razad, and female from Oman, Wadi Nahiz.