Brignoliella michaeli Lehtinen, 1981

Lin, Yucheng, Koh, Joseph K. H., Koponen, Seppo & Li, Shuqiang, 2017, Taxonomic notes on the armored spiders of the families Pacullidae and Tetrablemmidae (Arachnida, Araneae) from Singapore, ZooKeys 661, pp. 15-60 : 23

Brignoliella michaeli Lehtinen, 1981 Figs 13, 14, 15

Brignoliella michaeli Lehtinen, 1981: 41, figs 103-106, 108, 111 (male and female) from Penang, Malaysia.

Material examined.

19♂ and 29♀ (NHMSU), SINGAPORE: Central Catchment Nature Reserve, near Mandai Agrotechnology Park, altitude 46 m, 1°24'53.7"N, 103°47'56.2"E, 1 September 2015, S. Li and Y. Tong leg.

Diagnosis.

Brignoliella michaeli can be distinguished from all congeners with the exception of Brignoliella besutensis , Brignoliella caligiformis , Brignoliella maoganensis Tong & Li, 2008, Brignoliella maros Lehtinen, 1981, Brignoliella martensi (Brignoli, 1972), and Brignoliella massai Lehtinen, 1981 by the long, pear-shaped bulb or by the long, furcated clypeal horn. It differs from Brignoliella besutensis (Figs 10 A–B, E; 11 A–B, 12 B–C), Brignoliella caligiformis (see Tong, 2013: 76, fig. 91A, E, F–G) and Brignoliella maoganensis (see Tong, 2013: 77, fig. 92A, E, F–G) by the longer clypeal horn in male, the more pointed embolus, the larger pits of preanal scutum, and the narrower lateral horn (Figs 13 A–B, E; 14 A–B, 15 B–C); from Brignoliella maros (see Lehtinen, 1981: 39, figs 97, 116, 125) and Brignoliella massai (see Lehtinen, 1981: 40, figs 93, 95, 115, 124) by the longer clypeal horn and larger cheliceral horn in male (Fig. 13 A–B, E), the longer pear-shaped bulb, the curving embolus (Fig. 14 A–B) and the wider vulval stem (Fig. 15C); and from Brignoliella martensi (see Lehtinen, 1981: 38, figs 98, 112, 117) by the narrower, longer clypeal horn in male (Fig. 13A), the longer bulb and the curving, tapering embolus (Fig. 14 A–B), and the nearly quadrate preanal scutum and the distinct epigynal fold (Fig. 15 A–B, D).

Description.

Male. Coloration: body brownish-yellow; legs yellowish-orange.

Measurements: total length 1.38; carapace 0.74 long, 0.56 wide, 0.60 high; abdomen 0.82 long, 0.65 wide, 0.56 high; clypeus 0.20 high; sternum 0.37 long, 0.38 wide. Length of legs: I 1.45 (0.46, 0.16, 0.34, 0.25, 0.24); II 1.34 (0.42, 0.15, 0.30, 0.24, 0.23); III 1.21 (0.36, 0.14, 0.26, 0.23, 0.22); IV 1.53 (0.48, 0.15, 0.36, 0.30, 0.24).

Prosoma (Fig. 13 A–B, E, G): carapace strongly sclerotized; cephalic part smooth, distinctly raised, with two rows of wart-like knots behind ocular area; thoracic cuticle irregularly rugose, marginally denticulate; ocular area situated anteriorly, with six eyes in three diads, PME absent, ALE>AME=PLE in eye size, ALE and PLE adjacent. Clypeus with wart-like knots, anteromargin rugose, clypeal horn long, distally bifid; chelicerae surface smooth, with a fronto-subbasal, short cheliceral apophysis, cheliceral lamina developed, translucent. Endites basally wide, distally narrow; labium subtriangular. Sternum long same as wide, with finely large ring-like pits, marginally crinkled. Legs with shallow annular grains.

Opisthosoma (Fig. 13 A–B, G): dorsal scutum short oval, with sparse small pits, setae inserted in pits, smooth between the pits (Fig. 13A, E); ventral scutum modified by ring-like pits, booklung cover smooth; lateral scutum I long, and just over anteromargin of preanal scutum; postgenital scutum present, same wide as preanal scutum; preanal scutum rectangular, with an anterior long fold and two anterolaterally shallow grooves (Fig. 13B).

Palp (Fig. 14 A–B): femur slightly bent, ventral cuticle granulated, approx. 2.2 times patella in length; tibia slightly swollen, approx. 2/3 times femur in long, with a distal-dorsal trichobothrium; cymbium short as patella; bulb pear-shaped, its surface with filamentous veins (Fig. 14A); spermatic duct base wide, and tapering to the apex of bulb after coiled a loop; embolus strongly sclerotized, mesially bent and distally sharp.

Female. Coloration: same as in male, but deeper in opisthosoma.

Measurements: total length 1.34; carapace 0.66 long, 0.56 wide, 0.56 high; abdomen 0.90 long, 0.72 wide, 0.66 high; clypeus 0.14 high; sternum 0.36 long, 0.38 wide. Length of legs: I 1.55 (0.50, 0.17, 0.35, 0.27, 0.26); II 1.44 (0.46, 0.16, 0.32, 0.26, 0.24); III 1.29 (0.39, 0.15, 0.28, 0.25, 0.22); IV 1.63 (0.51, 0.16, 0.38, 0.32, 0.26).

Prosoma (Fig. 13 C–D, F, H) as in male; but lack of clypeal horn and cheliceral apophysis, and clypeus lower than in male. Legs also as in male.

Opisthosoma (Figs 13 C–D, H; 15 A–B): dorsal and ventral scuta as in male; lateral scutum I short, not extending beyond anteromargin of preanal scutum; postgenital scutum straight, wider than preanal scutum and in male, with an anterior fold; preanal scutum sub-rectangular, with two large, inverted, pocket-shaped grooves at anterolateral corners (Fig. 15 A–B, D).

Genitalia (Fig. 15 C–D): epigynal fold long; epigynal pit large, and vulval stem short; central process and inner vulval plate absent; lateral horn and vulval duct narrow, translucent, connected to the rugose, saccular seminal receptaculum (Fig. 15C).

Distribution.

Malaysia, Singapore.