Pholcus kipungit Huber

Berhard A. Huber, Booppa Petchard, Charles Leh Moi Ung, Joseph K. H. Koh & Amir R. M. Ghazali, 2016, The Southeast Asian Pholcus halabala species group (Araneae, Pholcidae): new data from field observations and ultrastructure, European Journal of Taxonomy 190, pp. 1-55 : 35-38

Pholcus kipungit Huber , sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:374082FB-1878-493D-A8B6-CC148D8BB223

Figs 108–109 , 129–133 , 140–142

Diagnosis

Distinguished from similar species (other species in the Ph. krabi group) by morphology of male palps ( Figs 129–130 ; long trochanter apophysis; distinctive shapes of simple round uncus and small appendix; procursus strongly bent dorsad, with distinctive prolatero-ventral pointed process and fringed membranous distal elements) and by unique median sclerite in internal female genitalia visible through cuticle ( Figs 132 , 140 ).

Etymology

The species name is derived from the type locality; noun in apposition.

Type material

MALAYSIA-BORNEO: holotype, ♂, ZFMK ( Ar 15042 ), Sabah , Mt Kinabalu , Poring Hot Springs, forest near beginning of Kipungit Trail (6.048° N, 116.706° E), 450 m a.s.l., domed webs in vegetation, 7 Aug. 2014 (B.A. Huber, S.B. Huber) .

Other material examined

MALAYSIA-BORNEO: 1 ♀, together with holotype; 2 ♀♀, in absolute ethanol, ZFMK ( Bor 205 ), same data ; 1 ♂, RMNH, Sabah , Poring Hot Springs (6°03.467' N, 116°42.205' E), 9 Aug. 2009 (A. Floren) ; 1 ♂, 2 juvs, RMNH, Poring Hot Springs , 500 m a.s.l., primary forest, 2 May 1991 (C.L. & P.R. Deeleman) ; 1 ♀, ZFMK ( Ar 15043 ), Sabah , Sepilok, Rainforest Discovery Centre, forest along Pitta Trail (5.875– 5.878° N, 117.937– 117.942° E), 30 m a.s.l., domed web among vegetation, 9 Aug. 2014 (B.A. Huber, S.B. Huber) ; 3 ♀♀, in absolute ethanol, ZFMK ( Bor 174 ), same data ; 3 ♂♂, 3 ♀♀, RMNH (2 vials), Sabah , Danum Valley [5.022° N, 117.747° E], primary forest, 6–16 May 1991 (C.L. & P.R. Deeleman) .

Description

Male (holotype)

MEASUREMENTS. Total body length 3.7, carapace width 0.9. Leg 1: 32.1 (7.5 + 0.4 + 7.4 + 14.3 + 2.5), tibia 2: 4.5, tibia 3: 2.5, tibia 4: 4.1; tibia 1 L/d: 84. Distance PME-PME 270 µm, diameter PME 95 µm, distance PME-ALE ~35 µm; AME absent.

COLOR. Carapace pale whitish to gray with pair of light brown marks, ocular area and clypeus not darkened; sternum whitish; palps orange; legs pale ochre-yellow with dark patellae and tibia-metatarsus joints; abdomen pale gray with some indistinct darker marks dorsally.

BODY. Habitus as in Fig. 108 ; ocular area slightly raised and each triad on low hump; carapace without median furrow; clypeus unmodified; sternum wider than long (0.60/0.50), unmodified.

CHELICERAE. As in Fig. 131 , with small proximal processes and pair of rounded distal apophyses without modified hairs.

PALPS. As in Figs 129–130 ; coxa unmodified; trochanter with very long retrolatero-ventral apophysis with retrolateral process proximally; femur with small retrolatero-ventral process proximally; tibia large; procursus strongly bent dorsad, with distinctive prolatero-ventral pointed process and fringed membranous distal elements; bulb with strong proximal sclerite, with small uncus and small appendix, short weakly sclerotized embolus.

LEGS. Without spines and curved hairs; few vertical hairs; retrolateral trichobothrium on tibia 1 at 3%; prolateral trichobothrium absent on tibia 1, present on other tibiae; tarsus 1 with> 30 pseudosegments, only distally fairly distinct.

Female

In general similar to male ( Fig. 109 ) but eye triads closer together (PME-PME distance: 195 µm), entire clypeus and ocular area frontally black; legs pale ochre, less yellowish. Tibia 1: 6.7, 6.9 (missing in other females). Epigynum weakly sclerotized almost flat plate with posterior ‘knob’, internal distinctive median sclerite visible through cuticle ( Figs 132 , 140–141 ); internal genitalia as in Figs 133 and 142 .

Natural history

Of the four webs seen at Poring, three had their apex connected to the underside of a leaf; the fourth (of the only male) was freely suspended among the twigs at about 1.5 m above the ground.

Distribution

Known from two localities in Sabah ( Fig. 110 ).

Figures

Fig. 110. Known distribution of the Pholcus krabi species group.

Figs 102 – 109. Live specimens, Pholcus krabi Huber, sp. nov. (102 – 105), Ph. narathiwat Huber, sp. nov. (106 – 107), and Ph. kipungit Huber, sp. nov. (108 – 109). 102 – 104. ♂ and ♀ from Khao Sok, Thailand. 105. ♀ with egg-sac from Phanom Bencha, Thailand. 106 – 107. ♂ and ♀ from Hala Bala, Thailand. 108 – 109. ♂ and ♀ from Poring, Sabah.

Figs 129 – 133. Pholcus kipungit Huber, sp. nov., ZFMK Ar 15042. 129 – 130. Left male palp, prolateral and retrolateral views. 131. Male chelicerae, frontal view. 132 – 133. Cleared female genitalia, ventral and dorsal views. Abbreviations: a = appendix; b = genital bulb; e = embolus; p = procursus; tr = trochanter; u = uncus. Scale lines: 0.3 mm (131 – 133), 0.5 mm (129 – 130).

Figs 134 – 142. Female genitalia, untreated in ventral view, cleared in ventral and dorsal views. 134 – 136. Pholcus krabi Huber, sp. nov. 137 – 139. Ph. narathiwat Huber, sp. nov. 140 – 142. Ph. kipungit Huber, sp. nov.