Talaus sulcus Tang & Li, 2010

Li, Cong-zheng, Yao, Yan-bin, Xiao, Yong-hong, Xu, Xiang & Liu, Ke-ke, 2024, Notes on species of Talaus Simon, 1886 (Araneae, Thomisidae) from China, with descriptions of two new species, ZooKeys 1190, pp. 195-212 : 195

Talaus sulcus Tang & Li, 2010

Figs 4 , 5

Talaus sulcus Tang & Li, 2010b: 93, f. 71A-D, 72A-F, 73A-D.

Other material examined.

2 ♀: China, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Chongzuo City, Jiangzhou District , Zuozhou Town , Nongxue Village , 22°36.024'N, 107°24.93'E, 252 m, 5 September 2015, Bing Zhou, Wang Liu, Ji-he Liu, Qu Cai, Xian-feng Huang & Da Li leg. (Tho-334, HNU) ; 1 ♀, Guanghe Village, Pairutun, Nongzui , 22°32.556'N, 107°26.970'E, 311 m, 11 September 2015, other data same as previous (Tho-334, HNU) ; 1 ♀, Quxi Village, Nongqiong , 22°34.208'N, 107°25.003'E, 276 m, 31 August 2015, other data same as previous (Tho-334, HNU) ; 1 ♀, Longzhou County, Nonggang National Nature Reserve, Longjiang Station , Checkpoints , 22.4777°N, 106.9092°E, 204 m, 28 October 2017, Ai-lan He, Ke-ke Liu, Qu Cai, Ji-he Liu, Jin-xin Liu & Zong-guang Huang leg. (Tho-335, HNU) .

Diagnosis.

Female resembles Talaus triangulifer (Fig. 7C, D ) in having a bean-shaped spermathecae, but can be easily recognized by the copulatory openings located antero-medially and directed posteriorly (vs located antero-medially and directed anteriorly, or located latero-medially) and the S-shaped or spiral copulatory ducts (vs C-shaped) (Figs 4D, E , 5D, E ).

Description.

Female habitus as in Figs 4A, B , 5A, B , eyes as in Figs 4C , 5C , epigyne as in Figs 4D, E , 5D, E . Epigyne: copulatory openings small, antero-medially located, separated by half of width of epigynal hood; epigynal hood postero-medially located, looks like a semi-circular extrusion; copulatory ducts long, S-shaped in ventral view, C-shaped in dorsal view; spermathecae ovoid, swollen, slightly separated from each other; fertilization ducts postero-medially located, directed anterolaterally. The epigynes also include the other variations: copulatory openings small, slit-like, latero-medially located; epigynal hood postero-medially located, triangular, curved forward; copulatory ducts long, like an oval ring in dorsal view; spermathecae sac-shaped, with obvious constrictions, nearly sac-shaped, anterior slightly separated from each other anteriorly; fertilization ducts postero-medially located, touching their bases, directed anterolaterally.

Distribution.

Known from Yunnan ( Tang and Li 2010) and Guangxi Province (present records), China (Fig. 12 ).

Remarks.

The detailed study of newly collected specimens from Guangxi revealed that they have two variants of the epigyne conformation as shown for paratype specimens from Yunnan by Tang and Li (2010). Specimens from Jiangzhou District have S-shaped (in ventral view) and C-shaped (in dorsal view) copulatory ducts and ovoid spermathecae as illustrated in Tang and Li (2010: fig. 72C, D); the specimens from Longzhou County have loop-like copulatory ducts and nearly C-shaped spermathecae similar to the illustration in Tang and Li (2010: fig. 72E, F). However, our new female specimens do not have a yellow abdomen dorsally bearing a large subtriangular spot subposteriorly, which is an acceptable color-variation proposed by Tang and Li (2010: 93).

Figures

Figure 4. Talaus sulcus Tang & Li, 2010, female A habitus, dorsal view B habitus, ventral view C prosoma, dorso-frontal view D epigyne, ventral view E epigyne, dorsal view. Abbreviations: CD - copulatory duct, CO - copulatory opening, EH - epigynal hood, FD - fertilization duct, Spe - spermatheca. Scale bars: 0.2 mm (A, B); 0.1 mm (C-E).

Figure 5. Talaus sulcus Tang & Li, 2010, female A habitus, dorsal view B habitus, ventral view C prosoma, dorsal view D epigyne, ventral view E epigyne, dorsal view. Abbreviations: CD - copulatory duct, CO - copulatory opening, EH - epigynal hood, FD - fertilization duct, Spe - spermatheca. Scale bars: 0.2 mm (A, B); 0.1 mm (C); 0.05 mm (D, E).

Figure 7. Talaus triangulifer Simon, 1886, female A habitus, dorsal view B habitus, ventral view C prosoma, dorso-frontal view D epigyne, ventral view E epigyne, dorsal view. Abbreviations: CD - copulatory duct, CO - copulatory opening, EH - epigynal hood, FD - fertilization duct, Spe - spermatheca. Scale bars: 0.2 mm (A, B); 0.1 mm (C-E).

Figure 12. Distributional records of Talaus dulongjiang Tang, Yin, Ubick & Peng, 2008 (yellow circles), T. niger Tang, Yin, Ubick & Peng, 2008 (black circle), T. sulcus Tang & Li, 2010 (red triangles), T. triangulifer Simon, 1886 (green circles), T. yuyang sp. nov. (blue circles) and T. zhangjiangkou sp. nov. (red square) from China.