Cyrtognatha paradoxa, Dimitrov & Hormiga, 2009

Dimitrov, Dimitar & Hormiga, Gustavo, 2009, Revision And Cladistic Analysis Of The Orbweaving Spider Genus Cyrtognatha Keyserling, 1881 (Araneae, Tetragnathidae), Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2009 (317), pp. 1-140 : 50-53

Cyrtognatha paradoxa , new species Figures 20, 21

TYPE: Male holotype from Mexico, Hidalgo, 4 km NE of Tlanchinol on Hwy. 105, 98 ° 39 9 W, 21 ° 02 9 N, ca. 1371 m. Cloud forest edge. 14.vi.1983, W. Maddison ( MCZ 67463).

ETYMOLOGY: The species epithet is an adjective that refers to the unusual male palp morphology.

DIAGNOSIS: This species can be easily distinguished from all other species in the genus by the very unusual shape of the basal apophysis of the conductor (fig. 20A–C). Here it is well developed, strongly chitinized, and carries two small outgrowths at the tip. It is easily distinguished from similar congeners by the shape of the embolus, which is conspicuously curved (fig. 20A–C) and car- ries a small membranous fold apically. The morphology of the apical apophysis of the conductor is also diagnostic (fig. 20A–B).

DESCRIPTION: Male (holotype). Habitus as in figure 21A–D. Carapace brown-yellowish, darker in the center and margins. Fovea well marked, darker. Abdomen cylindrical with guanine spots dorsally and laterally. Dorsally with darker bands. Distal and proximal tubercles small. Total length 6.82. Cephalothorax 3.10 long, 2.42 wide, 1.24 high. Abdomen 3.72 long, 1.74 wide, 1.36 high.

(D). Vulva: dorsal (E).

Sternum yellowish with darker bands between coxae; 1.24 long, 1.36 wide. Clypeus height 1.5 times one AME diameter. AME diameter 0.14. Distance between AME half of their diameter; AME–ALE distance slightly more than two AME diameters. PME close to each other and to the AME; distance between PME half of their diameter, PME– AME distance half of one AME diameter. AME and PME placed on well-marked bump. Lateral eyes on short tubercles. All eyes surrounded by a dark brown pigmentation. Chelicerae (fig. 21D) dark brown, strongly divergent with well-developed dorsal tooth. Dorsal tooth with pointed tip and outlying from the fang articulation. Cheliceral fang with reduced outgrowth and without distinctive curvature before and after the outgrowth. Femur I 6.20, twice the length of the cephalothorax. Pedipalp as in fig- ure 20A–C. Palpal tibia length 0.55; cymbium length 1.17.

Female (paratype from the type locality). Coloration and habitus as in male. Abdomen damaged in the only specimen available for study, but the distal and proximal tubercles can be both distinguished and are more developed than in the male. Chelicerae less divergent than in male, without dorsal tooth; the rest of the cheliceral teeth well developed and closer to each other. Sternum 1.32 long, 1.25 wide. Clypeus height equal to an AME diameter. AME diameter 0.17. Eyes smaller than in males and placed on less pronounced elevations. Distance between AME and ALE equal to three AME diameters. Total length 8.86. Cephalothorax 3.90 long, 1.86 wide, 1.55 high. Abdomen 4.96 long. Abdomen width and height not measured (damaged specimen). Femur I 4.56, 1.3 times the length

of the cephalothorax. Vulva as in figures 20D, E, 21E.

DISTRIBUTION: This species is known from the southern Mexican states of Hidalgo and Veracruz (fig. 5).

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL EXAMINED: Paratypes: MEXICO: Hidalgo, 4 km NE of Tlanchinol on Hwy. 105, 98 ° 39 9 W, 21 ° 02 9 N, ca. 1371 m. Cloud forest edge. 14.vi.1983, W. Maddison, 1 female (MCZ 67463 in the same vial with the holotype). Other material: MEXICO: Veracruz, 12 km S of Yecuatla on Hwy. 127, near 96.8 ° W, 19.8 ° N, 1219 m. Cloud forest edge 83-077. 20.vi.1983, W. Maddison, 1 male (MCZ 67461).