Raveniola fuzhouensis Zhou, 2025

Zhou, Guchun, Lu, Jian, Cui, Muqiushi & Xu, Jiasheng, 2025, A new species of Raveniola Zonstein, 1987 (Araneae, Nemesiidae) from Fujian, China, Biodiversity Data Journal 13, pp. e 142264-e 142264 : e142264-

Raveniola fuzhouensis Zhou sp. nov.

Materials

Type status: Holotype. Occurrence: recordedBy: Guchun Zhou, Yuanrui Wu; individualCount: 1; sex: male; lifeStage: adult; occurrenceID: 49951440-942C-5D88-8422-2B1E6C81FA1E; Taxon: kingdom: Animalia; phylum: Arthropoda; class: Arachnida; order: Araneae ; family: Nemesiidae ; genus: Raveniola ; Location: country: China; stateProvince: Fujian; county: Jin'an District; locality: Fuzhou City, Fuzhou National Forest Park ; verbatimElevation: 92.2; verbatimLatitude: 26°9′36.7″N; verbatimLongitude: 119°16′50.4″E; Event: samplingProtocol: by hand; year: 2024; month: 4; day: 10; Record Level: institutionCode: FJFZ- 24-19 - 03

Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: recordedBy: Zhou Gu-chun, Wu Yuanrui; individualCount: 1; sex: 1 female; lifeStage: adult (raised to 2024-5 - 26 mature); occurrenceID: A3A26484-542E-5F5C-9220-B4281F26304F; Taxon: kingdom: Animalia; phylum: Arthropoda; class: Arachnida; order: Araneae ; family: Nemesiidae ; genus: Raveniola ; Location: country: China; stateProvince: Fujian; county: Jin'an District; locality: Fuzhou City, Fuzhou National Forest Park ; verbatimElevation: 92.2; verbatimLatitude: 26°9′36.7″N; verbatimLongitude: 119°16′50.4″E; Event: samplingProtocol: by hand; year: 2024; month: 4; day: 10; Record Level: institutionCode: FJFZ- 24-19 - 04

Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: recordedBy: Zhou Guchun; individualCount: 2; sex: 2 males; lifeStage: adult; occurrenceID: D5E9D03B-81A9-505A-86C6-4995287AAEB5; Taxon: kingdom: Animalia; phylum: Arthropoda; class: Arachnida; order: Araneae ; family: Nemesiidae ; genus: Raveniola ; Location: country: China; stateProvince: Fujian; county: Jin'an District; locality: Fuzhou City, Fuzhou National Forest Park ; verbatimElevation: 193.5; verbatimLatitude: 26°10′27.3″N; verbatimLongitude: 119°16′25.8″E; Event: samplingProtocol: by hand; year: 2024; month: 1; day: 25; Record Level: institutionCode: FJFZ- 24-09 - 04

Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: recordedBy: Zhou Guchun; individualCount: 4; sex: 4 males; lifeStage: adult; occurrenceID: D8EF4351-90D0-5F0D-80A2-0F6C66B5BA21; Taxon: kingdom: Animalia; phylum: Animalia; class: Animalia; order: Animalia; family: Nemesiidae ; genus: Raveniola ; Location: country: China; stateProvince: Fujian; county: Jin'an District; locality: Fuzhou City, Fuzhou National Forest Park ; verbatimElevation: 193.5; verbatimLatitude: 26°10′27.3″N; verbatimLongitude: 119°16′25.8″E; Event: samplingProtocol: by hand; year: 2024; month: 1; day: 29; Record Level: institutionCode: FJFZ- 24-10 - 01

Description

Male (holotype; FJFZ- 24-19 - 03, Fig. 1 A and Fig. 2 A). TL 9.76 (not included chelicerae), CL 4.85, CW 3.62, AL 5.02, AW 3.04. Eye sizes and distances: AME 0.14, ALE 0.22, PME 0.16, PLE 0.18, AME – AME 0.08, AME – ALE 0.05, PME – PME 0.28, PME – PLE 0.02. Leg lengths: leg I: 13.68 (3.92, 2.15, 3.15, 2.54, 1.92), leg II: 12.83 (3.69, 1.92, 2.85, 2.52, 1.85), leg III: 11.76 (3.23, 1.38, 2.46, 2.92, 1.77), leg IV: 16.31 (4.24, 1.85, 3.54, 4.46, 2.23). Leg formula: 4123. Carapace yellowish-brown dorsally, with short black setae. Eye tubercle middle blackish-brown, AME black, other eyes white (Fig. 4 A). Chelicerae 1.62 long, dark brown, each cheliceral furrow with 11 promarginal teeth and 5 mesobasal denticles (Fig. 4 B). Maxillae 2.54 long and 1.45 wide, each with 4 cuspules beside a ridge (Fig. 2 B). Labium 0.61 long, 0.73 wide; sternum 2.62 long and 2.08 wide, with one pair of suborbicular sigilla (measurements of sigilla: lower = 0.21) (Fig. 2 B). Sternum, labium, maxillae and legs greyish-brown ventrally. Abdomen dorsally light brown, with blackish cloudy maculae and black setae (Fig. 2 A). Ventral surface of abdomen and spinnerets brown, with dense black setae (Fig. 2 B). Chelicerae dorsally front end with strong black setae (Fig. 1 A and Fig. 4 A). Spinnerets: PMS length 0.24, diameter 0.11. PLS maximal diameter 0.39; length of basal, medial and apical segments 1.02, 0.68, 0.71; total length 2.41; apical segment triangular (Fig. 2 A, B). Spination. Palp: femur d 4, p 1; patella p 2; tibia pd 3, rd 3, v 5, pv 2, r 2; cymbium d 4. Leg I: femur d 4, pd 2; patella aspinose; tibia p 2, rv 3 + 4 M; metatarsus v 5, p 1. Leg II: femur d 4, pd 2; patella p 1; tibia p 2, v 7; metatarsus v 6. Leg III: femur d 3, pd 3, rd 2; patella p 3, rd 2, v 7; tibia d 2, pd 3, rd 2, v 7; metatarsus pd 4, rd 2, v 7. Leg IV: femur d 3, pd 3, rd 2; patella pd 1, rd 1; tibia d 2, pd 3, rd 2, v 7; metatarsus pd 6, rd 6, v 8. Tarsi I – IV aspinose. Tibia, cymbium and copulatory bulb of palp as shown in Fig. 3 and Fig. 7 A-D.

Palpal tibia scattered 11 thick and long spines; cymbium with five stout spines; embolus base globose, brownish-brown, middle slender outstretched, slender tubular and black, its end slightly bent and tapering (Fig. 3 A-D and Fig. 7 A-D).

Female (paratype; FJFZ- 24-19 - 04, Fig. 1 B and Fig. 2 C): TL 11.62 (not included chelicerae), CL 5.23, CW 3.85, AL 6.46, AW 4.38. Eye sizes and interdistances: AME 0.16, ALE 0.29, PME 0.16, PLE 0.18, AME – AME 0.11, AME – ALE 0.04, PME – PME 0.31, PME – PLE 0.29. Leg lengths: leg I: 10.84 (3.92, 2.15, 3.15, 2.54, 1.92), leg II: 12.83 (3.69, 1.92, 2.85, 2.52, 1.85), leg III: 11.76 (3.23, 1.38, 2.46, 2.92, 1.77), leg IV: 16.31 (4.24, 1.85, 3.54, 4.46, 2.23). Leg formula: 4123. Carapace grey-brown dorsally, with a few black setae. Eye tubercle middle blackish-brown, AME black, other eyes white (Fig. 6 A). Chelicerae 1.62 long, dark brown, each cheliceral furrow with 12 promarginal teeth and 6-7 mesobasal denticles (Fig. 6 C). Maxillae 2.25 long and 1.35 wide, each with 5 cuspules beside a ridge (Fig. 6 A). Labium 0.41 long, 0.58 wide; sternum 3.02 long and 2.38 wide, with three pairs of suborbicular sigilla (measurements of sigilla: upper: median: lower = 0.10: 0.11: 0.22) (Fig. 6 A). Sternum, labium, maxillae and legs dark brown ventrally. PMS length 0.42, diameter 0.21. PLS maximal diameter 0.44; length of basal, medial and apical segments 0.82, 0.72, 0.56; total length 2.10; apical segment triangular (Fig. 2 C and D). Spination. Palp: femur d 1; patella aspinose; tibia v 6; tarsi v 4. Leg I and II: femur p 1; patella aspinose; tibia v 3; metatarsus v 5, p 1. Leg III: femur pd 1; patella pd 1, rd 2; tibia d 2, pv 2, pd 2, rd 2, v 6; metatarsus d 4, pd 3, rd 4, v 8. Leg IV: femur pd 1; patella pd 1, rd 1; tibia d 2, pd 3, rd 2, pv 2, rv 2, v 6; metatarsus pd 2, d 6, rd 2, v 8. Tarsi I – IV aspinose.

Spermathecae white, narrow and bifurcated, width and length of the bifurcation part are similar (Fig. 5 C and Fig. 7 F), distance between spermathecae 0.26, IS length 0.23 / 0.27, OS length 0.2 / 0.21, spermathecae base width 0.28 / 0.33, stalk of spermathecae trumpet-shaped and height 0.26. Dense pores are scattered on the surface of spermathecae.

Variation

Tolal length males (n = 7) varies from 10.64 to 12.07 (included chelicerae). Carapace length in males (n = 7) varies from 4.71 to 5.57.

Diagnosis

The new species is similar to Raveniola gracilis Li & Zonstein, 2015 ( Tian et al. 2020: figs. 1 C-D, 2, 3 C-D and Li and Zonstein 2015: figs. 9 A-C and 10) in the male and female individual abdomen back pattern approximation. The male of the new species can be easily distinguished from R. gracilis by the following: (1) embolus base wider and black (Fig. 3 ) vs. embolus of R. gracilis dark brown ( Li and Zonstein 2015: fig. 9; Tian et al. 2020: fig. 3 D); (2) SD base the pipeline smooth down to embolus (Fig. 3 B) vs. SD base the pipeline 90 ° to embolus of R. gracilis ( Li and Zonstein 2015: figs. 9 B and 10 B). The female of the new species can be easily distinguished from R. gracilis by the following: (1) the stalk of the spermathecae is significantly wider (trumpet-shaped), with the basal width approximately same as that of the IS, gradually narrowing upwards to the junction of the IS and OS; (2) the OS is straight, emerging obliquely from the stalk to form an angle of about 40 ° with the IS (in contrast, in R. gracilis , the base of the stalk of the spermathecae does not significantly widen, with a width close to that of the IS or up to twice the width of the IS; the OS emerges perpendicularly or downwards from the stalk, then extends upwards, forming a curved structure near the base, see Tian et al. (2020): fig. 2).

Etymology

The specific name refers to the type locality, adjective.

Distribution

China (Known only from type locality in Fujian; Fig. 8 ).

Biology

R. fuzhouensis Zhou , sp. nov. lives in dry soil burrows on loess road cuts or cavities beneath flat stones. The excavation marks inside the burrow indicate their ability to further modify the burrow, rather than passively adapting to the existing environment.

Figures

Figure 1. Photos of live specimens of Raveniola fuzhouensis Zhou, sp. nov. A male (holotype); B female (paratype).

Figure 2. Raveniola fuzhouensis Zhou, sp. nov., habitus. A, B male (holotype), C, D female (paratype). A, C dorsal view; B, D ventral view. Scale bars: 2 mm (A-D).

Figure 3. Raveniola fuzhouensis Zhou, sp. nov., holotype male. A left palp, prolateral view; B same, ventral view; C same, retrolateral view; D palpal bulb, retrolateral view. Scale bars: 1 mm (A – C); 0.2 mm (D).

Figure 4. Raveniola fuzhouensis Zhou, sp. nov., holotype male. A front part of prosoma, dorsal view; B chelicerae, pro-ventral view; C leg I, retrolateral view; D leg II, retrolateral view. Scale bars: 1 mm (A); 0.5 mm (B); 2 mm (C-D).

Figure 5. Raveniola fuzhouensis Zhou, sp. nov., paratype female. A, B epigyne, ventral view; C vulva, dorsal view. Scale bars: 1 mm (A-C).

Figure 6. Raveniola fuzhouensis Zhou, sp. nov., paratype female. A labium and sternum of prosoma, ventral view; B front part of prosoma, dorsal view; C chelicerae, pro-ventral view; D leg I, retrolateral view. Scale bars: 2 mm (A); 1 mm (B-D).

Figure 7. Raveniola fuzhouensis Zhou, sp. nov., A-D holotype male, E-F paratype female. A-C left palp; D palpal bulb; E epigyne; F vulva. A prolateral view; B, E ventral view; C-D retrolateral view; F dorsal view. Abbreviations: IS = inner spermathecal branch, OS = outer spermathecal branch, Pb = psembolus, SD = sperm duct. Scale bars: 1 mm (A – C, E-F); 0.2 mm (D).

Figure 8. Distribution record of Raveniola fuzhouensis Zhou, sp. nov.