Smeringopina fon, Huber, Bernhard A., 2013

Huber, Bernhard A., 2013, Revision and cladistic analysis of the Guineo-Congolian spider genus Smeringopina Kraus (Araneae, Pholcidae, Zootaxa 3713 (1), pp. 1-160 : 24-25

Smeringopina fon new species

Figs. 310–317 , 343–348

Type. ♂ holotype from Benin, Kpinkonzoumé sacred forest (6°20.8'N, 2°18.0'E), 25.xi.2008 (S. Tchibozo), in ZFMK (Ar 10228).

Other material examined. SAO TOMÉ AND PRÍNCIPE: Príncipe: West Coast near Maria Correia Plantation, 8.65 air km WSW Santo Antonio de Príncipe (1°36.0’N, 7°21.2’E), near beach, 22.–24.iv.2001 (C.E. Griswold), 1♂ 1♀ 1 juv. in CAS.

NIGERIA: Kawara, Dekina (7°42’N, 7°01’E), x.1965 – v.1966 (J.H. Davis), 1♀ in USNM.

Etymology. Named for the Fon people, a major West African ethnic group in Benin and southwest Nigeria; noun in apposition.

Diagnosis. Easily distinguished from known congeners by shape of procursus (distinctive ventral element; Fig. 344 ), male chelicerae (shapes of lateral and median projections; Fig. 345 ), and epigynum (shape of anterior plate with pair of processes and deep posterior indentation; Figs. 310 , 347 ).

Male (holotype). Total body length 3.9, carapace width 1.3. Leg 1: 40.6 (9.8 + 0.6 + 9.8 + 18.6 + 1.8), tibia 2: 6.3, tibia 3: 4.2, tibia 4 missing; tibia 1 L/d: 79. Distance PME-PME 160 µm, diameter PME 125 µm, distance PME-ALE 45 µm, distance AME-AME 35 µm, diameter AME 95 µm. Carapace ochre-yellow with darker mark posteriorly, lateral margins and two pairs of lateral marks; ocular area with dark ventral mark, clypeus with brown pattern, sternum dark brown; legs ochre-yellow, with dark rings subdistally on femora and tibiae and in patella area, tips of femora and tibiae whitish; abdomen gray with darker pattern dorsally, laterally, and ventrally. Habitus as in Figs. 313–314 , ocular area slightly elevated, secondary eyes with very indistinct ‘pseudo-lenses’; clypeus with pointed apophysis near rim ( Fig. 314 ); deep thoracic pit and pair of shallow furrows diverging behind pit. Chelicerae as in Fig. 345 , with three rows of ridges (on lateral apophyses, on median projections, and in-between), without modified hairs. Palps as in Figs. 315–317 ; coxa unmodified; trochanter with ventral sclerotized hump; femur with whitish ventral area bordered retrolaterally by sclerotized flap, without prolateral modification; prolateral femur-patella joint strongly shifted toward ventrally; tarsus with some slightly stronger hairs dorsally; procursus with distinctive ventral element, complex prolateral structures, without hinge ( Figs. 343, 344 ); bulb with weakly sclerotized simple process ( Fig. 346 ; sperm duct apparently opens at base of this process). Legs without spines and curved hairs, with few vertical hairs, retrolateral trichobothrium on tibia 1 at 1%; prolateral trichobothrium present on all tibiae; pseudosegments barely visible.

Variation. Tibia 1 in other male: 9.2; tibia 2/4: 5.9/5.8.

Female. In general similar to male; clypeus unmodified. Tibia 1: 7.0 (missing in second female). Epigynum with large anterior plate with pair of processes and deep posterior indentation ( Figs. 310–311 , 347 ); weakly curved posterior plate; internal genitalia as in Figs. 312 and 348 .

Distribution. Known from Benin, Nigeria, and Príncipe Island ( Fig. 293 ).

Figures

FIGURE 293. Known distributions of the attuleh and ankasa species groups, and of S. fon and S. ngungu.

FIGURES 304 – 317. Smeringopina attuleh n. sp. (304 – 306), S. mbouda n. sp. (307 – 309), and S. fon (310 – 317). 304 – 305, 307 – 308, 310 – 311. Female abdomens, ventral and lateral views. 306, 309, 312. Cleared female genitalia, dorsal views. 313 – 314. Male, dorsal and ventral views. 315 – 317. Left male palp, prolateral, dorsal, and retrolateral views. Arrow points at retrolateral ridge bordering whitish ventral area.

FIGURES 343 – 348. Smeringopina fon n. sp. 343 – 344. Left procursus, prolateral and retrolateral views. 345. Male chelicerae, frontal view. 346. Left bulbal process, prolateral view. 347. Epigynum, ventral view. 348. Cleared female genitalia, dorsal view. Scale lines: 0.2 (346), 0.3 (345), 0.5 (343 – 344, 347 – 348).