Mallinella mengla Lu & Li, 2023

Lu, Ying, Li, Shuqiang, Yu, Hao & Yao, Zhiyuan, 2023, Three new ant-eating spiders of the family Zodariidae Thorell, 1881 (Araneae, Zodariidae) from Xishuangbanna, China, ZooKeys 1175, pp. 321-332 : 321

Mallinella mengla Lu & Li sp. nov.

Figs 5 , 6 , 7B

Type material.

Holotype: 1♂ (IZCAS-Ar 44614), China, Yunnan, Xishuangbanna, Mengla County, Menglun Town, XTBG, 22°11.06′N, 100°39.05′E, 780 m, 23 May 2008, A. Weigel leg. Paratypes: 2♂ (IZCAS-Ar 44615, Ar 44616), same data as holotype.

Etymology.

The specific name refers to the type locality and is a noun in apposition.

Diagnosis.

Mallinella mengla sp. nov. resembles M. stenotheca Dankittipakul, Jocqué & Singtripop, 2012 (cf. Figs 5 , 6 , 7B and Dankittipakul et al. 2012: 262, figs 1113, 1187-1188, 1216-1223) in that the males have similar slender embolus and digitiform retrolateral tibial apophysis (Fig. 6A, B ). Males can be distinguished by the conductor beak-shaped, with blunt apex, sclerotized extension prolaterally and lobular dorsal process (Fig. 6A ; vs. conductor sitting in membranous area, with sharply pointed apex and dorsal sclerite), and by the tegular apophysis enormous, C-shaped in retrolateral view, with a thin, sharply pointed apical process in ventral view; subapical tooth triangular; medial ridge indistinct; mesal process elongated, digitiform in retrolateral view, apex blunt; meso-retrolateral process triangular in ventral view; baso-prolateral tooth thick and broad, directed anteriad, with blunt tip (Figs 6A, B , 7B ; vs. tegular apophysis with elongated apical process, apex sharply pointed in lateral view; subterminal tooth triangular, situated anterior to blunt mesal tooth; baso-prolateral tooth broad, apex pointed in lateral view). Female unknown.

Description.

Male (holotype; Fig. 5A, B ). Total length 5.83; prosoma 2.88 long, 2.00 wide; opisthosoma 2.95 long, 1.76 wide. Eye sizes and interdistances: AME 0.09, ALE 0.12, PME 0.11, PLE 0.13, AME-AME 0.10, AME-ALE 0.12, PME-PME 0.10, PME-PLE 0.22; MOQ: 0.37 long, 0.31 anterior width, 0.32 posterior width. Leg measurements: I 7.15 (1.86, 0.73, 1.63, 1.50, 1.43), II 6.57 (1.74, 0.75, 1.40, 1.43, 1.25), III 6.39 (1.64, 0.74, 1.21, 1.73, 1.07), IV 8.86 (2.16, 0.79, 1.84, 2.63, 1.44). Spination: femora I-III p001, d111, IV p001, d211, r001; patellae III-IV 101; tibiae I-II v222, III-IV p11, d11, r11, v222; metatarsi I-II v22, III p212, r212, v2222, IV p1111, r210, v2222.

Pattern and colouration (Fig. 5A, B ). Carapace pear-shaped, in profile highest between PME and longitudinal fovea; tegument rough and granulated, dark brown. Chelicerae brown. Labium triangular, yellowish to brown, apically with narrow membranous area, basal and lateral margins slightly darker. Endites brown, with anteromesal brush of black hairs. Sternum brown, shield-shaped, precoxal triangles and intercoxal sclerites present; anterior margin straight, protruding posteriorly. Legs yellowish, but brown on femur and femur I-III with distinct dorsal swelling. Opisthosoma elongated ovoid, covered with numerous erect spines. Dorsum of opisthosoma dark brown, mottled with numerous pale spots, with narrow brown dorsal scutum anteriorly. Venter pale, with one pair of dark stripes laterally. Posterior ventral spines thin and elongate, apices bluntly pointed, arranged in single row. Spinnerets yellowish.

Palp (Fig. 6A, B ). Tibia with fan-shaped ventral tibial process. Retrolateral tibial apophysis digitiform, relatively short, broad at base, gradually tapering towards its bluntly pointed apex. Cymbial fold approximately 1/4 length of cymbium. Tegular apophysis enormous, C-shaped in retrolateral view, with thin, sharply pointed apical process in ventral view (AP in Fig. 7B ); subapical tooth triangular (ST in Fig. 7B ); medial ridge indistinct; mesal process elongated, digitiform in retrolateral view, apex blunt (MP in Fig. 7B ); meso-retrolateral process triangular in ventral view (MRP in Fig. 7B ); baso-prolateral tooth thick and broad, directed anteriad, with blunt tip (BPT in Fig. 7B ). Conductor beak-shaped, with blunt apex, sclerotized extension prolaterally and lobular dorsal process; base of conductor with sclerotized plate sitting in membranous area. Embolic base oval, originating at 270°, with triangular membranous area anteriorly. Embolus filiform and curved.

Variation.

Males: total body length 5.08-5.28.

Natural history.

The species was found in leaf litter.

Distribution.

China (Yunnan, type locality).

Figures

Figure 5. Mallinella mengla sp. nov., holotype male A, B habitus A dorsal view B ventral view. Scale bar: 2.00 mm

Figure 6. Mallinella mengla sp. nov., holotype male A, B palp A ventral view B retrolateral view. Abbreviations: C conductor, E embolus, EB embolic base, RTA retrolateral tibial apophysis, TA tegular apophysis, VTA ventral tibial apophysis. Scale bar: 0.50 mm.

Figure 7. Ventral view of tegular apophysis, paratype male A Mallinella banna sp. nov. B Mallinella mengla sp. nov. Abbreviations: AP apical process, BPT baso-prolateral tooth, MP mesal process, MRF meso-retrolateral fold, MRP meso-retrolateral process, ST subapical tooth. Scale bars: 0.20 mm.