Pholcus gombak Huber, 2011

Bernard A. Huber, Joseph K. H. Koh, Amir-Ridhwan M. Ghazali, Kamil A. Braima, Olga M. Nuñeza, Charles Leh Moi Ung & Booppa Petcharad, 2016, New leaf- and litter-dwelling species of the genus Pholcus from Southeast Asia (Araneae, Pholcidae), European Journal of Taxonomy 200, pp. 1-45 : 13-14

Pholcus gombak Huber, 2011

Figs 32–35 , 39–47

Pholcus gombak Huber, 2011: 180 –183, figs 757–760, 784–785, 819–822 (♂♀).

Diagnosis

Easily distinguished from most similar known relatives (other species of the P. ethagala group on the Malay Peninsula) by morphology of male palps (figs 819–820 in Huber 2011; short ventral trochanter apophysis; procursus proximal part with prolateral rather than dorsal process, with large retrolateroventral whitish area, with distinctive complex tip), and by details of female internal genitalia (figs 821– 822 in Huber 2011; pore plates widening anteriorly).

New material examined

MALAYSIA: 3 ♂♂, 9 ♀♀, ZFMK ( Ar 15698–99 ) , and 1 ♂, 1 ♀, MZUM, Selangor, Kemensah (3.222°N, 101.793°E), 230 m a.s.l., forest along stream, leaf litter, 19 Feb. 2015 (B.A. Huber, A.R.M. Ghazali, K.A. Braima, M. Muslimin) ; 1 ♂, 4 ♀♀, in absolute ethanol, ZFMK ( Mal 247 ), same data ; 2 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀, ZFMK ( Ar 15700 ), Selangor, Fraser’s Hill (3.660°N, 101.743°E), 730 m a.s.l., forest near road, leaf litter, 21 Feb. 2015 (B.A. Huber, A.R.M. Ghazali, K.A. Braima) ; 1 ♀, 3 juvs, in absolute ethanol, ZFMK ( Mal 262 ), same data ; 8 ♂♂, 8 ♀♀, ZFMK ( Ar 15701–02 ) , and 1 ♂, 1 ♀, MZUM, Perak, Gunung Liang (3.795°N, 101.533°E), 250 m a.s.l., forest along river, leaf litter, 22 Feb. 2015 (B.A. Huber, A.R.M. Ghazali, K.A. Braima) ; 3 ♀♀, 2 juvs, in absolute ethanol, ZFMK ( Mal 267 ), same data ; 1 ♀, in absolute ethanol, ZFMK ( Mal 305 ), same data, with parasitized egg-sac, wasps eclosed on 1 Mar. 2015 .

Description – amendments

Whitish area on procursus set with many small cuticular pointed processes ( Fig. 45 ), procursus proximal part with prolateral rather than dorsal process (asterisk in Fig. 41 ). Appendix with prolateral groove and dense cover of small scales ( Figs 42–43 ). Male gonopore with four epiandrous spigots ( Fig. 46 ). ALS with one large widened, one pointed, and six smaller cylindrically-shaped spigots ( Fig. 44 ). Tibia 1 in 13 males: 6.8–8.6 (mean 7.8); in 17 females: 5.4–6.6 (mean 6.1).

Natural history

Most specimens were found under large dead leaves on the ground. At Kemensah, they also lived in bamboo sheaths and in sheltered spaces under rocks. The egg-sac of one female from Gunung Liang was parasitized by Idris wasps ( Figs 33–35 ).

Figures

Figs 32 – 38. Live specimens. 32 – 35. Pholcus gombak Huber, 2011, Kemensah (32) and Gunung Liang (33 – 35), ♂, ♀ with parasitized egg-sac seven days before eclosion of wasps (33), one day before eclosion (34), and at eclosion (35). 36 – 38. P. ledang Huber, 2011, Gunung Ledang, ♂ and ♀ with egg-sac.

Figs 39 – 47. Pholcus gombak Huber, 2011, SEM micrographs (ZFMK, Ar 15701 – 02). 39 – 40. Male and female prosomata, frontal views. 41. Left procursus; asterisk marks large prolatero-dorsal process. 42 – 43. Right appendix and embolus, prolateral and prolatero-distal views. 44. Female ALS. 45. Cuticular processes on whitish retrolateral area of left procursus. 46. Male gonopore. 47. Epigynum, ventral view. Scale bars: 39 – 40 = 300 µm; 41, 47 = 200 µm; 42, 43 = 100 µm; 44 = 20 µm; 45 = 10 µm; 46 = 30 µm.