Thunberga malagassa ( Strand, 1907 ) Jäger, 2020

Jäger, Peter, 2020, Thunberga gen. nov., a new genus of huntsman spiders from Madagascar (Araneae: Sparassidae: Heteropodinae), Zootaxa 4790 (2), pp. 245-260 : 251

Thunberga malagassa ( Strand, 1907) comb. nov.

Figs 17–22 , 38–40 , 47

Olios malagassus Strand 1907: 558 (description of female; holotype female from Nossibé [=Nosy Be in Antsiranana Province, S 13°19’51’’, E 48°16’59’’, 100 m elevation], Museum Lübeck, presumably lost; see also Nentwig et al. 2020). Strand 1916: 71 (description of male; 1 male [ PJ 744 ], Madagascar, Nossibé [see above], A. Stumpff leg. 1881, SMF 4692 , examined). Jäger & Kunz 2005: 170, figs 86–98 (illustration of male).

Diagnosis. Medium-sized Sparassidae (body length of male: 12.7). Males may be recognised by their embolus, basally broad and apically running a U-turn, resulting in a prolaterad tip ( Fig. 17 ).

Description. Male: PL 6.6, PW 5.6, AW 3.0, OL 6.1, OW 3.7. Eyes: AME 0.41, ALE 0.37, PME 0.35, PLE 0.41, AME–AME 0.26, AME–ALE 0.10, PME–PME 0.49, PME–PLE 0.49, AME–PME 0.39, ALE–PLE 0.29, clypeus height at AME 0.21, clypeus height at ALE 0.25. Cheliceral furrow with 3 promarginal, 5(5 + 1 small) retromarginal teeth and 22 denticles, all in patch close to promarginal teeth ( Fig. 21 ). Retromargin of chelicerae close to fang base with 1 bristle. Spination: Palp: 131, 001, 2121; legs: femur I–III 323, IV 3(4)22; patella I–IV 101; tibia I–IV 2226; metatarsus I–II 1014, III 2024, IV 3036. Metatarsus III with single ventro-distal bristle, embedded in scopula; IV with ventro-distal field of several bristles and a double row of bristles along metatarsus. Leg formula 2143. Measurements of palp and legs: Palp 8.6 (2.7, 1.2, 2.0, -, 2.7), I - (7.8, 3.5, 8.5, 7.0, -), II - (9.0, 3.8, 9.8, 7.7, -), III - (6.9, 2.7, 6.5, 5.3, -), IV - (7.5, 2.7, 7.2, 6.7, -).

Palp as in diagnosis ( Figs 17–18 ). RTA with prolaterad apex in ventral view, otherwise simple, straight, broad at base, pointed in lateral view. Tegulum distinctly narrower proximally, spermophor moderately wide retrolaterally, narrow after proximal bend. Embolus arising from tegulum in 10-o’clock-position, broad at base, running retrolaterally, tip bending to prolateral side. Conductor arising disto-centrally from tegulum.

Colouration ( Figs 20 , 38–40 ). Yellowish-brown. Prosoma dorsally with dots along and between striae, and between eyes and fovea. Chelicerae with indistinct longitudinal stripes frontally consisting of small dots. Sternum, gnathocoxae, labium and ventral coxae pale yellow, without pattern. Legs yellowish-brown, femora dotted. Opisthosoma dorsally with two pairs of dark patches above muscle sigilla, posterior one darker, otherwise with small dots, especially in posterior half; ventrally pale yellow, without pattern; spinnerets pale yellow.

Female. See Strand (1907). Actually, this species was described from the female sex, but the holotype seems to be lost ( Nentwig et al. 2020). So far, no female matching the description of Strand (1907) or a similar size and colour pattern could be recognised, neither from the type locality nor from adjacent localities on the main island of Madagascar.

Distribution. Madagascar: Nosy Bé ( Fig. 47 : yellow square).

Figures

FIGURE 47. Map of Madagascar with currently known localities of Thunberga spp.: red circles—T. nossibeensis comb. nov., yellow square—T. malagassa comb. nov., blue square—T. septifer comb. nov., green triangles—T. greta spec. nov.

FIGURES 17–22. Thunberga malagassa (Strand, 1907) comb. nov., male from Madagascar, SMF 4692. 17–18 Left palp (17 ventral, 18 retrolateral); 19 Eyes, dorsal; 20 Prosoma, frontal; 21 Margin of left chelicera, ventral; 22 trilobate membrane, dorsal (17–20 modified from Jäger & Kunz 2005). C—conductor, E—embolus. Arrow pointing to gap between the two distal retromarginal teeth and proximal ones.

FIGURES 32–40. Thunberga spp. from Madagascar, habitus. 32–34 T. nossibeensis (Strand, 1907) comb. nov., male, PJ 3698, NHRS; 35–37 T. nossibeensis (Strand, 1907) comb. nov., female, PJ 3699, NHRS; 38–40 T. malagassa (Strand, 1907) comb. nov., male, SMF 4692. 32, 35, 38 dorsal; 33, 36, 39 ventral; 34, 37, 40 frontal.