Nesticella kaohsiungensis, Lin, Yucheng, Ballarin, Francesco & Li, Shuqiang, 2016

Lin, Yucheng, Ballarin, Francesco & Li, Shuqiang, 2016, A survey of the spider family Nesticidae (Arachnida, Araneae) in Asia and Madagascar, with the description of forty-three new species, ZooKeys 627, pp. 1-168 : 56

Taxon classification Animalia Araneae Nesticidae

Nesticella kaohsiungensis sp. n. Figs 68, 69, 83

Nesticella taiwan Tso & Yoshida, 2000: 13, figs 7-11 (only ♀, mismatched with the holotype ♂).

Type material.

Holotype ♂ (IZCAS) and paratypes 4♀ (IZCAS), CHINA: Taiwan, Kaohsiung City, Gushan District, Shoushan Mountain, a cave without name (22.64814°N, 120.26240°E, 323 m), 29.VI.2013, S. Li leg.

Etymology.

The specific name is derived from the type locality; adjective.

Diagnosis.

Males can be distinguished from those of Nesticella quelpartensis (see Paik & Namkung, in Paik et al. 1969: 812, figs 37-42) by the shorter ventral apophysis of the paracymbium (Va) and the thicker and blunter process of the conductor (Cp) (Fig. 68A, C vs. figs 40-41). Females are distinguished by the narrower, longer scape (Fig. 69 F–G vs. figs 37-38).

Description.

Habitus as Fig. 69 A–D. Carapace pale yellow in males, darker in females, faint dark at margins and near the center. Cervical groove and fovea distinct. Mouthparts brown-yellowish. Sternum yellow, with sparse long setae. Legs and female palps yellowish, distally darker in metatarsi and tarsi. Opisthosoma light yellow with paired dark marks, partially merged with each other on the posterior, forming a light, cross-shaped mark on the background. Pattern fainter in males.

Male palp (Fig. 68 A–D): paracymbium with a laminar, pointed ventral apophysis and a wide, laminar, finely textured distal process (Fig. 68 A–B, 68D). Terminal apophysis crest-like, wide and protruding outward from the bulb with a finely granulate surface (Fig. 68A, C). Conductor with a long, well-developed distal process, apically flat and strongly sclerotized (Fig. 68A, C–D).

Epigyne (Fig. 69 E–G): wrinkled and translucent. Scape long and protruding beyond the epigynal posterior margin (Fig. 69 E–G), basally wider and ending with an almost round lobe, about as wide as the diameter of a spermatheca. Vulva forming a rough “V” visible trough the tegument of the epigyne (Fig. 69F). Copulatory openings tiny (Fig. 69E, 69G). Spermathecae small and globular, separated by at least 1.6 diameters (Fig. 69 F–E). Fertilization ducts thin and long, dorsally oriented, reaching the spermathecae with at least three coils (Fig. 69G). Copulatory ducts thick and short, basally narrower (Fig. 69 F–G).

Male (holotype). Total length 1.88. Carapace 1.06 long, 0.92 wide. Opisthosoma 0.94 long, 0.68 wide. Clypeus height 0.18. Sternum 0.64 long, 0.61 wide. Leg measurements: see Appendix A.

Female (one of the paratypes). Total length 2.29. Carapace 1.20 long, 1.00 wide. Opisthosoma 1.30 long, 0.93 wide. Clypeus height 0.21. Sternum 0.71 long, 0.67 wide. Leg measurements: see Appendix A.

Habitat.

Cave, forest leaf litter.

Distribution.

China (Taiwan) (Fig. 83)

Remarks.

A female paratype of Nesticella taiwan Tso & Yoshida, 2000 was mismatched with the holotype male, synonymized here with Nesticella odonta . A detailed morphological comparison of the samples, together with the an in-progress molecular analysis of newly collected specimens from the type locality of Nesticella taiwan , allow the correct matching of females and males and demonstrate that they belong to a new species.