Uroctea thaleri, Rheims, Cristina A., Santos, Adalberto J. & Harten, Antonius, 2007

Rheims, Cristina A., Santos, Adalberto J. & Harten, Antonius, 2007, The spider genus Uroctea Dufour, 1820 (Araneae: Oecobiidae) in Yemen, Zootaxa 1406, pp. 61-68 : 64-67

Uroctea thaleri new species

Figures 5–8 , 11–12

Uroctea paivani ( Blackwall, 1868) . Baum 1972: 135 -137, figs. 45-48 (misidentification). Uroctea sp. indet. a. Baum 1972: 113 -115, figs. 11-13.

Uroctea indica Pocock, 1900 . Gajbe & Bhadra 1978: 933 -934, figs. 1-5 (misidentification). Uroctea sp. Bosselaers 1999: 110, figs. 4a–b.

Type material. Male holotype from YEMEN, Near Sana’a (15o24'43''N, 44 o08'58"E), A. van Harten coll., 13.III.1998 ( IBSP 33226). Female paratype from YEMEN, Bani Husheish (15 o23'56"N, 44 o16'20"E), A. van Harten coll., 6.V.1999 ( IBSP 33224).

Etymology. This species is named after the late Konrad Thaler, from the University of Innsbruck ( Austria), in honor of his important contributions to the knowledge of European, especially Alpine and Mediterranean spiders.

Remarks. The new species herein described was erroneously identified as U. paivani ( Blackwall, 1868) by Baum (1972) and as U. indica Pocock, 1900 , by Gajbe & Bhadra (1978). These identifications were considered erroneous after examining the illustrations of the type specimens of U. paivani presented by Kritscher (1966, figs.1–2) and digital images of the internal genitalia of one of the female syntypes of U. indica , deposited in the Natural History Museum, London.

Diagnosis. The males of Uroctea thaleri can be distinguished from other species of the genus by the extremely wide tegular apophysis 1 ( Fig 11 ) and by the long and apically rounded proximal tegular lobe ( Fig 6 ). Females can be distinguished by the long and parallel insemination and fertilization ducts, both describing a median loop between the epigynal plate and the spermathecae ( Fig 8 ). An additional diagnostic character is a blind ending duct emerging basally from the fertilization ducts ( Fig 8 ).

Description. Male (holotype). Carapace orange brown with dark gray margins and dark gray cephalic region and thoracic groves. Eye borders black. Legs and pedipalps brownish gray, slightly orange dorsally on femur, patella and tibia. Chelicerae brownish gray. Sternum orange, with darker and sclerotized margins. Labium light brown, endites orange. Opisthosoma dorsally dark gray, with few irregular cream colored marks anteriorly. Dorsal muscular pits brown. Venter dark gray, with a V-shaped cream colored set of muscular impressions. Epigastric plate orange. Spinnerets brownish gray, ventrally lighter. Total length 10.2. Carapace 5.5 long, 6.9 wide. Eye diameters and interdistances: AME 0.28, ALE 0.28, PME 0.22, PLE 0.16, AME– AME 0.48, AME–ALE 0.02, ALE–ALE 0.78, PME–PME 0.1, PME–PLE 0.06, AME–PME 0.08. Clypeus 0.9 high. Leg measurements: I femur 4.6/ patella 2.1/ tibia 3.4/ metatarsus 4.0/ tarsus 2.1/ total 16.2. II 4.6/ 2.4/ 3.5/ 4.4/ 1.8/ 16.7. III 4.7/ 2.2/ 3.5/ 4.9/ 1.7/ 17.0. IV 5.0/ 2.5/ 3.2/ 4.9/ 1.6/ 17.2. Opisthosoma 10.7 long, 7.0 wide. Tegular apophysis1 with same texture as the tegulum ( Fig 11 : TA1) and with an internal hyaline process ( Fig 5 ). Embolus short, with point in close contact with tegular apophysis 3 ( Fig 12 ).

Female (paratype). Carapace light orange, cephalic region with two longitudinal paramedian brown stripes. Eye borders black. Pedipalps light orange, ventrally lighter. Legs light orange, chelicerae brown. Sternum orange, with darker sclerotized borders. Labium brown, endites light orange. Opisthosoma dorsally dark gray, with two paramedian yellow stripes. Venter brownish gray. Spinnerets brownish gray, ventrally lighter. Total length 14.8. Carapace 6.2 long, 7.0 wide. Eye diameters and interdistances: AME 0.36, ALE 0.26, PME 0.28, PLE 0.2, AME–AME 0.7, AME–ALE 0.02, ALE–ALE 1.1, PME–PME 0.26, PME–PLE 0.08, AME– PME 0.12. Clypeus 0.8 high. Leg measurements: I femur 5.3/ patella 2.8/ tibia 3.4/ metatarsus 4.4/ tarsus 1.9/ total17.8. II 5.5/ 3.0/ 3.7/ 4.5/ 1.8/ 18.5. III 5.9/ 2.9/ 3.6/ 4.9/ 1.6/ 18.9. IV 6.3/ 3.5/ 3.4/ 5.2/ 1.9/ 20.3. Opisthosoma 12.1 long, 8.2 wide. Epigynum small, with a median plate delimited by paramedian semicircular ridges ( Fig 7 ). Spermathecae large and hyaline ( Fig 8 ).

Variation. Males can have a slightly orange lateral stripe on pedipalps and legs III and IV. Females can be very dark, almost completely black. Total length, females 10.0–18.3 (n=5), males 10.0-16.2 (n=2). Carapace length, females 3.5–6.2, males 3.8–5.5.

Natural History. Most specimens were collected in retreat webs under big stones on dry mountain slopes.

Distribution. India ( Gajbe & Bhadra 1978), Iran, Israel ( Baum 1972) and Yemen.

Additional material examined. YEMEN: Near Sana’a (15o24'43''N, 44 o08'58"E), V.1998, A. van Harten coll., 1 male, 1 female ( NHCY, IBSP 33225); same locality and collector, VIII.1998, 1 female ( IBSP 33230); same locality and collector, IV.1998, 1 female ( IBSP 33229); same locality and collector, 18.I.1999, 1 female ( IBSP 33228); Madag (possibly Madar, 14°05'30"N, 44°26'30"E), VI.–VII.1981, 1 female ( MRAC 174.754).

Figures

FIGURES 5 – 8. Uroctea thaleri new species. 5. Male pedipalp, prolateral view. 6. Male pedipalp, retrolateral view. 7. Female epigynum, ventral view. 8. Female internal genitalia, dorsal view. D, blind ending duct; E, embolus; S, spermatheca; TL, tegular lobe. Scale: 0.5 mm.

FIGURES 9 – 12. 9 – 10. Uroctea sudanensis Benoit. 9. Male pedipalp, retro-ventral view. 10. Embolus and tegular apophysis 3, ventral view. 11 – 12. Uroctea thaleri new species. 11. Male pedipalp, ventral view. 12. Embolus and tegular apophysis 3, ventral view. TA 1 – 3, tegular apophyses 1, 2 and 3. Scales 0.1 mm.