Leroya unicolor ( Simon, 1895 ) Honiball Lewis & Dippenaar-Schoeman, 2014

Honiball Lewis, Allet S. & Dippenaar-Schoeman, Ansie S., 2014, Revision of the spider genus Mystaria Simon, 1895 (Araneae: Thomisidae) and the description of a new genus from the Afrotropical region, Zootaxa 3873 (2), pp. 101-144 : 139-140

Leroya unicolor ( Simon, 1895) comb. n.

Figs 137, 138, 140 , 145, 146 , 148

Mystaria unicolor Simon 1895: 989–990 (descr. ♀).

Type material: Holotype: (designated by Simon 1895): ♀ specimen was collected from West Africa , Sierra Leone. Type series from MNHN was examined.

Other material examined. DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO (DRC): Orientale Region, 1 ♀, Rwankwi [01°20’S, 29°22’E], July 1951, J. Leroy (MRAC 71632). CÔTE D’ IVOIRE : Moyen-Comoé Region, 1 sub-adult ♂, Appouesso, F.C. Bossematie [6°37’N, 3°26’W], collected by hand in rainforest, 13 February 1997, R. Jocqué & L. Baert (MRAC 205.408).

Diagnosis. Carapace orange to copper; abdomen pale brown ( Fig. 137 ); carapace with few, short setae; body larger than L. silva . Female epigyne a solid circular sclerotised area, extending to a very short straight distance, centrally to posteriorly ( Figs 138 , 145 ).

Re-description. Female. Size, measurements: (n = 2). TL: 4.77 (3.46–5.21); CL: 1.81 (1.49–1.92); CW: 1.77 (1.38–1.91); CI: 1.03 (1.01–1.08); CH: 0.94 (0.71–1.02); CLL: 0.19 (0.10–0.22); MOQ-L: 0.32 (0.26–0.34). Colour. carapace metallic shine, orange to copper; abdomen pale brown. Carapace. slightly longer than wide ( Fig. 137 ). Sternum. SL: 0.72; SW: 0.77; SI: 0.93. Clypeus. as in Fig. 140 . Eye s. not situated on tubercles, no eye spots; eye measurements: AME–AME: 0.56; ALE-AME: 0.54; AME-AME/AME-ALE: 1.03; PME-PME: 0.68; PLE-PME: 0.61; PME-PME/PME-PLE: 1.11; ALE/AME: 0.97; PLE/PME: 0.91; MOQ-AW/MOQ-PW: 0.83; MOQ-L/ MOQ-W: 0.39; Clyp/AME-AME: 0.32. Legs. dense setae on all leg segments; trichobothria not very conspicuous probably present on all legs, seen on metatarsi and tarsi II-III; leg formula: II:I:III:IV; leg measurements: leg I—Fe 1.23, Pat 0.47, Tib 1.20, Mt 1.02, Ta 0.76, total 4.57; II—Fe 1.31, Pat 0.46, Tib 1.22, Mt 1.03, Ta 0.72, total 4.73; III—Fe 1.11, Pat 0.27, Tib 0.73, Mt 0.54, Ta 0.45, total 3.10; IV—Fe 1.03, Pat 0.28, Tib 0.66, Mt 0.54, Ta 0.44, total 2.95. Abdomen. large in comparison to carapace; covered with fine setae, small sigillae; AL: 2.96; AW: 2.97; AI: 1.00. Epigyne. intromittent canals and spermathecae as in Fig. 146 .

Male. Unknown.

Natural history. This species was collected in rainforests. Adult females were sampled during July and a subadult male during February.

Distribution. Sierra Leone. New records: Democratic Republic of Congo ( DRC) and Côte d’Ivoire ( Fig. 148 ).

Figures

FIGURES 133–140. Photographs of the body, copulatory organs, eye pattern and clypeal length of Leroya gen. n. 133–136. L. silva sp. n. from DRC, Mayombe (133 male dorsal view, 134 male right palp ventral view, 135 female dorsal view, 136 female epigyne ventral view); 137–138. L. unicolor (Simon, 1895) comb. n. from DRC, Rwankwi (137 female dorsal view, 138 epigyne ventral view); 139 L. silva male frontal view; 140 L. unicolor female frontal view.

FIGURES 141–146. Line drawings of female and male copulatory organs in Leroya gen. n. 141–144. L. silva sp. n. (141 male left palp ventral view, 142 male left palp retro-lateral view, 143 epigyne ventral view, 144 epigyne dorsal view,); 145–146. L. unicolor (Simon, 1895) comb. n. (145 epigyne ventral view, 146 epigyne dorsal view). Scales lines = 10mm.

FIGURES 147–148. Recorded geographical distributions of Leroya gen. n. 147 L. silva sp. n.; 148 L. unicolor (Simon, 1895) comb. n. Scale lines = 1800 km (147), 2000 km (148).