Wulfila phantasma, Rivera-Quiroz & Álvarez-Padilla, 2019

Rivera-Quiroz, F. Andrés & Álvarez-Padilla, Fernando, 2019, Description of five new Wulfila (Araneae, Anyphaenidae) species from Mexico with comments on the taxonomy of the genus, Zootaxa 4712 (2), pp. 269-289 : 283-285

Wulfila phantasma spec. nov.

Figures 12–13, 14d

Type material: Holotype ♂: MEXICO: Xamaticpac , (19°07’30.1’’N, 97°04’0.1’’W, 1700 m), Feb. 9–17, 2014, L. Pérez-Miguel leg. ( CNAN-T01358 ).

Etymology: The species epithet, a noun in apposition, from the Greak phantasma (phantom, apparition, ghost) refers to the common name under which Anyphaenidae are known.

Diagnosis: Male pedipalp of W. phantasma spec. nov. differs from that of W. imacullelus ( Platnick 1974: fig. 87) by having a much wider PTV and ticker MA ( Figs 12f; 13a); and from W. conchamonile spec. nov. by having a longer PTV with a triangular tip on a ventral view ( Figs 3a; 13a), a shorter bifurcate MA and thicker PTP ( Figs 14 c–d).

Description: Male: Total length 4.0. Cephalothorax: length 1.62; width 1.25. Carapace glabrous, without pattern, slightly darker in ocular area, thoracic groove very difficult to see ( Fig. 12a). Sternum glossy, color pale yellow. Precoxal triangles present, more visible on coxae III–IV, slightly darker than the sternum ( Fig. 12c). Coxae without spurs, coxae III−IV with dark marks on the prolateral surface. Endites same color as sternum, labium almost black, longer than wide, labium length ca. 1/2 of endites. Chelicera: width 0.30, length 0.77; same color as the cephalic region; four promarginal and one retromarginal teeth; fang length 0.57. Eyes: AER straight, PER slightly procurved in dorsal view ( Fig. 12a); ALE diameter almost twice as big as AME; posterior eyes subequal in size. Clypeus about 1 time the diameter of AME. Abdomen: pale yellow; dorsal surface with small grey patches; lateral surface with three elongated black spots ( Fig. 12b); ventral surface with three black spots: near the pedicel, over the epigastric furrow and anterior of the tracheal spiracle ( Fig. 12c). Legs: light yellow, tibiae and metatarsi with dark rings distally; leg I and II with two pairs of ventral macrosetae on tibiae and metatarsi; length: I 14.25; II 7.65; III 5.25; IV 8.75; formula I–IV–II–III. Pedipalp: light yellow, bulb pale brown ( Figs 12 d–f); length 2.70. Distal portion of the bRTA flattened and transparent, bifurcated on the tip ( Fig. 13d). Bulb: PTV semi-triangular, long flat and transparent on a ventral view ( Fig. 13a); PTP conical, almost as wide and long as the MA; PTs semitransparent, slightly longer than the PTP ( Fig. 14d); MA bifurcated at its tip ( Fig. 14d), projecting retrolaterally ( Fig. 13a).

Female. Unknown.

Distribution: Known only from the type locality ( Fig. 15b).

Biology: The only known specimen was collected on vegetation in a Quercus mixed forest with secondary plant growth in February 2014