Deelemanikara, Jäger, 2021

Jäger, Peter, 2021, Two new enigmatic genera of huntsman spiders from Madagascar (Araneae Sparassidae), Zootaxa 4984 (1), pp. 335-346 : 339

Deelemanikara gen. nov.

Type species. Deelemanikara christae spec. nov.

Etymology. Named in honour of Christa Deeleman-Reinhold on the occasion of her 90 th birthday in 2020. The generic name is a combination of the family name “Deeleman” and the Malagasy word for Madagascar “ Repoblikan’i Madagasikara ”. The gender is feminine.

Diagnosis. Deelemanikara gen. nov. can be recognised by the following combination of characters: 1. Epigyne with anterior pocket ( Figs 14, 23–24, 27) situated on a distinct transversal ledge (best seen in lateral view: Fig. 15). 2. Both eye rows slightly procurved ( Fig. 18). 3. Cheliceral furrow with 3 promarginal teeth and most intermarginal denticles arranged in a single line ( Fig. 19). 4. Leg claws with convex dorsal side.

Description. See description of the type species below.

Species included. Only the type species.

Distribution. Known from two localities in central Madagascar (Toamasina and Antananarivo Provinces) ( Fig. 36: red circles).

Notes. Deelemanikara gen. nov. currently cannot be assigned to any subfamily. It combines characters of Heteropodinae (cheliceral dentition, trilobate membrane, one cheliceral escort seta), Sparassinae (leg tibiae lacking distal pair of ventral spines), Damastes Simon, 1880 (eye arrangement, ventro-distal metatarsal bristles) and Thunberga (anterior epigynal pocket, ventro-distal metatarsal bristles). Moreover, the very variable leg spination (especially on femora) and the convex dorsal margin of leg claws (the latter known in a more extreme form from Prychia L. Koch, 1875 ; see Jäger 1998) are unique characters that do not fit any of the known subfamilies. Therefore a diagnosis differentiating the new genus from its most closely related taxa cannot be provided.