Phaeocedus mikha, Levy, Gershom, 2009

Levy, Gershom, 2009, New ground-spider genera and species with annexed checklist of the Gnaphosidae (Araneae) of Israel, Zootaxa 2066, pp. 1-49 : 19-20

Phaeocedus mikha n. sp.

Figs 42, 43

Type material. Adult male holotype from Sedot Mikha , Israel, leg. Yael Mandelik, May 14, 2002, pitfall trap ( HUJ 15348). Female unknown.

Etymology. The specific name is a noun in apposition referring to part of the name of the type locality.

Description. Relatively small. Carapace brown with short fovea; Opisthosoma dark coloured with dorsal scutum and a few, barely visible, undulating bands on posterior part. Legs brown. Eyes subequal; AME dark, closer to ALE than to each other; PME round. Eyes of posterior row placed at equal distance from each other. Labium elongated. Sternum oval. Chelicerae with fine keel and no teeth.

Male. Measurements (holotype): total length 3.0; carapace length 1.4, width 1.0, index 1.4; labial index 1.77; clypeal index 0.63; MOQ index 6.08; legs length: I –, II 2.95, III 2.45, IV 3.15.

Palpus. Small. Tegulum, at middle, with oval brown low hump ( Fig. 42 ); hooked embolic tip enwrapped by light fleshy conductor ( Figs 42, 43 ). Stout tibial apophysis with broad slanting top ( Fig. 43 ).

Diagnosis. Based on male. The shape of the palpal sclerites: the hooked embolus, ensheathing conductor, median hump and the oblique tip of the tibial apophysis, are all diagnostic characters that distinguish P. m i k h a clearly from all other Phaeocedus species.

Distribution. Israel, known only from the type locality.

Figures

FIGURES 42, 43. Phaeocedus mikha n. sp. ♂, holotype, left palpus. 42. Ventral view. 43. Retrolateral view.