Pholcus fuza Yao & Li sp. nov.

Figs 9–10

Type material. Holotype: male (Ar29653), Phrong Ta Khe Cave (7°27.038′N, 100°7.865′E, elevation 11 m), Khao Chaison District, Rattalung, Thailand, 26 October 2015, Q. Zhao, G. Zhou and Z. Chen leg. Paratypes: 1 male and 2 females (Ar 29654–29656), same data as holotype.

Etymology. The specific name is a Chinese pinyin word for complex (fù zá), in reference to the complex distal part of the procursus; adjective.

Diagnosis. The species can be easily distinguished from all known congeners in the P. buatong species group by the pair of strongly protruding frontal apophyses on the male chelicerae (Figs 10 D–E), by the presence of a large subdistal process on the procursus (arrow in Fig. 9 D), by the broad appendix (Fig. 10 C) and by the long and narrow pore plates (Fig. 10 B).

Description. Male (holotype): Total length 4.11 (4.40 with clypeus), carapace 1.05 long, 1.09 wide, opisthosoma 3.06 long, 0.94 wide. Leg I: 46.39 (10.77 + 0.53 + 11.15 + 21.54 + 2.40), leg II: 31.09 (8.14 + 0.52 + 7.69 + 13.46 + 1.28), leg III: 19.31 (5.45 + 0.48 + 4.81 + 7.76 + 0.81), femur IV: 7.76, other segments missing; tibia I L/d: 115. Distance PME-PME 0.37; diameter PME 0.11; distance PME-ALE 0.04; distance AME-AME 0.03; diameter AME 0.03. Sternum wider than long (0.78/0.63). Habitus as in Figs 10 F–G. Carapace yellowish, with brown V-pattern on posterior half; ocular area yellowish; sternum yellowish, with brown marks. Legs yellowish, patellae, distal parts of tibiae and proximal part of metatarsi dark brown, darker rings absent. Opisthosoma yellowish, with brown spots dorsally and laterally. Ocular area elevated, each eye triad on top of a laterally directed eye-stalk. Thoracic furrow absent. Chelicerae as in Figs 10 D–E, with a pair of frontal apophyses. Pedipalps as in Figs 9 A–B; trochanter with a terminally bifurcated ventral apophysis; femur with a rounded ventral protrusion; procursus simple proximally but complex distally; bulbal apophyses as in Fig. 10 C; uncus absent; appendix broad; embolus long and weakly sclerotized. Retrolateral trichobothrium of tibia I at 4%; legs with short vertical setae on tibiae, metatarsi and tarsi; without spines and curved setae; tarsus I with 13 distinct pseudosegments.

Female: Similar to male, habitus as in Figs 10 H–I. Total length 3.90 (4.10 with clypeus), carapace 1.02 long, 1.09 wide, opisthosoma 2.88 long, 0.94 wide; tibia I: 9.29; tibia I L/d: 84. Distance PME-PME 0.20; diameter PME 0.10; distance PME-ALE 0.03; distance AME-AME 0.02; diameter AME 0.03. Sternum wider than long (0.75/ 0.63). Ocular area without eye-stalks. Epigynum (Fig. 10 A) with a knob. Vulva (Fig. 10 B) with a sclerotized anterior arch and two long and narrow pore plates.

Variation: Leg I lost in male paratype. Tibia I in another female paratype: 8.46.

Distribution. Thailand (Rattalung, type locality; Fig. 21).

Natural History. The species was found in the entrance zone of the cave.