Loxosceles maraisi sp. nov.

(FIGS 8, 27)

Types. NAMIbIA: ♀ HOLOTYpE fROM ZAIS, 24°01’S, 16°08’E, M. BRIdGEFORd LEG., 30.III.1999 (SMN 42657) . PARATYPES. 1♀ AND 2 IMM., SAME DATA AS HOLOTYPE (Ex SMN 42657); 2♂, 5♀ AND 5 IMM., MALTAHöHE, NEURAS CAVE, LOcALITY MAp 2416 Ac, 10.VIII.1995, E . MARAIS LEG. (SMN 43688).

Etymology. THE SpEcIES NAME IS A pATRONYM fOR EUGENE MARAIS, cOLLEcTOR Of MOST Of THE TYpE SpEcIMENS.

Diagnosis. FEMALE SpERMATHEcAE cONSIST Of THREE TO fOUR SHORT TUbES THAT pROcEEd ANTERIORLY; dIffER fROM ALL OTHER SpEcIES IN THIS RESpEcT (FIG. 27). MALE pALpAL TIbIA LONG, cYMbIUM SHORT, MOST SIMILAR TO L. irishi (FIG. 7); dIffERING fROM L. irishi IN THE pALp TIbIA LENGTH/HIGH RATIO bEING LESS THAN 2.5 ANd THE EMbOLUS bEING AbOUT AS LONG AS bULb WIdTH (FIG. 8).

Description. Female: (N = 7): TL = 9.84 (9.2–12.0); CL = 3.87 (3.6–4.3); CW = 3.30 (2.7–3.8); CLL = 0.48 (0.45–0.50). AME-LE 0.15; LARGEST EYE dIAMETER 0.2. CARApAcE YELLOW, SLIGHTLY dARkER pARS cEpHALIcA ANd ALONG THE EdGES; STERNUM LIGHT YELLOW; LEGS YELLOW; pALpS MOSTLY LIGHT YELLOW, WITH dARkER TARSUS. AbdOMEN LIGHT YELLOW. INTERNAL GENITALIA WITH THREE TO fOUR, SHORT, STUbbY, ANTERIORLY pROcEEdING cOpULATORY TUbES ON EAcH SIdE, NExT TO EAcH OTHER AT THE bASE, ENdING IN SMALL SpERMATHEcAE; SpERMATHEcAE NOT dISTINGUISHAbLE fROM TUbES (FIG. 27). LEG fORMULA II:IV:I:III. LEG MEASUREMENTS: I: fEMUR 7.3, pATELLA 1.3, TIbIA 7.5, METATARSUS 7.6, TARSUS 1.4, TOTAL 25.1; II: 7.8, 1.4, 7.7, 8.8, 1.5, 27.2; III: 6.8, 1.3, 5.9, 7.5, 1.3, 22.8; IV: 7.6, 1.4, 6.7, 9.4, 1.5, 26.6. PALp: fEMUR 1.3, pATELLA 0.5, TIbIA 1.0, cYMbIUM 1.4, TOTAL 4.2.

Male: (N = 2): TL = 6.45 (5.6–7.3); CL = 3.20 (3.0–3.4); CW = 2.85 (2.6–3.1); CLL = 0.38 (0.35–0.40). AME- LE 0.15; LARGEST EYE dIAMETER 0.2. COLOUR ANd MARkINGS AS IN fEMALE. PALpAL TIbIA LONG, cYMbIUM SHORT; TIbIA LENGTH/ HIGH RATIO bEING MORE THAN 2.0, bUT LESS THAN 2.5; EMbOLUS AbOUT AS LONG AS bULb WIdTH ANd SLIGHTLY cURvEd, NARROWING fROM bASE TO ApEx (FIG. 8). LEG fORMULA II:IV:I:III. LEG MEASUREMENTS: I: fEMUR 8.1, pATELLA 1.2, TIbIA 8.5, METATARSUS 9.6, TARSUS 1.5, TOTAL 28.9; II: 9.1, 1.2, 10.4, 11.5, 1.5, 33.7; III: 7.2, 1.2, 7.5, 8.8, 1.3, 26.0; IV: 8.1, 1.2, 7.7, 10.7, 1.7, 29.4. PALp: fEMUR 1.1, pATELLA 0.3, TIbIA 1.0, cYMbIUM 0.65, TOTAL 3.05.

Natural History. COLLEcTEd fROM NAMA KAROO, fROM cAvES.

Distribution. CENTRAL WESTERN NAMIbIA (FIG. 40).