Aetius nocturnus Deeleman-Reinhold, 2001

Zhang, Lu, Mu, Yannan & Zhang, Feng, 2022, First record of the genus Aetius O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1897 from China, with description of a new species (Araneae, Corinnidae, Castianeirinae), Biodiversity Data Journal 10, pp. 96594-96594 : 96594

Aetius nocturnus Deeleman-Reinhold, 2001

Materials

Type status: Other material. Occurrence: recordedBy: Chi Jin; individualCount: 3; sex: male; lifeStage: adult; occurrenceID: 89B674FC-757C-5F08-8635- 46AD 30DAFF3F; Location : country: China; stateProvince: Yunnan Province; county: Menghai ; locality: Xishuangbanna Daluo Forest Park ; verbatimElevation: 592; verbatimLatitude: 21°41′43.30″N; verbatimLongitude: 100°2′37.58″E; Event : year: 2018; month: 7; day: 28; Record Level : institutionID: the Museum of Hebei University ; institutionCode: MHBU Type status: Other material. Occurrence: recordedBy: Yulong Wang; individualCount: 1; sex: male; lifeStage: adult; occurrenceID: 3A0730A0-B726-5184-A24A-DE299129CD2E; Location : country: China; stateProvince: Yunnan Province; county: Jinghong ; locality: Mengyang Town ; verbatimElevation: 600; verbatimLatitude: 22°4′33.97″N; verbatimLongitude: 100°52′14.57″E; Event : year: 2006; month: 7; day: 28; Record Level : institutionID: the Museum of Hebei University ; institutionCode: MHBU Type status: Other material. Occurrence: recordedBy: Lu Zhan; individualCount: 1; sex: female; lifeStage: adult; occurrenceID: 1CB43EC3-A421-5163-9364-35685B11BE49; Location : country: China; stateProvince: Yunnan Province; county: Jinghong ; locality: Wild Elephant Valley ; verbatimElevation: 800; verbatimLatitude: 22°10′24.12″N; verbatimLongitude: 100°51′33.75″E; Event : year: 2021; month: 8; day: 4; Record Level : institutionID: the Museum of Hebei University ; institutionCode: MHBU

Diagnosis

Aetius nocturnus can be distinguished by the following characters: 1) the stalk-like posterior projection on the carapace (vs. bicuspid in A. bicuspidatus or trapezoidal in A. maculatus sp. n.) (compare Fig. 7 A and C with Fig. 4 A or Fig. 2 A and D); 2) carapace covered with numerous hairs, forming radiating striae (vs. without radiating striae in A. bicuspidatus or sparse plumose hair, forming faint radiating striae in A. maculatus sp. n.) (compare Fig. 7 A and C with Fig. 4 A or Fig. 2 A, C and D); 3) the slender embolus (vs. thick embolus in A. bicuspidatus ) (compare Fig. 9 C with Fig. 9 B); 4) copulatory duct thick (vs. copulatory duct thin in A. bicuspidatus ) (compare Fig. 8 E and F with figs. 2C-D in Yamasaki et al. 2020); 5) posterior spermatheca wide (vs. posterior spermatheca narrow in A. bicuspidatus ) (compare Fig. 8 F with fig. 2D in Yamasaki et al. 2020).

Redescription

Male (Fig. 7 A-B). Total length 6.74; carapace 4.17 long, 2.56 wide; abdomen 4.30 long, 2.44 wide. Eye sizes and interdistances: AME 0.18, ALE 0.13, PME 0.12, PLE 0.08; AME-AME 0.38, AME-ALE 0.22, ALE-ALE 0.77, PME-PME 0.56, PME-PLE 0.65, PLE-PLE 1.54, ALE-PLE 0.70; MOA 0.29 long; anterior width 0.46, posterior width 0.65. Clypeal height 0.43. Chelicerae with two pro- (proximal smallest, distal largest) and two retromarginal teeth (same size). Labium 0.26 long, 0.45 wide; sternum 1.47 long, 1.22 wide. Measurements of legs: I 7.65 (2.01, 0.68, 1.89, 1.68, 1.21), II 7.68 (2.14, 0.70, 1.97, 1.66, 1.21), III 7.36 (1.95, 0.80, 1.96, 1.63, 1.02), IV 9.29 (2.53, 0.91, 2.57, 2.17, 1.11).

Carapace black, sub-pentagonal, surface with numerous plumose hairs, forming radiating striae, widest at coxae II and III; carapace narrowed posteriorly, forming the stalk-like posterior projection on the carapace. Leg orange-red, retrolateral femora Ⅰ-Ⅱ and femora Ⅲ-Ⅳ black. Abdomen black, oval, with medial constriction dorsally; surface with short plumose hairs and a tuft of long white hair posteriorly. Dorsal scutum large, nearly covered abdomen (Fig. 7 A-B).

Palp (Fig. 8 A-D). Tibia remarkably concaved in ventral surface; retrolateral tibial apophysis digitiform, weakly sclerotised, curved ventrally; prolateral tibial apophysis arc-shaped, weakly sclerotised. Embolus conical, with screw thread.

Female (Figs 6 , 7 C-D). Total length 8.38; carapace 4.52 long, 2.70 wide; abdomen 3.86 long, 3.97 wide. Eye sizes and interdistances: AME 0.14, ALE 0.12, PME 0.11, PLE 0.10; AME-AME 0.37, AME-ALE 0.24, ALE-ALE 0.80, PME-PME 0.56, PME-PLE 0.48, PLE-PLE 1.56, ALE-PLE 0.55; MOA 0.33 long; anterior width 0.53, posterior width 0.67. Clypeal height 0.40. Labium 0.33 long, 0.57 wide; sternum 1.62 long, 1.22 wide. Measurements of legs: I 8.33 (2.49, 0.70, 2.08, 1.81, 1.25), II 8.40 (2.50, 0.72, 2.15, 1.78, 1.25), III 8.25 (2.47, 0.83, 2.15, 1.77, 1.03), IV 10.1 (2.96, 0.89, 2.74, 2.30, 1.21).

As in male, except abdomen, nearly round and leg orange-red, femora Ⅲ-Ⅳ black (Fig. 7 C-D).

Epigyne characteristics as follow (Fig. 8 E and F): simple, strongly sclerotised. Copulatory openings situated laterally in posterior of epigastric plate. Copulatory duct thick, connecting to spermatheca. Posterior spermatheca wide.

Distribution

Thailand, Malaysia (Borneo), China (Yunnan Province) (Fig. 10 ).

Figures

Figure 2. Aetius maculatus sp. n. A male habitus, dorsal view; B same, ventral view; C male carapace, dorsal view; D female habitus, dorsal view; E same, ventral view. Scales = 0.5 mm (A-E).

Figure 4. Aetius bicuspidatus Yamasaki, 2020. A male habitus, dorsal view; B same, ventral view. Scales = 0.5 mm (A & B).

Figure 6. Living habitus of A. nocturnus Deeleman-Reinhold, 2001: A-C female (photographs by Weihang Wang).

Figure 7. Aetius nocturnus Deeleman-Reinhold, 2001. A male habitus, dorsal view; B same, ventral view; C female habitus, dorsal view; D same, ventral view. Scales = 0.5 mm (A-D).

Figure 8. Aetius nocturnus Deeleman-Reinhold, 2001. A Male left palp, prolateral view; B Same, ventral view; C Same, retrolateral view; D Same, dorsal view; E epigyne, ventral view; F same, dorsal view. Abbreviations: CD-copulatory duct; CO-copulatory opening; CN-cymbial semicircular notch; E-embolus; FD-fertilisation duct; PTA-prolateral tibial apophysis; RTA-retrolateral tibial apophysis; S-spermatheca; SD-sperm duct; ST-subtegulum; T-tegulum. Scales = 0.1 mm (A-F).

Figure 9. Emboli of three Aetius species. A A. maculatus sp. n.; B A. bicuspidatus Yamasaki, 2020; C A. nocturnus Deeleman-Reinhold, 2001. Scales = 0.1 mm (A-C).

Figure 10. Distribution map of the genus Aetius.