Scytodes edwardsi Barrion, Barrion-Dupo & Heong

Alberto T. Barrion, Aimee Lynn A. Barrion-Dupo, Josie Lynn A. Catindig, Sylvia C. Villareal, Ducheng Cai, Qianhua Yuan & Kong Luen Heong, 2016, NEW SPECIES OF SPIDERS (ARANEAE) FROM HAINAN ISLAND, CHINA, UPLB Museum Publications in Natural History 3, pp. 1-103 : 28-29

Scytodes edwardsi Barrion, Barrion-Dupo & Heong , new species [ Figure 31 A-D]

FEMALE. Holotype female, total length 5.10mm. Cephalothorax length, 2.50mm, width 2.00mm, height 1.90mm. Abdomen length 2.60mm, width 2.00mm.

Carapace. Roughly 1.25x longer than wide, yellow with a broad horse-shoe shaped brownish red band running from cephalic to thoracic area, two rings of thin brown bands present laterally and sublaterally viewed frontally; dorsally with dark brown cephalic and two transverse bands in the thoracic area. Chelicerae longer than wide, dark brown with apical one-third yellow. Pedipalps blackish to dark brown except yellow inner sides of tibiae and dorsum of tarsi. Maxillae subcylindrical, whitish and pointed apical one-third converging, basal two-thirds gray brown. Labium fused to sternum, wider than long, anterior margin convex; general color light brown except yellow apex and black anchor-like band medially. Sternum yellow, with interrupted black concave or moderately C-shaped margins, heart-shaped & longer than wide.

Eyes. Six eyes in three widely separated pairs, strongly recurved. Eye diameter (mm): median eye (0.12) and median pair (0.24)> lateral eyes (0.10) and lateral pair (0.20). Clypeus height almost as long as 1 AME diameter.

Legs. Long and slender, yellow with black annulations mostly on femora and tibiae, coxa brown laterally and yellow ventrally, posterior end of femur I-IV brownish black, patella I-IV and anterior ends of tibiae I-IV black, dorsum of tibiae I-IV and metatarsi I-IV with a black longitudinal band; left metatarsus I with two brown bands while the right has a dorsal longitudinal band. Leg formula 1423.

Abdomen. Yellow mottled with irregular gray lines and dots, dorsally with three transverse bands, 1.3x longer than wide.

Epigynum none, reduced to chitinized triangular plate anterior of epigastric furrow and transversely oblong pale yellow plate with circular genital openings posterior of epigastric furrow. Cleared genital plate with a pair of crab-like forceps and an oblongate spermathecae each located anterolaterally of the forceps.

MALE. Unknown.

Material Examined. Holotype female (coll. no. S062), CHINA, Hainan Island, Panja Town, Songtao Reservoir, 0 3 April 2011, ATBarrion, JLACatindig and SCVillareal; Paratype: two females, same data as holotype.

Diagnostic Features. This species closely resembles S. thoracica Latrielle, 1804 but differs from the latter in the (1) cephalothoracic design frontally and posterodorsally, (2) genital structures, and (3) leg measurements and markings.

Etymology. Patronym, in recognition of

Dr. G.B. Edwards’ systematic works on Salticidae .

Figures

Figure 31 A-D. Scytodes edwardsi Barrion, Barrion-Dupo & Heong, new species, holotype female (A), posterior view of cephalothorax (B), ventral (C) and dorsal (D) views of epigynum.