Hortipes falcatus, BOSSELAERS & JOCQUÉ, 2000

BOSSELAERS, JAN & JOCQUÉ, RUDY, 2000, Hortipes, A Huge Genus Of Tiny Afrotropical Spiders (Araneae, Liocranidae), Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2000 (256), pp. 4-4 : 4-

Hortipes falcatus , new species Figures 21i–k , 23a, b ; Map 3

TYPES: Male holotype: in dead wood, elev. 2200 m, Musyenene Forest , Kyondo , Kivu, Congo S00°00', E29°24' (4 April 1976; M. Lejeune) ( MRAC 160.052 ). Paratypes: 26, 1♀ from sifting litter in forest, elev. 2300 m, ‘‘ Nature Trail ,’’ Ruhizha, Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Kabale District, Uganda S01°03', E29°47' (15 September 1996; C. Griswold) ( CAS) ; 2♀ collected in humus, elev. 2250 m, Mt. Lubwe , SE of Butembo, Kivu, Congo, N00°02', E29°18' (12 April 1971; M. Lejeune) ( MRAC; 1♀ in AMNH) ; 16 among fern leaves in forest, elev. 2200 m, Musyenene region , Kyondo, Kivu, Congo, S00°00', E29°24' (7 April 1976; M. Lejeune) ( MRAC) ; 16, one subadult male from sifting forest litter, elev. 2300 m, Nyungwe Forest , Institut National de Recherche Scientifique site, 4 km W of Pindura, Rwanda S02°29', E29°13' (7 September 1985; R. Jocque´, Nsengimana and Michiels) ( MRAC) .

2000 BOSSELAERS AND JOCQUÉ: HORTIPES 77

DIAGNOSIS: Males of H. falcatus are recognized by the flat falciform RTA in combination with the solid MA with a median flap. Hortipes lejeunei is similar but has a large triangular RTA. Females are close to those of H. lejeunei and H. narcissus but differ from both species by the ST1, which are closer together in the present species.

MALE: Measurements. Total length 2.84; carapace 1.27 long, 1.11 wide; length of fe: I 1.11, II 1.19, III 0.95, IV 1.38. Leg spination. Fe: I rv 2; IV plt 0 rlt 0; ti: I, II vsp 6; mt: III plt 0–1 vt 0 rlt 0; IV plt 1 vt 1 rlt 1. Coloration. Carapace lemon yellow, lighter at the fovea. Chelicerae and legs yellow, sternum yellowish white. Abdomen yellowish white, no pattern. Palp. Tibia with large, falciform RTA with an additional thin, bladeshaped central, anterior spike, pointing forwards; cymbium fairly elongate and narrow as seen from above, with deep retrolateral concavity without series of long curved setae; sperm duct with wide basal part and not much narrower distal part with shallow turn just in front of embolus; MA solid, gradually tapered from thick base to sharp tip, curved down, with two almost orthogonal bends in ventrolateral view, with large, thin flap along dorsal median margin; embolus with fairly broad, triangular base, long, whiplike, looped over 450° (fig. 21i, j).

FEMALE: Measurements. Total length 3.24; carapace 1.49 long, 1.24 wide; length of fe: I 1.16, II 1.22, III 1.00, IV 1.35. Leg spination. Fe: I rv 2–3; IV plt 0 rlt 0; ti: I, II vsp 6; mt: III plt 1 vt 0 rlt 0; IV plt 1 vt 1 rlt 1. Coloration. Carapace orange brown, chelicerae and sternum brownish yellow. Legs orange yellow. Abdomen peach, speckled with small orange dots. Genitalia. Epigyne a slightly curved transversal slit flanked by two small protruding lobes (fig. 21k). Vulva: entrances of IDs separated by about half the width of entire vulva. ID consisting of wide and very thick­walled, looped first stretch associated with gland and connected to ST1 through long and tortuous duct consisting of several circular and horseshoe loops. Spermathecae 1 separated by less than their own diameter (fig. 23a, b).

OTHER MATERIAL EXAMINED: Rwanda: 36 1985; Jocque´, Nsengimana and Michiels ) ( MRAC). Congo: 16 in litter underneath ferns, 18 km S of Lubero, Lubero Goma road, elev. 2100 m, Bikara , Kivu S00°15', E29°12' (December 1976; M. Lejeune) ( MRAC 177.093 ) ; 16 in humic substrate in overhanging soil, Kyondo, elev. 2200 m, Musyenene region, Kivu S00°00', E29°24' (10 April1976; M. Lejeune) ( MRAC 159.958 ). Uganda: 1♀ on roadcut at night, Ruhizha , Bwindi Impenetrable National Park , elev. 2300 m, Kabale District S01°02', E29°46' (25 September 1996; C. Griswold) ( CAS) ; 1♀ from same locality, forest, ‘‘ Nature Trail ,’’ elev. 2300 m, S01°03', E29°47' (13–16 September 1996; C. Griswold) ( CAS) ; 1♀ from sifting forest litter, Buhoma, Bwindi Impenetrable National Park , elev. 1400 m, Rukungiri District S00°59', E29°36' (20 –24 September 1996; C. Griswold) ( CAS) .

VARIABILITY: The number of retrolateral ventral spines on fe I (2 or 3) of females, the number of plt spines on mt III of males (0 or 1) and the exact course of the coils and loops of ID are somewhat variable.

DISTRIBUTION: Kivu, Congo, SW Rwanda, and SW Uganda, between elev. 1400 and 2300 m.

Figures

Map 3. Distribution of Hortipes species in the Kivu region. Hortipes amphibolus D, H. auriga., H. aurora •, H. echo O, H. falcatus ^, H. hastatus, H. horta V, H. lejeunei Δ, and H. narcissus v.

Fig. 21. a, b. Hortipes bjorni, new species, male left palp, ventral and retrolateral views. Arrow indicates insertion of MA on tegulum. c. Hortipes amphibolus, new species, epigyne. d–f. Hortipes hastatus, new species. d, e. Male left palp, ventral and retrolateral views. f. Epigyne. g. Hortipes horta, new species, epigyne. h. Hortipes angariopsis, new species, epigyne. i–k. Hortipes falcatus, new species.

Fig. 23. a, b. Hortipes falcatus, new species. a. Vulva, ventral view. b. Vulva, schematic representation. Arrow indicates ID entrance. Scale line: 0.1 mm.