Vankeeria, Bosselaers, Jan, 2012

Bosselaers, Jan, 2012, Two interesting new ground spiders (Araneae) from the Canary Islands and Greece, Serket 13 (1), pp. 83-90 : 86-87

Vankeeria gen. n.

Figs. 2-6 , 10-13 , 15 .

Diagnosis

Vankeeria is somewhat similar to Sphingius Thorell, 1890 , but differs from it by the presence of strong ventral spine pairs on ti and mt I and II. Vankeeria also shows some affinties to Apostenus Westring, 1851 , but differs from it by the absence of plv spines on fe I, the absence of do spines on ti III and IV, the large AME, the absence of a median septum in the epigyne and the abdominal pattern.

Description

Medium sized (5) spiders. Carapace orange brown, punctate ( Fig. 12 ). A short but distinct fovea in posterior third. Chilum small and sclerotised, single, subtriangular. Eyes in two transverse rows of four, in fr view both eye rows procurved ( Fig. 3 ); in do view AER slightly recurved, PER recurved ( Figs. 2 , 12 ). All eyes ringed with black, AME dark, other eyes pearl ( Fig. 3 ). PME almost circular. MOQ widest posteriorly. Clypeus equal to diameter of AME. Chelicerae yellow, tapering towards tip. Fangs sickle-shaped, with one large, knee-shaped shaggy hair in front. Sternum shield shaped, smooth, yellow and shiny, not rebordered. Four pairs of PCT present, no ICS. PLB weak and thin, isolated. Labium subtrapezoidal, somewhat broader than long, with thickened white anterior rim. Endites subrectangular, twice as long as wide, with a diagonal transverse notch, a small apical hair tuft and a thin serrula. Dorsal side of abdomen dark grey with several large, striking white patches ( Figs. 2 , 12 ). Ventral side of abdomen pale cream, except for a dark grey ring around the spinnerets. No do or ve abdominal sclerites present. ALS conical, PMS subtriangular, PLS cylindrical. Legs unicolorous yellow brown ( Fig. 12 ). No retrocoxal hymen, no trochanter notch. Patellar indentation long and narrow, half as long as patella. Leg formula 4123. Femora without median apical spine, ti I and II with 5- 6 ve spine pairs, mt I and II with 2 ve spine pairs ( Figs. 5-6 , 15 ), ti and mt III and IV without do spines. Dense ve preening brush on mt III and IV. Tarsi without claw tufts, but with several pairs of tenent hairs, claws pectinate.

Epigyne a sclerotised plate with a wide anterior hood and anterior CO ( Figs. 4 , 13 ).

Scale bars: 7, 12 = 1; 8-9, 13 = 0.25; 10-11 = 0.1.

Etymology

The genus is named in honour of Johan Van Keer, who collected the only specimen of the type species, and his brother Koen Van Keer, who spares no effort to popularise arachnology to the general public.

Discussion

Whether Vankeeria should be placed in Corinnidae or Liocranidae is complicated by the fact that both families lack distinct synapomorphies ( Platnick & Baptista, 1995; Bosselaers & Jocqué, 2002; Wunderlich, 2008). However, the combination of a flat carapace, a shaggy hair in front of the fang base, absence of abdominal sclerotisation, ti and mt I and II with several ve spine pairs and an epigyne with an anterior hood pleads in favor of a place in Liocranidae .

Figures

Figs. 1 - 6: Line drawings of Zelotes henderickxi sp. n. and Vankeeria catoptronifera sp. n. 1. Zelotes henderickxi male palp ve (left) and rl (right) view. 2 - 6. Vankeeria catoptronifera, female. 2. Habitus, do view. 3. Eyes, dorso-frontal view. 4. Epigyne, ve view. 5. Leg I, pl. 6. Leg II, pl. Scale bars: 1 = 0.5; 3 - 4 = 0.25; 2, 5 - 6 = 1.

Figs. 7 - 13: Colour photographs of Zelotes henderickxi sp. n. and Vankeeria catoptronifera sp. n. 7 - 9. Zelotes henderickxi, male. 7. Habitus, do view. 8. Male palp ve view. 9. Male palp rl view. 10 - 13. Vankeeria catoptronifera, female. 10. Leg II, tarsal tip. 11. Leg I, tarsal tip. 12. Habitus, do view. 13. Epigyne, ve view.

Figs. 14 - 15: Leg spination schemes. Legend in upper right corner. White dots are spines present on one leg and absent on the other. 14. Zelotes henderickxi, male. 15. Vankeeria catoptronifera, female.