Systaria luangprabang, Jäger, 2018

Jäger, Peter, 2018, On the genus Systaria (Araneae: Clubionidae) in Southeast Asia: new species from caves and forests, Zootaxa 4504 (4), pp. 524-544 : 529-530

Systaria luangprabang spec. nov.

Figs 16–17 , 45–46

Type material: LAOS: Luang Prabang Province: Holotype: female, SSW of Luang Prabang, Ban Mok (Xiangmouak), Tham Kok Mu ( Pigsty Cave ), 19°48'44.8''N, 102°6'1.8''E, 333 m elevation, in limestone cave, 195 m long, 29 m deep, H. Steiner leg. by hand, 30.12.2003, 083/04 ( SMF).

Etymology. The species name is derived from the type locality in Luang Prabang province and close to Luang Prabang town; name in apposition.

Diagnosis. Small spiders with body length of females: 9.4. Females of the new species are similar to those of S. mengla (Song & Zhu 1994) in having a very similar conformation of the epigyne including course of atrial rims and the general conformation of the internal duct system ( Figs 16–17 ), but may be distinguished by median atrial rims forming narrow bend, with hood well developed (with wider bend and without such hood in S. mengla ), loop of copulatory ducts posteriad (laterad in S. mengla ), atrial rims discontinuous between copulatory openings and median rims (continuous in S. mengla ), spermathecae separated by roughly one quarter of their diameter (separated by more than half of their diameter in S. mengla ).

Note. Copulatory openings in S. mengla are most likely not situated medially as indicated in Zhang et al. (2009), but more laterally as in the present species.

Description. Female (holotype): prosoma length 4.6, prosoma width 3.2, anterior width of prosoma 2.1, opisthosoma length 4.8, opisthosoma width 2.9. Eyes: AME 0.20, ALE 0.21, PME 0.20, PLE 0.19, AME–AME 0.10, AME–ALE 0.07, PME–PME 0.26, PME–PLE 0.28, AME–PME 0.19, ALE–PLE 0.10. Cheliceral furrow with 3 promarginal and 2 retromarginal teeth. Spination: Palp: femur p001, d012, patella p10, tibia p21, d11, metatarsus p21, d10, r11, v022; legs: femur I p011, d111, r010(small), II p111, d111, r110(small), III p1111(111), d111, r1111, IV p1101, d111, r0001; patella I–IV 000; tibia I v200, II v100, III p11, d10, r11, v222(112), IV p11, d10, r11, v222; metatarsus I–II v200, III p112(102), r112, v222, IV p112, r122, v222. Leg formula: 4123. Measurements of palp and legs: Palp 5.3 (1.8, 0.9, 1.1, -, 1.5), I 13.7 (3.8, 1.9, 3.6, 2.9, 1.5), II 13.1 (3.6, 1.9, 3.4, 2.7, 1.5), III 11.8 (3.3, 1.6, 2.8, 2.7, 1.4), IV 16.1 (4.4, 1.8, 4.2, 4.0, 1.7). Copulatory organ as in diagnosis ( Figs 16– 17 ). Epigynal field weakly recognisable, wider than long, with 3 slit sensilla, without anterior bands. Anterior margin of atrium slightly arched, medially indistinct. Sclerotised spheres (~24) tiny to medium-sized, visible in dorsal view and through cuticle in ventral view. Copulatory openings located postero-laterally. Internal duct system with stout oval bursae, copulatory ducts recognisable posteriorly of bursae. Connecting duct moderately narrow, spermathecae large, fertilisation ducts laterad. Colouration. Pale yellowish brown without pattern, with fovea, eye region, chelicerae, sternum, labium, gnathocoxae and distal appendages darker.

Male: unknown.

Distribution. Known only from the type locality ( Figs 45–46 ).

Natural history. The cave is a system of small passages and chambers, some with high CO 2 content, therefore avoided by locals. The main chamber is exposed to daylight. The following animals have been recorded: Chiroptera ( Hipposideros larvatus , Rhinolophus sp.), Coleoptera , Lepidoptera ( Tineidae larvae), Heteroptera (Reduviidae) , Ensifera (Rhaphidophoridae) , Hymenoptera (Formicidae) , Isopoda, Araneae, Acari ( Dreybrodt & Laumanns 2005) .

Figures

FIGURE 45. Records of Systaria spp. in SE Asia described in this paper. Triangles—species recorded from caves, circlesspecies recorded from forest.

FIGURE 46. All known records of the genus Systaria (World Spider Catalog 2018) including undescribed species mentioned in Deeleman-Reinhold (2001) according to habitats. Triangles—species recorded from caves, circles—species recorded from forest. See discussion.

FIGURES 16–17. Systaria luangprabang spec. nov., holotype female from from N Laos, Tham Kok Mu. 16 Epigyne, ventral. 17 Vulva, dorsal. Abbreviations: CD—copulatory duct, CO—copulatory opening.