Walckenaeria saetigera, V. & Tanasevitch, 2011

Tanasevitch, Andrei V., 2011, Linyphiid spiders (Araneae, Linyphiidae) from Pakistan and India, Revue suisse de Zoologie 118 (3), pp. 561-598 : 595-596

Walckenaeria saetigera sp. n. Figs 105-113, 119

HOLOTYPE: Ƌ, INDIA, Meghalaya, above Shillong, Khasi Hills , northern slope, 1850-1950 m a.s.l., primary forest near Shillong Peak, sifting litter; 25.X.1978; leg. C. Besuchet & I. Löbl [27].

PARATYPES: 2 ♀, from same locality, collected together with holotype . – 1 ♀, Meghalaya, above Cherrapunjee, Khasi Hills , 1200 m a.s.l., forest, near foot of rock, sifting litter; 26.X.1978; leg. C. Besuchet & I. Löbl [28b]. – 1 Ƌ, Khasi Hills, Weiloi, 1700 m a.s.l, sifting in forest; 27.X.1978; leg. C. Besuchet & I. Löbl [31] .

ETYMOLOGY: The species name is a Latin adjective meaning “carrying bristles”, referring to the group of bristles on the male palpal tibia of this species.

DIAGNOSIS: The new species is characterized by the peculiar shape of the male carapace and the shape of the palpal tibia. The epigyne is also well distinct from that of congeners.

DESCRIPTION: Male (holotype). Total length 2.30. Carapace 1.08 long, 0.75 wide, modified as shown in Figs 105-107, pale orange-yellow. Chelicerae 0.30 long, unmodified. Legs pale orange-yellow. Leg I 2.81 long (0.83+0.25+0.73+0.60+0.40), IV 2.94 long (0.83+0.23+0.83+0.65+0.40). Chaetotaxy 2.2.1.1, spines very thin, their length about same as diameter of segment or a little longer. TmI 0.53. All metatarsi with a trichobothrium. Palp (Figs 109-113): Tibia sickle-shaped, dorsal surface bearing a group of short stout bristles. Paracymbium small, L-shaped. Distal suprategular apophysis distally narrow, claw-shaped. Radical part of embolic division fusiform, with a large conical outgrowth near base of embolus. Embolus relatively short, curved to a semicircle. Abdomen 1.15 long, wide, 0.75, grey.

Female. Total length 2.33. Carapace 1.08 long, 0.80 wide, unmodified. Chelicerae 0.35 long, unmodified. Leg I 3.11 long (0.90+0.30+0.83+0.65+0.43), IV 3.29 long (0.92+0.28+0.88+0.78+0.43). TmI 0.45. Abdomen 1.15 long, 0.78 wide. Epigyne (Fig. 108, 119): Aperture fully covered by tapered ventral plate, with a transversal wrinkle posteriorly. Receptacles oval, well visible on both sides of ventral plate. Body and leg coloration, as well as chaetotaxy, as in male.

VARIABILITY: The shapes of the male carapaces in the holotype and the paratype are slightly different (Fig. 105 cf. Fig. 107).

TAXONOMIC REMARKS: The epigyne bears some resemblance to that of the representatives of the subgenus Wideria Simon, 1864, sensu Wunderlich (1972), but the embolic division shows similarities to that of the subgenus Prosopotheca Simon, 1884.

DISTRIBUTION: Known from Meghalaya, northeastern India.