Pholcus henanensis Zhu & Mao, 1983

Zhang, Feng & Zhu, Ming-Sheng, 2009, A review of the genus Pholcus (Araneae: Pholcidae) from China, Zootaxa 2037 (1), pp. 1-114 : 37

Pholcus henanensis Zhu & Mao, 1983

( Fig. 16)

Pholcus henanensis Zhu & Mao , in Zhu, Mao & Yu 1983: 135, f. 1a–g.

“ Pholcus henanensis” Zhu, Tu & Shi 1986: 119 , f. 2.1–7, misidentification, see P. mianshanensis sp. nov. below).

Diagnosis. This species resembles P. mianshanensis sp. nov., but can be distinguished from it by the hoeshaped appendix ( Fig. 16D), by the shape of the tip of the procursus ( Figs. 16D–F), and by the necktie-shaped apophysis of epigynum ( Fig. 16A).

Redescription. Male (‘allotype’, data copied from Zhu, Mao and Yu 1983), total length 4.33: cephalothorax 1.52 long, 1.51 wide; abdomen 2.81 long, 1.40 wide. Leg I: 34.85 (8.21+9.31+14.80+2.53). Carapace short, broad and almost circular, ochre, with brown mark broadly connecting to ocular area. Cephalic region raised, without brown central marks, ocular area dark yellow. Clypeus slightly ochre, with yellow marks. Chelicerae with pair of black apophyses distally and pair of unsclerotized rounded apophyses proximolaterally. Labium and endites yellow. Sternum slightly ochre, with some regular yellow marks on it. Femora, patellae and tibiae ochre, with dark rings, metatarsi and tarsi brown. Abdomen cylindrical, pale ochre, dorsum with numerous brown spots on it. Venter pale brown, without marks. Palps as in Figs. 16D and 16E, bulb with boot-shaped uncus and hoe-shaped appendix. Procursus as in Fig. 16F.

Female: in general very similar to male. Female (holotype, data copied from Zhu, Mao et Yu), total length 4.52: cephalothorax 1.21 long, 1.10 wide; abdomen 3.10 long, 1.51 wide. Epigynum roughly triangular as in Fig. 16A, with a long necktie-shaped apophysis on the top. Dorsal view as in Fig. 16B, with a wavy sclerotized arch anteriorly and a pair of teardrop-shaped pore plates overlapping the arch.

Distribution. Known from type locality only.

Material. Types. Female holotype, male ‘allotype’ (labeled 82–290), from a cave in Xingyang County, Henan Province, China, May 20, 1982, leg. J. Y. Mao and G. J. Wang ( BMU); 3♂, 3♀ paratypes (82–310), from a boat, Xingyang County, Henan Province, China, May 25, 1982, leg. J. Y. Mao ( HPPS) .

Material examined. CHINA: Henan: Xingyang County, May 20, 1982, only right palp of male and epigynum (from female holotype and male ‘allotype’) .

Remark. The most important characters of this species are the long necktie-shaped apophysis of the epigynum and the long curved ventral apophysis of the trochanter. Six similar species, P. linzhou , P. paralinzhou sp. nov., P. yugong sp. nov. (Henan Province), P. mianshanensis sp. nov., (Shanxi Province, Mt. Mianshan, Jiexiu County), P. taishan , (Shandong Province, Mt. Taishan, Tai’an city), and P. oculosus (Hebei Province, Wu’an County) share both a restricted regional distribution and various morphological characters, so we believe they have a relatively close phylogenetic relationship.