Ctenus cochinensis Gravely, 1931

Sankaran, Pradeep M. & Sebastian, Pothalil A., 2018, First record of Africactenus Hyatt, 1954 and redescriptions of two poorly known species of Ctenus Walckenaer, 1805 (Araneae, Ctenidae, Cteninae) from India, Zootaxa 4388 (3), pp. 395-406 : 400-402

publication ID

https://doi.org/ 10.11646/zootaxa.4388.3.5

publication LSID

lsid:zoobank.org:pub:9A3DC9D3-0367-4A68-8B75-E96A1D78EE3F

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5968629

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/0E10C354-0619-FFFD-FF36-A4B1BC582EC1

treatment provided by

Plazi

scientific name

Ctenus cochinensis Gravely, 1931
status

 

Ctenus cochinensis Gravely, 1931 View in CoL

Figs 1B, D–E View FIGURE 1 , 5 View FIGURE 5 , 6 View FIGURE 6

Ctenus cochinensis Gravely, 1931: 235 View in CoL , figs 1E, 3C (description and illustrations of male and female). Tikader & Malhotra 1981: 112, fig. 5A–D (description and illustrations of male and female).

Type material. Male and 2 female syntypes of Ctenus cochinensis Gravely, 1931 from INDIA: Kerala: Palakkad: Parambikulam (10o23'34.29''N, 76o46'32.24''E), 597 m alt. (male) and Thrissur: Kavalai (10o16'23.89''N, 76o32'13.03''E), 390 m alt. (females); F.H. Gravely leg.; 16–24 September 1914; repository ZSI; voucher numbers 1506/18 (male) and 1550/18 (females), not examined. GoogleMaps

Note. The species was identified using the illustrations given by Gravely (1931) and Tikader & Malhotra (1981).

Material examined. INDIA, Kerala: Thrissur, Chimmony Wildlife Sanctuary, 10o25'6.80''N, 76o32'7.25''E, 709 m alt., 8 May 2013, M.S. Pradeep leg., from ground, by hand: 1 subadult male GoogleMaps , 2 subadult females, (ADSH20191) and 23 July 2013: 1 female with egg sac (ADSH20192); Ernakulam, Kothamangalam, Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary ( Thattekkadu Bird Sanctuary ), 10o7'48.3''N, 76o41'43.24''E, 96 m alt., 22 May 2013, M.S. Pradeep leg., from ground, by hand: 1 subadult male GoogleMaps , 1 female, (ADSH20193); Malappuram, Akambadam, 11o18'37.42''N, 76o12'31.68''E, 41 m alt., 23 August 2013, M.S. Pradeep leg., from ground, by hand: 2 females with egg sacs (ADSH20194); Kottayam, Areeppara in Edappady , 9o42'35.62''N, 76o42'48.42''E, 27 m alt., 16 August 2016, M.S. Pradeep leg., from ground, by hand: 1 male ( ADSH20195 View Materials ) and 25 March 2017 GoogleMaps : 1 female (ADSH20196).

Diagnosis. Ctenus cochinensis can be separated from other congeners by the following combination of characters: hook-shaped RTA without apical bifurcation, MA short, roughly squarish, embolus with well-defined, transversely oriented apical part, flat, as wide as long epigynal plate, posteriorly placed epigynal teeth, nearly straight lateral folds of copulatory ducts and peanut-like spermathecae ( Fig. 5A–F View FIGURE 5 ).

Redescription. Male (based on ADSH20195, Fig. 1D View FIGURE 1 ). Carapace pale brownish with yellowish-brown median band; thoracic part provided with narrow, longitudinal yellowish-brown medio-lateral bands and patches. Fovea long (1.41), longitudinal, reddish. Eye field black except between PLEs, which is yellowish-brown; ALEs, PLEs and PMEs basally covered with fine, short white hairs ( Fig. 1D View FIGURE 1 ). Clypeus, chelicerae, fangs, endites, labium, sternum, and spinnerets pale brownish. Dorsum of chelicerae covered with long brownish hairs; promargin with a thick layer of inwardly curved brownish hairs, with three teeth; retromargin with four. Sternum covered with black hairs. Opisthosoma roughly oval, hirsute; dorsum, laterals, and venter greyish-brown; venter with a broad, inverted triangular, creamy patch. Leg segments pale brownish to brownish with black shades and annulations; all tarsi scopulated, tarsal scopula entire; metatarsus I with entire scopula, distal 2/3rd of metatarsus II scopulated, metatarsi III and IV lack scopula. Body length 10.71. Carapace length 6.39, width 5.44. Opisthosoma length 4.32, width 2.91. Eye diameters: ALE 0.19. AME 0.32. PLE 0.39. PME 0.45. Eye interdistances: ALE–ALE 0.25. ALE–PME 0.08. AME–ALE 0.16. AME–AME 0.18. PLE–PLE 1.52. PME–PME 0.22. Clypeus height at AMEs 0.16, at ALEs 0.67. Chelicerae length 2.06. Measurements of pedipalp and legs: pedipalp 8.42 [3.19, 1.20, 1.28, 2.75], I 23.26 [6.21, 2.81, 6.28, 6.23, 1.73], II 20.12 [5.65, 2.61, 5.02, 5.34, 1.50], III 16.70 [4.93, 2.14, 3.62, 4.65, 1.36], IV 23.89 [6.40, 2.40, 5.37, 7.97, 1.75]. Leg formula: 4123. Spination of pedipalp: femur pld 1 do 4 rld 1, patella pl 1, tibia pl 1 plv 1 rld 1 rlv 1, tarsus/cymbium spineless; legs: femur I pl 1 pld 2 do 3 rld 4, II pl 1 pld 3 do 3 rld 4, III pl 5 do 3 rl 4, IV pld 4 do 3, rld 3; patellae I–IV pl 1 rl 1; tibia I pl 1 plv 5 do 3 rld 2 rlv 5, II pl 1 plv 5 do 3 rl 2 rlv 5, III pl 2 plv 3 do 2 rl 2 rlv 3, IV pl 2 plv 4 do 3 rl 2 rlv 3; metatarsus I pld 2 plv 3 rld 3 rlv 3, II pld 3 plv 3 rld 3 rlv 3 vt 1, III pl 1 pld 3 plv 2 rl 1 rld 3 rlv 3, IV pl 3 pld 1 plv 3 rl 2 rld 3 rlv 4; tarsi I–IV spineless. Pedipalp ( Fig. 5A– C View FIGURE 5 ): palpal segments brownish with black shades. RTA stout, with broad proximal part, short, distal part with acute tip, appears hook-like in retrolateral view ( Fig. 5B–C View FIGURE 5 ). Ventro-lateral tibial apophysis short, thumb-like, directed at 2-o’clock in ventral view ( Fig. 5B View FIGURE 5 ). Cymbium tip conical, without basal extension, with short, acute, retrolateral cymbial tooth ( Fig. 5B–C View FIGURE 5 ). Tegulum highly sclerotised, with a median membranous pit ( Fig. 5B View FIGURE 5 ). Subtegulum highly sclerotised. MA short, nearly rectangular, baso-retrolateral, with a slight apico-prolateral extension ( Fig. 5B View FIGURE 5 ). Embolus apically with a prolateral curvature, with blunt tip, narrow in ventral view ( Fig. 5A–B View FIGURE 5 ). Conductor transparent, apico-retrolateral, rounded in ventral view ( Fig. 5A–C View FIGURE 5 ).

Female (based on ADSH20196) ( Fig. 1B, E View FIGURE 1 ). Like male except the following. Carapace brownish with pale brown median band; thoracic part provided with narrow, longitudinal, pale brown medio-lateral bands. Fovea (1.08) dark. Eye field brownish except between PLEs, which is pale brown. Clypeus, chelicerae, fangs, endites, labium, and sternum brownish. Dorsum, laterals and venter of opisthosoma blackish-brown with inconspicuous black spots and W-shaped markings; venter with paired median longitudinal bands formed of pale yellowish spots. Spinnerets pale yellowish with black shades. Leg segments brownish. Body length 12.72. Carapace length 6.49, width 5.11. Opisthosoma length 6.23, width 4.11. Eye diameters: ALE 0.21. AME 0.25. PLE 0.36. PME 0.47. Eye interdistances: ALE–ALE 1.36. ALE–PME 0.09. AME–ALE 0.51. AME–AME 0.15. PLE–PLE 1.58. PME–PME 0.25. Clypeus height at AMEs 0.14, at ALEs 0.58. Chelicerae length 2.85. Measurements of palp and legs: palp 6.79 [2.46, 1.26, 1.43, 1.64], I 16.45 [4.74, 2.69, 4.15, 3.76, 1.11], II 15.20 [4.53, 2.55, 3.54, 3.48, 1.10], III 13.26 [4.05, 1.97, 2.87, 3.44, 0.93], IV 19.18 [5.37, 2.36, 4.30, 5.76, 1.39]. Leg formula: 4123. Spination of palp: femur pld 2 do 2 rld 1, patella pl 1, tibia pl 2 rl 1 rld 2, tarsus pl 2 pld 1 rl 2; legs: femur I pld 2 plv 1 do 3 rld 3, II pl 2 pld 2 do 3 rld 3, III plv 4 do 4 rlv 4, IV pld 4 do 3, rld 1; patellae I–II spineless, III–IV pl 1 rl 1; tibiae I–II plv 5 rlv 5, III pl 2 plv 3 do 2 rld 2 rlv 3, IV pl 2 plv 3 do 3 rl 2 rlv 3; metatarsus I plv 3 rlv 2, II plv 3 rlv 3, III pl 3 pld 1 plv 3 rl 2 rld 2 rlv 3, IV pl 3 pld 1 plv 3 rl 3 rld 2 rlv 4; tarsi I–IV spineless. Epigynum ( Fig. 5D–F View FIGURE 5 ): epigynal plate flat, nearly as wide as long, with distinct short, wide epigynal field ( Fig. 5D, F View FIGURE 5 ). Copulatory openings postero-lateral to the epigynal plate, masked by epigynal plate ( Fig. 5E View FIGURE 5 , arrows). Epigynal teeth simple, placed postero-laterally to epigynal plate ( Fig. 5D–E View FIGURE 5 ). Copulatory ducts short, wide ( Fig. 5E View FIGURE 5 ); lateral folds well marked, slightly diagonally oriented, continuous with epigynal teeth ( Fig. 5E View FIGURE 5 ). Spermathecae peanut-shaped, obliquely oriented, close to each other, with two differently sized chambers ( Fig. 5E View FIGURE 5 , 1 View FIGURE 1 & 2 View FIGURE 2 ). Fertilization ducts short, narrow, with slightly upturned apical part ( Fig. 5E View FIGURE 5 ).

Variation. Adult females (n=5): body length 10.43–12.72. The epigynum of the female specimen from the Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary (ADSH20193) has wavy antero-lateral margins and its epigynal teeth are placed close to the posterior epigynal border line ( Fig. 5G View FIGURE 5 ).

Distribution. India (Kerala) ( Fig. 6 View FIGURE 6 ).

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Arthropoda

Class

Arachnida

Order

Araneae

Family

Ctenidae

Genus

Ctenus

Loc

Ctenus cochinensis Gravely, 1931

Sankaran, Pradeep M. & Sebastian, Pothalil A. 2018
2018
Loc

Ctenus cochinensis

Gravely, 1931 : 235
Tikader & Malhotra 1981 : 112
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