Diminutella, Rheims, Cristina Anne & Alayon, Giraldo, 2018

Rheims, Cristina Anne & Alayon, Giraldo, 2018, A new genus of minute Sparianthinae spiders from the Caribbean (Araneae, Sparassidae), ZooKeys 742, pp. 13-22 : 16

Genus Diminutella gen. n.

Type species.

Diminutella cortina sp. n.

Etymology.

The specific name is a combination of the Brazilian adjective “diminuto” and the suffix “ella” and refers to the minute size of the specimens of the type species of the genus, considered the smallest Sparassidae known to date. Gender is feminine.

Diagnosis.

Species of Diminutella gen. n. can be distinguished from all known Neotropical genera by the combination of the following characters: AER recurved and PER straight (Figs 1 A–B), chelicerae with three promarginal teeth and two retromarginal denticles (Fig. 2A) and legs I–II with three ventral pairs of spines on tibiae and one on metatarsi. They are distinguished from Decaphora by the eye arrangement and cheliceral dentition (AER straight, PER procurved, four promarginal teeth and 5-7 retromarginal denticles in Decaphora ); from Neostasina by the eye arrangement (AER straight and PER procurved in Neostasina ); from Pseudosparianthis , Sampaiosia and Sparianthis by the number of spines on metatarsi I–II (two pairs in these three genera) and by the eye arrangement (AER and PER procurved in Pseudosparianthis and Sampaiosia and AER and PER recurved in Sparianthis ); and from Uaiuara by the number of ventral spines on tibiae I–II (7-9 pairs in Uaiuara ).

Description.

See species description.

Species composition.

Monotypic: Minutella cortina sp. n.

Distribution.

Pinar del Rio, Cuba.