Ochyrocera maestra, Pérez-González & Magalhaes, 2025

Pérez-González, Abel & Magalhaes, Ivan L. F., 2025, On Antillean ochyroceratines (Scytodoidea: Ochyroceratidae: Ochyroceratinae), with the description of three new species from Cuba, Zootaxa 5563 (1), pp. 264-289 : 278-280

Ochyrocera maestra sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:30EB7845-A6DF-440F-8935-C400EC0DEE22

Figs 1D–F , 2D–E , 3C–D , 10A–H

Type material. CUBA. Santiago de Cuba: Matías, Tercer Frente [~ N20.1603°, ~ W76.3304°], L.F. de Armas coll., IV.1986, holotype male (IFM-2842) in the same vial as paratype female (IFM-2843), deposited in CZACC (ex-MACN-Ar 46503) .

Other material examined. None.

Etymology. The species epithet is a noun in apposition taken from "Sierra Maestra", the Spanish name for the Eastern Cuban range mountains where the type locality is found. Aside from this, the species name has two other oblique references: on one side, "maestra " means teacher, and this is an allusion to how much this species helps us to understand " Fageicera " morphology; on the other side, it is an allusion to the fact that the Cuban arachnologist, Dr. Luis F. de Armas, was the first arachnological teacher of the first author (APG), and this is an acknowledgment of all the knowledge and teaching transmitted along many years.

Diagnosis. Can be distinguished from congeners by the following combination of characteristics: cephalothorax without two pointed tubercles behind the ALE; clypeus sexually dimorphic armed in males with a large, wide, and apically bilobated prominence, roughly cordiform; chelicerae sexually dimorphic, with a strong, straight triangular projection (as large as the clypear prominence) in males; male pedipalp with conical cymbium with a very long sub-apical finger-like apophysis; embolus mostly straight, with small pointed paraembolic lamina; females with four small chitinous abdominal pockets; vulva with a pair of thin and extremely elongated spermathecae (about 50 times as long as wide) and with uterus externus not columnar, undivided, ending in a very narrow neck. Can be easily separated from the morphologically closest species, O. cubana , by a larger and bilobated clypear prominence ( Fig. 10C, D, F ) and shorter and straight cheliceral triangular projection ( Fig. 10F ) in males and by remarkably more elongated spermathecae ( Figs 2D , 3C ). Male pedipalp morphology and clypear and cheliceral armature also easily separate this species with other close morphological species formerly combined in Fageicera : Ochyrocera loma , O. nasuta and O. matarredondensis . The Ecuadorian Ochyrocera minotaure Dupérré, 2015 , has two clypeal horns instead of a single prominence as in O. maestra sp. nov. and O. cashcatotoras Dupérré, 2015 , also have a modified carapace with males exhibiting a unique spine-liked projection, but this modification is situated between the PME and not in the clypeus. Other species with sexually dimorphic cuticular projections on the chelicerae are the morphologically close O. thibaudi Emerit & Lopez, 1985 , from the Lesser Antilles, O. caeruleoamethystina Lopez & Lopez, 1997 , from French Guyana, and the highly derived O. peruana Ribera, 1978 , but the modifications on these species are quite different to the strong straight triangular projection of O. maestra sp. nov.

Description. Male holotype (CZACC, IFM-2842). Total length 1.33. Carapace length 0.64, width 0.61. Abdomen length 0.69, width 0.57. Clypeus length 0.17. Eye diameters: PME 0.05, ALE 0.05, PLE 0.05. Sternum length 0.36, width 0.40. Palp: femur 0.28, tibia 0.21, tarsus 0.2, cymbial apophysis 0.15. Leg I:—(2.42, x, x, x, x). Other legs missing.

The specimen in alcohol ( Fig. 10C–D ) seems to be depigmented due to the bad conservation. The cephalothorax almost entirely moderate yellow with almost imperceptible lateral and medial strips of light green, blackish at the medial half around the eyes. Chelicerae are entirely moderate yellow. Endites and sternum moderate yellow with remnants of light green pigmentation barely distinguishable. Abdomen yellowish white with remnants of strong green pigmentation around the spinnerets. Palps and legs moderate yellow.

PME anteriorly displaced forming a straight row with ALE. Ocular area slightly elevated. Clypeus large, armed with a big, wide, and apically bilobated prominence, covered apically with numerous setal bases in each lobe. Anterior margin of labium notched. Abdomen oval, but not markedly elongated. Chelicerae sexually dimorphic, with a strong straight triangular projection (as large as the clypear prominence) situated in the fronto-basal region closer to the medial line; well-developed lamina followed by a series of at least 6 subequal promarginal teeth. Palp ( Figs 1D–F , 2E , 3D ): femur cylindrical larger than tibia; patella very short, tibia thicker than femur. Cymbium conical with pointed apex, 1.05 the palpal tibia length, with a very long sub-apical (and far from the pedestal) finger-like apophysis carrying a cuspule at its tip. Dorso prolateral region of the cymbium with higher number of setae including the larger and stronger ones. Cymbium basally with a protruding pedestal where the copulatory bulb inserts. Tegulum large, ovoid, and slightly bigger than cymbium; sperm duct diameter tapering abruptly from the distal end of strongly reniform fundus and running toward opening, with switchback loops before entering in the embolus. Limit between embolus and tegulum clearly marked; embolus 0.27 in length, 0.03 in height, about 1.35 longer than the tegulum, straight, with the apical third dorsally curved, thinner and ending in a very pointed tip; paraembolic lamina small and pointed situated at the base of the apical thinner embolic portion; the embolus is oriented with a very acute angle with respect to the longitudinal axis of the tegulum.

Female paratype (CZACC, IFM-2843). Total length 1.81. Carapace length 0.67, width 0.60. Abdomen length 1.07, width 0.70. Clypeus length 0.17. Eye diameters: PME 0.06, ALE 0.05, PLE 0.06. Sternum length 0.35, width 0.40. Palp: femur 0.30, tibia 0.21, tarsus 0.31. Leg I: 7.40 (2.19, 0.22, 2.43, 1.74, 0.82). II: 5.31 (1.58, 0.20, 1.66, 1.20, 0.67). III: 4.16 (1.26, 0.18, 1.20, 0.95, 0.57). IV: 5.84 (1.76, 0.17, 1.85, 1.25, 0.81). Leg formula 1423.

The specimen in alcohol ( Fig. 10 A, B, E ) seems to be depigmented due to the bad conservation. Body coloration as in males.

Eyes arrangement and ocular area as in males. Clypeus large, unarmed, projecting forward, with several setae. Anterior margin of labium notched.Abdomen oval (almost spherical); epigastric furrow as wide as ventral abdomen, pre-epigastric and post-epigastric region protruded with slightly chitinous plates—post epigastric one thinner; four small chitinous abdominal pockets, two in the lateral extremities of the post epigastric plate and two on the sides of the abdomen; booklungs modified into bundles of tracheae, without the leaf-like trachea described for adult male by Hormiga et al. (2007), opening through independent spiracles; posterior tracheal spiracle positioned closer to spinnerets and consists of pair of tracheal bundles that open to small atrium and short muscle apodemes in central anterior margin of the atrium. Chelicerae are sexually dimorphic; without male basal triangular projection; with a well-developed lamina followed by a series of at least 6 subequal promarginal teeth.

Vulva ( Figs 2D , 3C ) with a pair of “cul-de-sac” type (sensu Austad, 1984) spermathecae, formed by a pair of elongated and tubular thin ducts (about 50 times as long as wide), basally twisted and ending in a blind distal sac barely differentiated from the stalk; pore plates absent (or not evident); uterus externus not columnar, undivided, ending in a very narrow neck.

Distribution. Known only from the type locality (Matías, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba) ( Fig. 13 ).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Left male palps. A–C. Ochyrocera mayabeque sp. nov. holotype (CZACC, IFM-2832). A. Prolateral. B. Ventral. C. Retrolateral. D–F. Ochyrocera maestra sp. nov. (CZACC, IFM-2842).D. Prolateral. E. Ventral. F. Retrolateral.G–I. Ochyrocera luisarmasi sp. nov. (CZACC, IFM-2840). G. Prolateral. H. Ventral. I. Retrolateral. Scale bar: 0.2 mm (all figures to scale).

FIGURE 2. Genitalia observed under transmitted light. A–B. Ochyrocera mayabeque sp. nov., female paratype (MACN-Ar 46049), vulva, digested and lactic acid cleared, dorsal. C. Ochyrocera mayabeque sp. nov., male paratype (MACN-Ar 46048), right palp, clove oil cleared, prolateral. D. Ochyrocera maestra sp. nov., female (CZACC, IFM-2843), vulva, digested and lactic acid cleared, dorsal. E. Ochyrocera maestra sp. nov., male holotype (CZACC, IFM-2842), right palp, clove oil cleared, prolateral. F. Ochyrocera luisarmasi sp. nov., male holotype (CZACC, IFM-2840), left palp, clove oil cleared, prolateral. G–H. Ochyrocera luisarmasi sp. nov., female paratype (CZACC, IFM-2841), vulva, digested and lactic acid cleared, dorsal. Abbreviations: AP: abdominal pocket, ATr: anterior tracheae, NUE: neck of the uterus externus, PP: pore plate, PTr: posterior tracheae, R: putative receptacle, UE: uterus externus.

FIGURE 3. Genitalia drawings. A. Ochyrocera mayabeque sp. nov., female paratype (MACN-Ar 46049), vulva, dorsal. B. Ochyrocera mayabeque sp. nov., male paratype (MACN-Ar 46048), right palp, prolateral. C. Ochyrocera maestra sp. nov., female (CZACC, IFM-2843), vulva, dorsal. D. Ochyrocera maestra sp. nov., male holotype (CZACC, IFM-2842), right palp, prolateral. E. Ochyrocera luisarmasi sp. nov., female paratype (CZACC, IFM-2841), vulva, dorsal. F. Ochyrocera luisarmasi sp. nov., male holotype (CZACC, IFM-2840, mirrored left palp, prolateral. Abbreviations:AP: abdominal pocket, ATr: anterior tracheae, CA: cymbial apophysis, E: embolus, m29: muscle 29, m30: muscle 30, NUE: neck of the uterus externus, Pe: pedestal, PL: paraembolic lamina, PP: pore plate, PTr: posterior tracheae, R: putative receptacle, S: spermophore, UE: uterus externus. Scale bar: 0.1 mm (all figures to scale).

FIGURE 10. Ochyrocera maestra sp. nov., habitus of female (A, B, E, G, H) and male (C, D, F) (CZACC, IFM-2842, IFM- 2843). A. Dorsal. B. Ventral. C. Dorsal. Arrow to modified clypeus. D. Ventral. E. Lateral. F. Clypeus, lateral view. G. Genital region, ventral. H. Genital region, lateral.Abbreviations:AP = abdominal pocket, CH = cheliceral horn, CP = clypeal projection. Scale bars: 0.5 mm (A–E), 0.2 mm (F–H).

FIGURE 13. Distribution of ochyroceratines in Cuba, including taxa previously assignable to Fageicera (red symbols) and taxa previously assignable to Ochyrocera (black symbols). The clade containing the Li et al. (2020) Fageicera concept is demarcated into a square and is divided into a western and an eastern clades, labeled respectively W and E. The clade containing the type species of Fageicera (i.e., Dumitrescu & Georgescu’s original concept) corresponds to the eastern clade (E). The dated tree is re-drawn based on Li et al. (2020); branch supports are posterior probabilities, and only values smaller than 1 are shown. The time scale is in millions of years. Yellow bars represent confidence intervals in the estimated time of divergences. The blue bar in the background indicates the timing of the formation of the hypothesized land bridge of GAARlandia.