Mallinella martensi ( Ono, 1983 )

Dankittipakul, Pakawin, Jocqué, Rudy & Singtripop, Tippawan, 2012, Systematics and biogeography of the spider genus Mallinella Strand, 1906, with descriptions of new species and new genera from Southeast Asia (Araneae, Zodariidae) 3369, Zootaxa 3369 (1), pp. 1-327 : 279

Mallinella martensi ( Ono, 1983)

(Figs 1189, 1262–1264)

Storena martensi Ono, 1983 a: 212 , figs 1–4, description of ♂

Material examined. Holotype: ♂, NEPAL, Mustang District: Thakkhola , June – July 1970, leg. J. Martens ( SMF 31539, examined). Original label: / Storena martensi ONO ; 1♂ Holotypus; Nepal, Mustang Distr., Thakkhola ; MARTENS leg. VI.–VII.1970; Ono det. 1982 /.

Remarks. The somatic and palpal morphology suggest that M. martensi belongs to the fronto -group and it is probably more closely related to M. nilgherina comb. nov., known to occur in India, than to M. uncinata from Nepal, in possessing a large, sharply pointed basolateral tooth and an elevated subterminal ridge on the TA. In M. nilgherina comb. nov., the triangular apico-retrolateral fold is pronounced. Mallinella martensi can be easily distinguished from its congeners by the TA carrying a blunt subterminal tooth situated posterior to a terminally bifid process, and by the sharply pointed tip of the embolic rami.

Redescription. Male (holotype): See Ono (1983 a: 213) for measurements.

Coloration (Fig. 1189). Carapace orange-brown. Sternum brown. Legs pale yellowish. Dorsum of opisthosoma sepia. Dorsal pattern: first pair represented by small round spots; second pair by disconnected thin transverse bands; third to fifth pair by a series of transverse bands.

Palp (Figs 1262–1264). RTA digitiform, apically rounded. TA with bifid apical process, mesal branch slightly longer than lateral one; subterminal tooth triangular, apex blunt, situated posterior to apical apophysis; retrolateral ridge occupying approximately half TA length, anteriorly more elevated, apex pointed mesad in ventral view; basoprolateral tooth subtriangular, apically rounded, directed anteriad. Embolus concave, terminally bifid: mesal ramus longer than lateral one, embolic extremities sharply pointed.

Female. Unknown.

Distribution. Known only from the type locality in Nepal.