Jalapyphantes puebla, GERTSCH & DAVIS, 1946

Moreira, Thiago Da Silva & Hormiga, Gustavo, 2021, Systematics of the Neotropical spider genera Jalapyphantes and Selenyphantes and the circumscription of the Pocobletus clade (Araneae: Linyphiidae), Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 192 : -

JALAPYPHANTES PUEBLA GERTSCH & DAVIS, 1946

( FIGS 10A–H, 11A–H, 14D, 15D, 16D, 17D)

Jalapyphantes puebla Gertsch & Davis, 1946: 9 , figs 17–18 (description female); Brignoli, 1983: 295; Millidge, 1984: 237, figs 12, 29 (f).

Note: Although the information on the original label reads ‘ Puebla, Rio Frio,’ the city of Río Frío de Juárez [19.353738, –98.670704] is located in a different state, México State, being the largest population close to the border between those two states. Given the elevation reported on the label (3000 m), it is likely that the outskirts of Río Frío de Juárez (between 2900 and 3010 m) is in fact, the type locality .

Type material: Holotype: one female. MEXICO, Puebla: Rio Frio [México: Río Frío de Juárez, 3000 m – 19.353738, –98.670704] (26 April 1942; MC Bolivar, B Osorio and D Pelaez leg. AMNH – examined) Additional material examined: MEXICO, Veracruz: four males, six females, Atotonilco de Calcahualco [Pico de Orizaba Volcano – 19.13725, –97.2050833; 2350 m]; (4–13.X.2012; Lab. Aracnología FC-UNAM leg) .

Note: There are a female and two immature paratypes of J. puebla reported for Distrito Federal, Mexico (Parque Nacional Desierto de Los Leones, 19.316355, –99.306046 – Gertsch & Davis, 1946). We were not able to study those specimens because we could not locate them in the AMNH collections (Sorkin, L. pers. com.), and thus we have not included them in the records of J. puebla .

Diagnosis: Females of J. puebla are distinguished from its congeners by having a long and uniform thickness of the scape, with no excavation ( Fig. 16D) and the lateral lobes are quasitriangular shape ( Figs 10E, 16D). Males of J. puebla are similar to J. cuernavaca but with a DSA clearly smaller than the MSA ( Fig. 11E) and a smooth curve on the RCm instead of an acute angle ( Figs 11H, 14D).

Description: Female (holotype). Total length 3.14. Prosoma 1.49 long, 1.11 wide. Prosoma height 1.21, fovea height 1.00. Opisthosoma 1.65 long, 1.50 wide, 2.22 high. Clypeus height 0.27. AME 0.03, ALE 0.04, PME 0.05, PLE 0.05. Femur I 1.62 (1.09× prosoma length), Metatarsus I 1.43, TmI 0.21. Prosoma dark brown with a dark yellow area separating the cephalic from the carapace marginal area. Sternum dark orange, same as endites. Opisthosoma light grey/ dark grey mosaic with white guanine area on the proximal area. Legs are dark yellow with annuli in all segments ( Fig. 10A–D). Scape base squared, wider in the posterior part, and constrained on the anterior part ( Fig. 16D).

Male ( TSM 654). Total length 3.10. Prosoma 1.73 long, 1.39 wide. Prosoma height 1.64, fovea height 1.21. Opisthosoma 1.37 long, 1.32 wide, 1.37 high. Clypeus height 0.46. AME 0.04, ALE 0.05, PME 0.05, PLE 0.05. Femur I 2.44 (1.41× prosoma length), Metatarsus I 2.54, TmI 0.18. Prosoma dark brown with a dark yellow area separating cephalic from carapace marginal area. Sternum dark orange, same as endites. Opisthosoma light grey/dark grey mosaic with white guanine area on the proximal area. Legs dark yellow with annuli in all segments ( Fig. 11A–D). DSA acute, projecting mesally and an MSA flattened spatula-shaped end projecting distally. Radix thick, wavy, with the posterior end curved downward, with a thin membrane. ( Fig. 11G–H). RCm wavy, ‘question mark’ shape on frontal view ( Fig. 11F). RCs approximately half of the size the same size as the RCm flattened and folded on the posterior end.

Natural history: Jalapyphantes . puebla weaves a sheet web with few or no knock-down lines, usually located close to the ground, at the base of trees with thick trunks ( Fig. 15F). They are active only at night and can be found at the bottom part of their sheet web, and when disturbed, the spider hides in a retreat on the tree trunk.

Distribution: MEXICO: México, Veracruz ( Fig. 18D).