Rhitymna plana Jäger 2003

Jäger, Peter, 2007, Spiders from Laos with descriptions of new species (Arachnida: Araneae), Acta Arachnologica 56 (1), pp. 29-58 : 56

Rhitymna plana Jäger 2003

Figs. 96-97

Material examined. 1 female ( PJ 2341, MNHN) , 1 female ( PJ 2342, SMF 56629 ), L16 .

The female from Laos (between Vientiane and Luang Prabang) illustrated in Jäger (2003: figs. 80-82) shows distinct differences in the female copulatory organ in comparison to the holotype female from Vietnam. Therefore it could not be identified unambiguously to species level. Both females examined for the present paper show that differences are part of intraspecific variation and form a continuous cline with a gradual change of certain characters. This concerns external morphology of the epigynum (shape and structure of median plate; ratio of median plate length to length of anterior part of epigynal field) as well as the internal duct system: globular structures (functionally in front of fertilisation ducts) are situated closer to each other than in other specimens examined ( Fig. 97 ), copulatory ducts (functionally in front of globular structures) extending anteriorly beyond globular structures. The specimens examined connect the two extremes shown in Jäger (2003) as intermediate forms. According to this new results, I suggest that all animals belong to one species with a strong variation. The two females represent the first record for Houaphan Prov.

Figures

Figs. 93 - 97. 93 - 95 Pseudopoda houaphan spec. nov. Female holotype from Muong You (L 16). 93 Epigynum, ventral view; 94 internal duct system, dorsal view; 95 schematic course of internal duct system, dorsal view. 96 - 97. Rhitymna plana Jäger 2003. Female from Muong You (L 16). 96 Epigynum, ventral view; 97 internal duct system, dorsal view, ab — anterior bands of epigynal field.