Episinus papilionaceous, Liu & Agnarsson & Liu & Zhu, 2022

Liu, Fengjie, Agnarsson, Ingi, Liu, Jie & Zhu, Yang, 2022, Description and phylogenetic analysis of two new Episinus (Araneae, Theridiidae) species from China, ZooKeys 1125, pp. 33-46 : 33

Episinus papilionaceous sp. nov.

Figs 4A-D , 5

Type material.

Holotype: ♀, CHINA, Hunan Province: Zhangjiajie City, Badagong Mountain National Nature Reserve (29°47'24"N, 110°6'0"E, 1395 m alt.), 2 June 2018, F.X. Liu and Z.C. Li leg.

Diagnosis.

This new species is similar to E. xiushanicus Zhu, 1998 in having a peach-shaped structure at the posterior part of the epigynal field but can be distinguished from them by the following characteristics: 1) abdomen without spinous process in ventral view, but the ventral protuberance is spinous in E. xiushanicus (Fig. 4A ); 2) spermathecae slightly S-shaped in the new species but W-shaped in E. xiushanicus (Fig. 4D ).

Etymology.

The specific name is derived from the Latin adjective papilionaceous, meaning butterfly-shaped, referring to the shape of the epigynum; adjective.

Description.

Male unknown. Female (holotype): total length 4.29. Prosoma length 1.55, width 1.44; opisthosoma length 2.74, width 2.55; eye diameters: ALE 0.11, AME 0.11, PLE 0.09, PME 0.09; eye interdistances: AME-AME 0.10, AME-ALE 0.05, PME-PME 0.15, PME-PLE 0.08; clypeus height 0.50; leg measurements: I 8.00 (2.48, 0.61, 1.83, 2.47, 0.61), II 5.46 (1.78, 0.41, 1.17, 1.42, 0.68), III 4.77 (1.43, 0.34, 0.76, 1.83, 0.41), IV 8.57 (2.75, 0.69, 2.09, 2.34, 0.70). Leg formula: IV, I, II, III. Carapace yellowish brown, with two parallel elongate yellowish-white markings posterior to eyes, and submarginal black markings laterally. Posterior median eyes slightly mound-shaped and surrounding area black. Sternum grayish yellow, slightly longer than wide. Legs yellow, with brown markings. Opisthosoma yellowish black, with irregular black stripes in ventral view and extending posteriorly. Opisthosoma dorsally yellowish black, with tiny white to black dots (Fig. 4A, B ).

Epigyna (Fig. 4C, D ). Ventral view wider than long, with a peach-shaped structure at posterior margin. Copulatory ducts thick and curved. Fertilization ducts arising medially.

Distribution.

China (Hunan Province) (Fig. 5 ).

Figures

Figure 4. Episinus papilionaceous sp. nov. A, B female habitus A dorsal B ventral C, D epigynum in alcohol C ventral D dorsal. Abbreviations: Atr-atrium, CD-copulatory duct, FD-fertilization duct, S-spermathecae. Scale bars: 1 mm (A, B); 0.1 mm (C, D).

Figure 5. Locality records for two species of Episinus: 1 = Episinus ornithorrhynchus sp. nov., 2 = Episinus papilionaceous sp. nov.