Caracladus montanus Sha & Zhu, 1994

Frick, Holger & Muff, Patrick, 2009, Revision of the genus Caracladus with the description of Caracladus zamoniensis spec. nov. (Araneae, Linyphiidae, Erigoninae), Zootaxa 1982, pp. 1-37 : 17

Caracladus montanus Sha & Zhu, 1994

Caracladus montanus Sha & Zhu, 1994: 172 , figs 1–7; Song et al. 1999: 160, figs 88M–O.

Type material. HOLOTYPE: China: Jilin: Changbai mountain [42°00' N, 128°01' E], 1♂ 1979-1990 ( Sha & Zhu 1994). PARATYPES: China: Jilin: Changbai mountain, Baiyunfeng (“white cloud peak”) [42°00' N, 128°01' E], 1♂ 19.vi.1979, leg. Y. Zhang and C. Wang ( Sha & Zhu 1994); Changbai mountain [42°00' N, 128°01' E], 1♂ 11.viii.1985, leg. C. Zhu (Sha & Zhu 1994); Changbai mountain, Xidapo (“big western slope”) [42°00' N, 128°01' E], 6♂ 9♀ 31.vii.1990, leg. Y. Sha (Sha & Zhu 1994); Changbai mountain, Xiaotianchi (“small heaven lake”) [42°05'48'' N, 128°03'50'' E], 3♂ 5♀ 04.viii.1990, leg. Y. Sha (Sha & Zhu 1994). The type material (mentioned above) is stored in the Department of Biology, Norman Bethune University of Medical Sciences in Changchun, which is now a subunit of the Jilin University, China ( Sha & Zhu 1994). The material was not available for observation since establishing contacts with Jilin University was not successful..

Diagnosis. Males: Similar to C. tsurusakii with differences in the shape of the male palpal tibia and the embolus ( Sha & Zhu 1994). In lateral view, the cephalic lobe is broadest below the eye-field ( Sha & Zhu 1994: Fig. 2 ), but is narrowed down in C. tsurusakii ( Fig. 45 ). The prolateral tibialapophysis looks like a big tooth ( Sha & Zhu 1994: Fig. 4 ) whereas it is a glabrous blunt apophysis in C. tsurusakii ( Fig. 42 ).

Females: The shape of the epigynum and the vulva are different to what is seen in other Caracladus species. E.g. the curled copulatory duct ( Sha & Zhu 1994: Fig. 7 ).

Description. Males: Total length: 1.85–2.07 mm ( Sha & Zhu 1994). Cephalic lobe: facing forward, hairy in front of the PME ( Sha & Zhu 1994: Fig. 2 ); shaft rather thick with some hairs ( Sha & Zhu 1994: Fig. 2 ); sulcus absent. Eyes: PME upmost on the cephalic lobe ( Sha & Zhu 1994: Fig. 2 ). Chelicerae: promargin with five larger teeth; retromargin with five very small denticles; stridulatory striae present ( Sha & Zhu 1994). Legs: tibia I–IV with one dorsal proximal macroseta (1-1-1-1); Tm I: 0.61 ( Sha & Zhu 1994). Pedipalp: paracymbium simple hook ( Sha & Zhu 1994: Fig. 3 ); retrolateral tibial apophysis small tooth; prolateral tibial apophysis long and broad ( Sha & Zhu 1994: Figs 4, 5 ); protegulum present ( Sha & Zhu 1994: Fig. 3 ).

Females: General appearance similar to males but without a cephalic lobe ( Sha & Zhu 1994). Total length: 2.07–2.72 mm ( Sha & Zhu 1994). Eyes: anterior row slightly recurved ( Sha & Zhu 1994). Chelicerae: stridulatory striae present ( Sha & Zhu 1994). Epigyne: ventral plate hourglass-like, visible in ventral view ( Sha & Zhu 1994: Fig. 6 , see remarks). Vulva: receptacula globular; copulatory duct spiral ( Sha & Zhu 1994: Fig. 7 ).

Distribution. Only known from the type locality in Jilin, China ( Song et al. 1999).

Habitat. The coordinates in the original publication correspond to a spot at ca. 2000 m a.s.l.

Phenology. All records in summer time between June and August.

Remarks. No specimens were available for examination. The diagnosis and description of certain structures and the coding of characters for the phylogeny on species level followed the descriptions and figures given in Sha and Zhu (1994) of which some are redrawn in Song et al. (1999). Misinterpretations of the figures can therefore not be excluded. It is assumed, for example, that C. montanus has no sulcus because Sha and Zhu (1994) mention the close resemblance to C. tsurusakii without mentioning a sulcus in the original description. The conformation of the epigyne is unclear to the authors. It is assumed that the ventral hourglassshaped structure represents the dorsal plate.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 8. Caracladus avicula (L. Koch, 1869). Male: palp retrolateral (1), prolateral (2), distal (3); palpal tibia dorsal (4); embolic tip (5). Female: right spinnerets (6); epigyne ventral (7), aboral (8). Scale: 100 Μm if not stated differently.

FIGURES 40 – 46. Caracladus tsurusakii Saito, 1988. Female: epigyne ventral (40). Male: palp prolateral (41); palpal tibia dorsal (42); cephalothorax dorsal (43), frontal (44) and lateral (45); right leg tibia I retrolateral (46). Scale: 200 Μm. Specimens: Paratype, NSMT Ar 5250 (female); holotype, NSMT Ar 5250 (male).