Relictocera qianzi Li & Li

Chang, Wan-Jin, Li, Fengyuan & Li, Shuqiang, 2019, On the genera Qiongocera and Relictocera (Araneae, Psilodercidae) from Southeast Asia, ZooKeys 862, pp. 61-79 : 66-69

Relictocera qianzi Li & Li sp. nov. Figs 2E, 3B, 10, 11, 12D, 13

Types.

Holotype: ♂ (IZCAS), Thailand, Krabi Province, Ao Luk District, Petch Cave, 8°23.578'N, 98°46.437'E, 56 m, 11.X.2015, Zhao Q., Zhou G. & Chen Z. Paratypes: 1♂1♀ (IZCAS), same data as holotype.

Etymology.

The species name is a noun in apposition derived from the Chinese pinyin “qiánzĭ” (pincer) and refers to the unique structure of the bulb appendages which are similar to the gripping jaws of a pincer (Fig. 11C, D).

Diagnosis.

Males of R. qianzi sp. nov. can be distinguished from all other congeners by the bulb bearing two unequal parts, a strongly swollen palpal patella, and a partly swollen tibia (Fig. 11 C–D). Males can be easily distinguished from R. mus by the blunt tips of the bulbal appendages (vs. sharply pointed tips); a hairy snout-liked clypeus with a straight base (vs. a spade-shaped clypeus with a distinct rounded base in R. mus ); carapace with trident pattern medially (vs. absence of pattern); the female can be distinguished from other species by the pair of ovoid spermathecae flanked laterally with a pair of translucent ducts (vs. a pair of horizontal ducts bearing round spermathecae).

Description.

Male (Holotype). Total length 2.70; carapace 1.10 long, 1.10 wide; abdomen 1.60 long, 0.90 wide. Carapace round and pale yellow, medially with light brown trident pattern, laterally slightly darker (Fig. 10C). Chelicerae yellow (Fig. 12D). Clypeus brown, with hairy snout-like projection. Endites pale brown. Labium brown, delimiting 2 oval paler areas. Sternum yellow. Abdomen with dorsal longitudinal pale band, with shaded lateral patches, posterior part with a few dark brown stripes, anterior part of ventrum pale, posterior part with dark brown shading on the margin. Legs uniformly brown; measurements: I missing, II missing, III 10.48 (3.00, 0.31, 2.97, 3.20, 1.00), IV missing. Palp (Fig. 11 A–D): femur slender, 2 times longer than patella; patella strongly swollen, as long as wide, 2 times wider than cymbium; tibia 2/3 the length of femur, basally swollen (length/width ratio = 3.0); cymbium pale, slightly yellowish distally, with distal protrusion pale, slightly curved upward; length/width ratio = 3.00; bulb brown, bifurcate; laminar apophysis branched; embolus located distally, adjacent to laminar apophysis, ribbon-like with a protruding tip and a pair of irregular pincer-like appendages adjacent to the embolus (Fig. 11C, D).

Female.

General features and coloration similar to those of the male (Fig. 10D, E). Measurements: total length 2.46; carapace 0.90 long, 1.09 wide; abdomen 1.56 long, 0.94 wide. Leg measurements: I 16.73 (4.00, 0.40, 4.81, 5.77, 1.75), II 11.68 (3.20, 0.32, 3.21, 3.75, 1.20), III missing, IV missing. Epigastric area with two small, round red spots medially, anterior to epigastric furrow; posterior margin of epigastric slit thick, slightly sclerotized (Fig. 10B, E). Internal genitalia: one pair of sclerotized ovoid spermathecae flanked laterally by 2 larger translucent ducts, spermathecae separated by one spermatheca diameter (Fig. 10A).

Distribution.

Known only from the type locality (Fig. 13).