Massagris mohale, Wesołowska & Haddad, 2014

Wesołowska, Wanda & Haddad, Charles R., 2014, An overview of the jumping spiders of Lesotho (Araneae: Salticidae), with descriptions of six new species, African Invertebrates 55 (2), pp. 229-229 : 250-253

Massagris mohale sp. n.

Figs 69, 70 , 74–81

Etymology: The specific name is a noun in apposition of the type locality, the Mohale Dam in central Lesotho.

Diagnosis: The male is distinctive in having a large, broad tape-like coiled embolus at the distal end of the bulb ( Figs 76–79 ). The female is similar to M. contortuplicata Wesołowska & Haddad, 2013 , but differs in the structure of the epigyne, with the copulatory openings placed anteriorly, while situated posteriorly in M. contortuplicata (compare Fig. 81 with fig. 106 in Wesołowska & Haddad 2013).

Description:

Measurements (♂ / ♀): Cephalothorax: length 2.1–2.4/2.1–2.2, width 1.4–1.5/1.4–1.6, height 1.0/1.0. Eye field: length 1.0–1.3/1.0–1.1, anterior width 1.2–1.3/1.1–1.3, posterior width 1.1–1.2/1.0–1.2. Abdomen: length 1.8–1.9/2.4–4.0, width 1.2–1.3/1.6–2.2.

Male.

General appearance as in Fig. 69 . Carapace moderately high, sloping gently posteriorly; eye field large with eyes set on tubercles; fovea long, sulciform. Carapace brown, eye field lighter due to presence of translucent guanine crystals; eyes surrounded by black rings, except for anterior medians; anterior eyes encircled by small blackish scales, white hairs on slopes, long brown bristles near eyes. Clypeus low, brown, with a few white hairs. Labium and sternum brown; endites brownish with light tips. Chelicerae with three small teeth on promargin and large plate-shaped tooth on retromargin ( Fig. 74 ). Abdomen smaller than carapace, oval, brown, with wide serrate median yellowish stripe ( Fig. 69 ), clothed in colourless hairs, denser and longer at anterior edge. Venter blackish. Spinnerets brownish. Legs light brown with darker femora, leg hairs colourless; first pair longest; tibiae without spines, metatarsi with one pair of very short ventral spines ( Fig. 75 ). Pedipalps rather large, brown; palpal tibia small, with long thin apophysis; bulb short and broad; embolus broad and tape-like, forming three coils on the bulb tip ( Figs 76–79 ); cymbium narrow at base.

Female.

General appearance as in Fig. 70 ; similar to male, but lighter in colour. Carapace brown, with median yellowish streak and yellowish sides; anterior eyes surrounded by white scales. Sternum and mouthparts yellow. Chelicerae with three teeth on promargin and five diminutive teeth on retromargin. Abdomen greyish-brown, with yellow pattern composed of serrated median stripe and numerous patches and markings. Venter dark, with three poorly defined light lines. Legs yellow. Epigyne weakly sclerotized, with large shallow depressions laterally ( Fig. 80 ); copulatory openings curved and positioned anteriorly; internal structure as in Fig. 81 , seminal ducts very long and narrow, forming several loops; spermathecae narrow and tubiform.

Holotype: ♂ Maseru district: Mohale Dam, Islands , 29°25'S 28°06'E, 2060 m, 13.xii.2003 ( NCA 2013 / 3080).

Paratypes: 1♀ Same locality as holotype, under rocks, 3.iii.2003 ( NCA 2013 /3081) ; 3♀ Same locality, 14.xii.2003 ( NCA 2013 /3082) ; 3♀ Same locality, 16.xii.2003 ( NCA 2013 /3083). Thaba-Tseka district : 1♂ Mohale Dam, Ha Korporale , 29°25'S 28°07'E, 2270 m, under rocks, 16.xii.2003 ( NCA 2013 /3084) .

Other material: Qacha’s Nek district: 1 subadult ♂ Near Maghoareng village , 30°01'S 28°53'E, 2250 m, under rocks on mountainside, 6.xi.2003 ( NCA 2013 /3085) .

Distribution: Known only from central and south-eastern Lesotho ( Fig. 93 ).

Figures

Figs 69–73. Digital microscope photographs of the dorsolateral (69) and dorsal (70–73) habitus of jumping spiders from Lesotho: (69, 70) Massagris mohale sp. n., ♂ (69) and ♀ (70); (71) Pellenes geniculatus, ♀; (72) Thyenula armata, ♀; (73) Thyenula sp., ♀.

Figs 74–81. Massagris mohale sp. n., paratypes, ♂ (74–79) and ♀ (80, 81): (74) chelicera, retromarginal view; (75) leg I, prolateral view; (76) palpal organ, ventral view; (77) same, retrolateral view; (78) same, dorsal view; (79) embolus, apical view; (80) epigyne, ventral view; (81) internal structure of epigyne.

Fig. 93. Distribution of Salticidae from Lesotho.