High level of endemism in Haiti’s last remaining forests: a revision of Modisimus (Araneae: Pholcidae) on Hispaniola, using morphology and molecules
Author
Huber, Bernhard A.
Author
Fischer, Nadine
Author
Astrin, Jonas J.
text
Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society
2010
2010-01-25
158
2
244
299
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-3642.2009.00559.x
journal article
10.1111/j.1096-3642.2009.00559.x
0024-4082
5438272
MODISIMUS ANGULATUS
HUBER & FISCHER
SP. NOV.
(
Figs 21, 22
,
40
,
129
,
195
)
Type:
Male
holotype
from near
La Toma
(
18°27.5
′
N
,
70°07.2
′
W
), San Cristóbal Prov.,
Dominican Republic
; degraded forest,
70 m
a.s.l.
, near ground,
7 November 2005
(
B.A. Huber
), in
ZFMK
(
DR 3
)
.
Etymology:
The species name refers to the dorsally angular abdomen.
Diagnosis:
Medium-sized species with pair of small projections on male chelicerae, provided with weakly modified hairs (
Fig. 129
; similar to
M. femoratus
and
M. jima
sp. nov.
), epigynum very similar to
M. femoratus
. Distinguished from
M. femoratus
and
M. jima
sp. nov.
by pattern on sternum (lateral borders of brown marks disrupted;
Fig. 22
), dorsally angular abdomen (
Fig. 21
), male cheliceral projections slightly wider apart (
Fig. 129
), and clypeus pattern in males indistinct or even missing.
Male (
holotype
):
Total length, 2.3; carapace width, 0.9. Leg 1, 20.0 (4.9 + 0.4 + 4.9 + 8.2 + 1.6); tibia 2, 3.0; tibia 3, 2.4; tibia 4, 2.8. Tibia 1 L/d: 55. Habitus as in
Figures 21 and 22
, carapace pale ochre-yellow, ocular area darker posteriorly, clypeus with very indistinct pair of brown marks, sternum laterally brown, with a distinctively disrupted lateral pattern (
Fig. 22
), and whitish medially; legs light brown, and femora and tibiae with light tips and dark subdistal rings; abdomen pale greenish grey, with black spots dorsally and laterally, genital area and area in front of spinnerets light brown. Ocular area elevated; thoracic furrow distinct. PME–PME, 70 Mm; PME diameter, 90 Mm; PME–ALE, 105 Mm; AME–AME, 10 Mm; AME diameter, 15 Mm. Sternum wider than long (0.6/0.4), unmodified. Chelicerae as in
Figure 129
, very similar to
M. femoratus
and
M. jima
sp. nov.
, but frontal apophyses slightly more widely spaced. Palps very similar to
M. femoratus
(cf.
Fig. 124
). Legs with short spines on femur 1 (two rows, of ~45 and 15 spines each) and femur 2 (two rows, of ~35 spines each), with many short vertical hairs on all femora; curved hairs on tibiae and metatarsi 2 and 3; retrolateral trichobothrium on tibia 1 at 11%; prolateral trichobothrium missing on tibia 1, present on other tibiae; tarsus 1 with ~25 pseudosegments.
Variation:
Tibia
1 in
three other males: 4.7–4.9.
Female:
In general similar to male; tibia
1 in
ten females
3.0–3.4, mean 3.2. Epigynum, similar
M. femoratus
(
Fig. 40
); dorsal view not visibly different from
M. femoratus
(cf.
Figs 63
,
126
).
Distribution and habitat:
Known from two localities in the south-central
Dominican Republic
(
Fig. 195
). In the
Santo Domingo
botanical garden, this species was found in low vegetation and under the roof of a shelter.
Material examined:
Dominican Republic
:
San Cristóbal Prov.
, near
La Toma
,
1♂
,
holotype
above, together with
1♀
(
ZFMK
,
DR 3
)
.
Distrito Nacional
,
Santo Domingo
,
Jardín Botánico
(
18°29.7
′
N
,
69°57.2
′
W
), forest along brook,
50 m
a.s.l.
, low vegetation, near ground,
27 November 2005
(
B.A. Huber
),
3♂
,
7♀
and
one juvenile
(
ZFMK
,
DR 110
)
;
Santo Domingo
,
Jardín Botánico
, under roof of shelter,
18–22 March 1984
(
H. & L. Levi
),
1♂
and
2♀
(
MCZ 26.666
)
. ‘
Boca Caica’
(=
Distrito Nacional
:
Boca Chica
?)
5–7 March 1955
(
A. M. Nadler
),
4♀
(
AMNH
)
.