Pholcus gou Yao & Li

Dong, Tingting, Zheng, Guo, Yao, Zhiyuan & Li, Shuqiang, 2016, Fifteen new species of the spider genus Pholcus (Araneae: Pholcidae) from Southeast Asia, Zootaxa 4136 (2), pp. 201-246 : 222

Pholcus gou Yao & Li sp. nov.

Figs 15–16

Type material. Holotype: male, above Kampetlet, below Mountain Oasis Resort (21°11.727′N, 94°02.018′E, elevation 1585 m), South Chin State, Myanmar, 17 May 2014, P. Jäger leg. Paratype: 1 female, same data as holotype.

Etymology. The specific name is from the Chinese pinyin for hook ( gōu ), in reference to the shape of procursus distally; noun.

Diagnosis. This species resembles P. py u Huber, 2011 (see Huber 2011: 142, figs 505–507, 523–524, 574–579) in having similar male chelicerae ( Fig. 16 D), uncus ( Fig. 16 C) and female external genitalia ( Fig. 16 A) but can be distinguished by the presence of a sclerotized apophysis distally and a membranous dorsal process subdistally on the procursus (arrows in Fig. 15 C) and by the large pore plates on the vulva ( Fig. 16 B).

Description. Male (holotype): Total length 4.76 (5.00 with clypeus), carapace 1.08 long, 1.06 wide, opisthosoma 3.68 long, 0.96 wide. Leg I: 38.44 (9.36 + 0.48 + 9.74 + 717.50 + 1.36), leg II: 25.5 (6.84 + 0.46 + 6.47 +10.77 + 0.96), leg III: 14.63 (4.36 + 0.42 + 3.64 + 5.51 + 0.70), leg IV: 21.87 (6.72 + 0.41 + 5.32 + 8.46 + 0.96); tibia I L/d: 97. Distance PME-PME 0.32; diameter PME 0.08; distance PME-ALE 0.04; distance AME- AME 0.03; diameter AME 0.05. Sternum wider than long (0.71/0.65). Habitus as in Figs 16 E–F. Carapace yellowish, with nearly triangular brown marks posteriorly; ocular area brownish, with a median brown band; sternum yellowish. Legs yellowish, patellae, distal parts of femora and tibiae, and proximal parts of metatarsi dark brown, darker rings absent. Opisthosoma pale grey, with dark brown spots dorsally. Ocular area elevated; each eye triad on top of a short, laterally directed eye-stalk (as in P. zhuchuandiani sp. nov., cf. Fig. 31 E). Thoracic furrow absent. Chelicerae as in Fig. 16 D, with a pair of proximo-lateral apophyses; a pair of dark brown distal apophyses with two teeth each. Pedipalps as in Figs 15 A–B; trochanter with a long ventral apophysis; femur with a dorsal apophysis proximally; procursus with a sclerotized apophysis distally and a membranous dorsal process subdistally; bulb without uncus; appendix complex with four apophyses (arrows in Fig. 16 C, one of them only visible in retrolateral view); embolus short, weakly sclerotized. Retrolateral trichobothrium of tibia I at 2.8%; legs with short vertical setae on tibiae, metatarsi and tarsi; without spines and curved setae; tarsus I with approximately 13 distinct pseudosegments.

Female: Similar to male, habitus as in Figs 16 G–H. Total length 4.97 (5.17 with clypeus), carapace 0.97 long, 0.94 wide, opisthosoma 4.00 long, 1.03 wide; tibia I: 6.09; tibia I L/d: 61. Distance PME-PME 0.23; diameter PME 0.07; distance PME-ALE 0.03; distance AME-AME 0.03; diameter AME 0.03. Sternum wider than long (0.67/ 0.56). Carapace with brown V-pattern posteriorly and brown marks marginally. Ocular area yellowish, without eyestalks. External genitalia ( Fig. 16 A) with a small indistinct knob. Vulva ( Fig. 16 B) with a sclerotized anterior arch and two nearly elliptic pore plates.

Distribution. Myanmar (South Chin State, type locality; Fig. 32 ).

Natural history. The species was found in secondary forest along stream.

Figures

FIGURE 15. Pholcus gou sp. nov., holotype male. A – B. Pedipalp (A. Prolateral view; B. Retrolateral view); C – D. Distal part of procursus (C. Prolateral view, arrows point at sclerotized distal apophysis and membranous subdistal-dorsal process on procursus respectively; D. Retrolateral view). a = appendix, b = bulb, e = embolus, pr = procursus. Scale bars: 0.10 (A – B), 0.0 2 (C – D).

FIGURE 16. Pholcus gou sp. nov., holotype male (C – F) and paratype female (A – B, G – H). A. External genitalia, ventral view; B. Vulva, dorsal view; C. Bulbal apophyses, prolateral view, arrows point at apophyses on appendix; D. Chelicerae, frontal view; E – H. Habitus (E, G. Dorsal view; F, H. Ventral view). a = appendix, da = distal apophysis, e = embolus, pa = proximolateral apophysis, pp = pore plate. Scale bars: 0.08 (A – B, D), 0.05 (C), 0.50 (E – H).

FIGURE 31. Male and female ocular area, frontal view. A – B. Pholcus tharnlodensis sp. nov., holotype male (A) and paratype female (B). C – D. P. hinsonensis sp. nov., holotype male (C) and paratype female (D). E – F. P. zhuchuandiani sp. nov., holotype male (E) and paratype female (F). Scale bars: 0.10 (A – F).

FIGURE 32. Distribution records of new Pholcus species from Southeast Asia. ® Pholcus anaiensis sp. nov.; P. ballarini sp. nov.; P. cenranaensis sp. nov.; P. chiangmaiensis sp. nov.; P. gou sp. nov.; © P. hinsonensis sp. nov.; P. kaebyaiensis sp. nov.; P. kottawagamaensis sp. nov.; P. krachensis sp. nov.; P. musensis sp. nov.; © P. songkhonensis sp. nov.; ® P. taptaoensis sp. nov.; © P. tharnlodensis sp. nov.; ® P. w a n sp. nov.; ® P. zhuchuandiani sp. nov.