Buitinga wataita, Bernhard A. Huber & Charles M. Warui, 2012

Bernhard A. Huber & Charles M. Warui, 2012, East African pholcid spiders: an overview, with descriptions of eight new species (Araneae, Pholcidae), European Journal of Taxonomy 29 (29), pp. 1-44 : 22-24

Buitinga wataita sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:E19D0275-54F4-4F89-BF12-D2AF12B7276A

Figs 32-35 , 75-80

Buitinga Kenya 5: Dimitrov, Astrin & Huber 2012 (DNA sequence data).

Diagnosis

Distinguished from known congeners by combination of male cheliceral armature ( Fig. 77 ), male palp (shapes of procursus and bulbal process; Figs 75, 76 ), color pattern on prosoma and abdomen ( Figs 32- 35 ), and epigynum with straight scape in anterior position and distinctive posterior structure ( Fig. 78 ).

Etymology

The species is named after the Taita people (also Wataita or Wadawida), a Kenyan ethnic group located in the Taita-Taveta District; noun in apposition.

Type material

Holotype

♂, in ZFMK ( Ar 8737 ) .

Paratypes

10 ♂♂, 7 ♀♀, in ZFMK (9 ♂♂, 6 ♀♀: Ar 8738-39 ) and NMKE (1 ♂, 1 ♀) .

Type locality

KENYA, Coast Province, Taita Hills, Ngangao Forest (3°22.2’ S, 38°20.4’ E), 1810 m a.s.l., 19 Jan. 2010 (B.A. Huber).

Other material examined

KENYA: Coast Province: 4 ♂♂, 3 ♀♀ in pure ethanol, in ZFMK ( Ken 89 ), Taita Hills, Ngangao Forest , same data as types above ; 1 ♀, 1 juv., in MRAC ( 209580 ), Ngangao Forest, 1720 m a.s.l., sweeping along forest edge, 25 Mar. 2000 (R. Jocqué, C. Warui) ; 11 ♂♂, 9 ♀♀, in ZFMK ( Ar 8740 ) and 2 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀, in NMKE, Taita Hills, Macha Forest (3°25.3’S, 38°21.5’E), 1610 m a.s.l., 20 Jan. 2010 (B.A. Huber) ; 3 ♂♂, 4 ♀♀ in pure ethanol, in ZFMK ( Ken 94 ), same data ; 1 ♂, 3 ♀♀, in ZFMK ( Ar 8741 ), Taita Hills, Ndiwenyi Forest (3°26.4’S, 38°20.6’E), 1610 m a.s.l., 20 Jan. 2010 (B.A. Huber) ; 12 ♂♂, 6 ♀♀, in ZFMK ( Ar 8742 ), Chavia Forest (3°28.8’S, 38°20.4’E), 1590 m a.s.l., 20 Jan. 2010 (B.A. Huber ) ; 2 ♀♀ in pure ethanol, in ZFMK ( Ken 95 ), same data ; 1 ♂, 1 ♀, 1 juv., in CAS, S slopes Taita Hills , 1030 m a.s.l., 30 Oct. 1957 (E.S. Ross, R.E. Leech) .

Description

Male (holotype)

MEASUREMENTS. Total body length 3.4, carapace width 1.3. Leg 1: 27.0 (6.8 + 0.5 + 6.5 + 10.4 + 2.8), tibia 2: 4.1, tibia 3: 3.0, tibia 4: 4.0; tibia 1 L/d: 41. Distance PME-PME 185 µm, diameter PME 90 µm, distance PME-ALE 55 µm, no AME.

COLOR. Prosoma pale whitish with black pattern on carapace including ocular area and clypeus, sternum with wide black lateral V-shaped margins, legs ochre-yellow, darker rings on femora (subdistally) and tibiae (proximally and subdistally), tips of femora and tibiae lighter, abdomen pale grey with distinctive black pattern.

BODY. Habitus as in Figs 32-34 ; ocular area slightly elevated; no thoracic furrow, with small median cone on carapace posteriorly; clypeus unmodified. Chelicerae as in Fig. 77 , with proximal lateral apophyses, pair of small apophyses proximally near median line, and frontal apophyses in relatively proximal position provided with four modified hairs each ( Fig. 80 ). Sternum as wide as long (0.65), unmodified.

PALPS. As in Figs 75 and 76 , coxa and trochanter each with retrolatero-ventral apophysis, femur barely modified, trichobothria on tibia very distal, procursus strongly bent back towards femur, distally complex, bulb with simple weakly sclerotized embolus and distinctive pincer-shaped apophysis accompanied by small sclerotized cone.

LEGS. Without spines and curved hairs, few vertical hairs; retrolateral trichobothrium on tibia 1 at 7%; prolateral trichobothrium absent on tibia 1, present on other tibiae; tarsus 1 with ~20 pseudosegments.

VARIATION. The color patterns are very constant but two elements may be less distinct or even missing: the anterior dorsal abdominal mark and the anterior lateral pair of marks on the carapace. Tibia 1 in 35 other males: 5.8-6.9 (mean 6.4).

Female

In general similar to male but ventral abdominal pattern slightly different (anterior paired element shorter, median element longer; Fig. 35 ), triads closer together (distance PME-PME 140 µm), and carapace without median cone. Tibia 1 in 25 females: 4.5-5.7 (mean 5.2). Epigynum a simple plate with straight scape in anterior position, with distinctive structure posteriorly ( Fig. 78 ); internal genitalia as in Fig. 79 , with small pore plates scattered over wide area.

Distribution

Known from Taita Hills only ( Fig. 18 ).

Figures

Figs 28 - 49. — 28 - 31. Crossopriza johncloudsleyi Deeleman-Reinhold & van Harten, 2001, ♂ (28, 29) and ♀ (30, 31). — 32 - 35. Buitinga wataita sp. nov., ♂ (32 - 34) and ♀ (35). — 36 - 39. Buitinga batwa sp. nov., ♂ (36 - 38) and ♀ (39). — 40 - 44. Spermophora mau sp. nov., ♂ (40, 41, 44) and ♀ (42, 43). — 46. Spermophora maathaiae sp. nov., ♂. — 45, 47 - 49. Spermophora bukusu sp. nov., ♂.

Figs 75 - 80. Buitinga wataita sp. nov. 75 - 76. Left ♂ palp, prolateral and retrolateral views. 77. ♂ chelicerae, frontal view. 78 - 79. ♀ genitalia, ventral and cleared dorsal views. 80. ♂ cheliceral apophysis with modified hairs. b: genital bulb; ba: bulbal apophysis; e: embolus; pr: procursus. Scale lines: 0.05 mm (80), 0.2 mm (77), 0.3 mm (78, 79), 0.5 mm (75, 76).

Figs 16 - 19. Known distributions of the genera Anansus, Ninetis, Artema, Buitinga, and Crossopriza in East Africa (R: Rwanda; B: Burundi). For detailed maps of Buitinga, see Huber (2003 a). Squares: unidentified / undescribed specimens.