Cirrosus, Zhao, Qingyuan & Li, Shuqiang, 2014

Zhao, Qingyuan & Li, Shuqiang, 2014, A survey of linyphiid spiders from Xishuangbanna, Yunnan Province, China (Araneae, Linyphiidae), ZooKeys 460, pp. 1-181 : 10

Taxon classification Animalia Araneae Linyphiidae

Genus Cirrosus gen. n.

Type species.

Cirrosus atrocaudatus sp. n.

Etymology.

The generic name is an arbitrary combination of letters. Gender is masculine.

Diagnosis.

This new genus is distinguished from all other linyphiids by its unique structure of embolic division, notably, by its hooked distal suprategular apophysis running along the tegulum (Fig. 20B), and long, filiform embolus, starting from the prolateral side of the embolic division, forming several coils (Fig. 20A, C–D), which is rarely seen in other genera.

Description.

Small sized Erigoninae. Carapace light yellow, unmodified in both sexes. Chelicerae with 4 promarginal and 3 retromarginal teeth. Chaetotaxy: tibial spine formula: 1-1-1-1. TmI ca 0.70, TmIV ca 0.70. Abdomen pale.

Male palp: tibia short, conical, with one retrolateral trichobothrium; tibial dorsal apophysis small and with a small patch of dark papillae (Figs 20B, 21A). Paracymbium ‘J’ -shaped, hooked at tip (Figs 20B, 23B), broad in ventral view (Fig. 21B). Distal suprategular apophysis wavy, with a sharp, erect tip in retrolateral view (Fig. 20D); anterior radical process flat, somewhat knob-shaped in lateral view (Fig. 20 A–D); embolus long, filiform, and curled up (Fig. 20 C–D).

Epigyne: wide, with copulatory openings at the junction of two figs; copulatory ducts short, simple (Figs 22C, 23D); spermathecae somewhat rounded, separated by 1.5 diameter (Fig. 21 B–C).

Species composition.

Type species only: Cirrosus atrocaudatus sp. n.

Distribution.

China.

Remarks.

The presence of long, coiled embolus and prominent anterior radical process indicate that it might be distantly related to Southeast Asian genus Laogone Tanasevitch, 2014, but close relatives are difficult to hypothesize.