Crossopriza sengleti, Huber, 2022

Huber, Bernhard A., 2022, Revisions of Holocnemus and Crossopriza: the spotted-leg clade of Smeringopinae (Araneae, Pholcidae), European Journal of Taxonomy 795 (1), pp. 1-241 : 189-193

Crossopriza sengleti sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:DE567373-B1F1-499F-8F93-33B3695DDCF5

Figs 353A , 765–782

Diagnosis

Easily distinguished from known congeners by modified male clypeus ( Fig. 768 ; single median process); also by details of male palp ( Figs 769–773 ; distinctive shapes of procursus tip and of ventral sclerite; distal bulbal sclerite with strong prolateral fold and small ventral pointed process), by male chelicerae ( Fig. 774 ; distinctive position of small lateral pair of apophyses), and by epigynum ( Fig. 779 ; wide median ridge).

Etymology

The species name honors Swiss arachnologist Antoine Senglet (1927–2015), who collected a large part of the specimens treated in this paper.

Type material

Holotype IRAN • ♂; Fars, Seridjan (Serizjan); 28.967° N, 52.567° E (see Remark below); 30 Aug. 1975; A. Senglet leg.; MHNG.

Other material examined

IRAN • 1 ♀, 2 juvs; same collection data as for holotype; MHNG • 1 ♂, 1 ♀, 4 juvs; same locality as for holotype; 28.95° N, 52.55° E (see Remark below); 7 Jun. 1974; A. Senglet leg.; MHNG .

Remark

The coordinates on Senglet’s label in the type vial denote a site in the hills ~ 2 km NE of the village of Seridjan. The coordinates in the second vial are of the village itself, which was flooded when the Tangab Dam was built (~2003–2007) (F. Mozzaffarian, pers. com., Jun. 2021). This collecting site may thus no longer be accessible.

Description

Male (holotype)

MEASUREMENTS. Total length 4.0, carapace width 1.6. Distance PME–PME 90 µm; diameter PME 90 × 110 µm; distance PME–ALE 25 µm; diameter AME 85 µm; distance AME–AME 35 µm. Leg 1: 39.0 (11.3 + 0.7 + 10.5 + 14.1 + 2.4), tibia 2: 7.2, tibia 3: 5.3, tibia 4: 6.1; tibia 1 L/d: 66; femora 1–4 diameters: 0.23, 0.20, 0.19, 0.20.

COLOR (in ethanol). Carapace monochromous ochre-yellow; sternum laterally ochre-yellow, medially light brown; legs ochre-yellow, without darker rings, with distinct black lines on femora and (few) on tibiae; abdomen pale gray, with many internal whitish marks and few indistinct small dark marks posteriorly; ventrally without dark median band.

BODY. Habitus similar to C. sahtan sp. nov. (cf. Fig. 391 ). Ocular area slightly raised. Deep thoracic pit and pair of furrows diverging from pit toward posterior margin. Clypeus with light median process (arrow in Fig. 768 ), ~0.18 long; rim of clypeus slightly more sclerotized than in female. Sternum wider than long (0.10/0.75), unmodified. Abdomen oval, dorso-posteriorly slightly angular.

CHELICERAE. As in Figs 774–775 , with two pairs of apophyses, lateral pair simple, pointing towards distal, median pair with one large modified cone-shaped hair each; distance between tips of modified hairs 105 µm; lateral stridulatory ridges fine but visible in dissecting microscope.

PALPS.As in Figs 765–767 ; coxa with rounded retrolateral hump; trochanter barely modified;femur distally only weakly widened, proximally with prolateral stridulatory pick, without retrolateral transversal line, without retrolateral proximal process; femur-patella joints shifted toward prolateral side; tibia-tarsus joints shifted toward retrolateral side; tarsus without macrotrichia; procursus ( Figs 769–770 ) straight and slightly tapering towards distally, proximally on prolateral side with low hump set with numerous long hairs, dorsal hairs not curved, procursus tip with distinctly bifid and weakly sclerotized ventral sclerite, distinctive prolateral apophysis (asterisk in Fig. 769 ), and further membranous processes; genital bulb ( Figs 771–773 ) with simple basal sclerite connected to distal (main) sclerite, sperm duct opening not seen; distal sclerite with strong retrolateral ridge, with strong prolateral fold, and small and weakly sclerotized ventral pointed process.

LEGS. Femur 1 with single row of ~25 ventral spines; without curved hairs; few vertical hairs; retrolateral trichobothrium of tibia 1 at 3%; prolateral trichobothrium absent on tibia 1, present on other leg tibiae; tarsal pseudosegments not seen.

Male (variation)

Tibia 1 in second male: 9.0.

Female

In general similar to male but without spines on legs, apparently without stridulatory files on chelicerae, and with stridulatory organ consisting of pair of weakly sclerotized small processes posteriorly on carapace and pair of indistinct plates anteriorly on abdomen. Tibia 1 in two females: 8.5, 9.1. Epigynum as in Figs 778–779 ; main epigynal plate roughly triangular, weakly protruding; with pair of large pockets close to median line on both sides of wide median ridge (distance between pockets 30 µm); internal sclerotized arc medially visible in uncleared specimens; posterior plate indistinct, weakly sclerotized, short but wide. Internal genitalia ( Figs 776–777 , 780–782 ) with drop-shaped pore plates narrowing and converging anteriorly, dorsal arc simple, ventral arc medially strongly widened and sclerotized, apparently without median pouch or pocket.

Distribution

Known from type locality only, in Iran, Fars Province ( Fig. 353A ).

Figures

Fig. 353. Known distribution of Crossopriza Simon, 1893; autochthonous species part 2 (cf. Fig. 352): species with main cheliceral apophyses in frontal position and epigynal pockets close together. The figure is split into two to avoid too much overlap; the split is not meant to reflect any natural grouping of species. The single record of C. maculipes from China is not shown (see text).

Figs 765–767. Crossopriza sengleti sp. nov.; non-type male from Iran, Fars, Seridjan (MHNG); left palp, prolateral, dorsal, and retrolateral views. Scale bar = 0.5 mm.

Figs 768–777. Crossopriza sengleti sp. nov.; non-type male and female from Iran, Fars, Seridjan (MHNG). 768. Male ocular area, clypeus, and chelicerae; arrow: clypeus process. 769–770. Left procursus, prolateral and retrolateral views; arrow: branch of ventral sclerite; asterisk: distinctive prolateral apophysis. 771–773. Left genital bulb, prolateral, dorsal, and retrolateral views; arrow: retrolateral ridge. 774–775. Male chelicerae, frontal and lateral views. 776–777. Cleared female genitalia, ventral and dorsal views. Scale bars: 768 = 0.5 mm; 769–777 = 0.3 mm.

Figs 778–782. Crossopriza sengleti sp. nov.; female from Iran, Fars, Seridjan (MHNG). 778– 779. Abdomen and epigynum, ventral views; arrows: pockets. 780–782. Cleared female genitalia, dorsal view with dorsal arc tilted backwards, ventral view, and regular dorsal view. Abbreviations: da = dorsal arc; va = ventral arc. Scale bars = 0.5 mm.

Figs 391–398. Crossopriza Simon, 1893, live specimens. 391–392. C. sahtan sp. nov., male and female from Oman, Wadi Ghul. 393–395. C. tiwi sp. nov., males and female with egg-sac from Oman, Wadi Tiwi. 396–398. C. dhofar sp. nov., male and female from Oman, Ain Razad, and female from Oman, Wadi Nahiz.