Opopaea kulczynskii (Berland, 1914)

Tong, Yanfeng, Liu, Shijia, Kioko, Esther N., Kioko, Grace M. & Li, Shuqiang, 2019, Taxonomic studies on seven species of the genus Opopaea (Araneae, Oonopidae) from Kenya, African Invertebrates 60 (2), pp. 255-289 : 255

Opopaea kulczynskii (Berland, 1914) Figs 4 , 5 , 6 , 22 A–C , 23C, D , 25B, I

Gamasomorpha kulczynskii Berland, 1914: 80, figs 62-68 (♂) (syntypes 2 ♂, same locality as Opopaea berlandi , in Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, not examined).

Opopaea kulczynskii : Brignoli 1975: 229; Saaristo and Marusik 2008: 28, figs 40‒47, 191, 203, 206, 217, 233 (♂♀).

Material examined.

1 ♂ ( NMK Ar-25097), 1 ♀ ( NMK Ar-25098), Kenya, Makueni County, Kibwezi Town, Chyulu Hills National Park, Umani Springs, 02°27.968'S, 37°54.691'E, 979 m, 30.VII.2016, Kioko G.M., Yao Z. & Zhao Q.

Diagnosis.

Males are recognized by the yellow palp and the very short palpal patella ( Fig. 22 A–C ), females are recognized by the dark, ring-shaped spot on anterior edge of epigastric furrow and the long, fork-like arms of the paddle-like sclerite ( Fig. 23C, D ).

Description.

Male. Yellow-brownish. Habitus as in Fig. 4A, C, E . Body length 1.33. Carapace ( Fig. 4B ): oval in dorsal view; sides with longitudinal streaks; dorsal area smooth, with some setae at lateral edges. Eyes: ALE largest, PLE smallest; posterior eye row straight viewed from above, procurved from front; ALE separated by less than their radius, ALE-PLE separated by less than ALE radius, PME touching throughout most of their length, PLE-PME separated by less than PME radius. Clypeus height about 0.6 times ALE diameter ( Fig. 4G ). Sternum ( Fig. 4F ) longer than wide, uniform, fused to carapace; surface finely reticulate; radial furrows present between coxae, with rows of small pits. Anterior end of endites with a small, sharply pointed projection. Legs light yellow. Abdomen: booklung covers small, ovoid, without setae. Pedicel tube short, ribbed, with small, dorsolateral, triangular extensions, scuto-pedicel region lower than diameter of pedicel, with nearly straight scutal ridges and anterior scutal ridge ( Fig. 4H ). Palp ( Figs 5 , 22 A–C ): yellow; femur slightly shorter than the patella and inserted almost basally to patella; patella very short; cymbiobulbus longer than the patella, tip of the cymbiobulbus acute.

Female. As in male except as noted. Habitus as in Fig. 6A, C, E . Body length 1.60. Endites without projections. Copulatory organ ( Figs 6H , 23C, D ): in the middle of the epigastric furrow there is a dark, ring-shaped spot; there is a paddle-like sclerite (pls) dorsally, with long, fork-like arms; nail-like process (nlp) well separated.

Measurements.

Male. TL: 1.33; CL: 0.60; CW: 0.44; AL: 0.73; AW: 0.49; ALE: 0.06; PME: 0.05; PLE: 0.04; EGW: 0.16; ALE-ALE: 0.02; ALE-PLE: 0.01; PME-PME: 0; PLE-PME: 0; CBL: 0.19; CBW: 0.08; PTL: 0.14; FI: 0.05; FML: 0.12.

Female. TL: 1.60; CL: 0.63; CW: 0.51; AL: 0.97; AW: 0.62; ALE: 0.06; PME: 0.05; PLE: 0.04; EGW: 0.16; ALE-ALE: 0.02; ALE-PLE: 0.01; PME-PME: 0; PLE-PME: 0.

Distribution.

Kenya.

Figures

Figure 4. Opopaea kulczynskii, male. A, C, E habitus, dorsal, lateral and ventral views B, D, F, G prosoma, dorsal, lateral, ventral and anterior views H abdomen, anterior view. Abbreviations: boc = booklung covers; dte = dorsolateral, triangular extensions; sr = scutal ridge. Scale bars: 0.4 mm (A, C, E); 0.2 mm (B, D, F-H).

Figure 5. Opopaea kulczynskii, male left palp, SEM. A, B prolateral and retrolateral views C, D, G cymbiobulbus, prolateral, retrolateral and dorsal views E, F, H distal part of cymbiobulbus, prolateral, retrolateral and dorsal views.

Figure 6. Opopaea kulczynskii, female. A, C, E habitus, dorsal, lateral and ventral views B, D, F, G prosoma, dorsal, lateral, ventral and anterior views H abdomen, ventral view. Abbreviation: boc = booklung covers. Scale bars: 0.4 mm (A, C, E); 0.2 mm (B, D, F-H).

Figure 22. Male left palp. A-C Opopaea kulczynskii D-F Opopaea ngangao sp. nov. G-I Opopaea wundanyi sp. nov. A, D, G prolateral view B, E, H retrolateral view C, F, I dorsal view. Scale bars: 0.1 mm (A-C); 0.2 mm (D-I).

Figure 23. Female copulatory organ. A, B Opopaea berlandi C, D Opopaea kulczynskii E, F Opopaea sheldrick sp. nov. A, C, E ventral view B, D, F dorsal view. Abbreviations: apo = apodeme; asr = anterior scutal ridge; ga = globular appendix; lpr = linguiform projection; nlp = nail-like process; pd = postgynal depression; pls = paddle-like sclerite; rds = ring-shaped dark spot; sds = stick-shaped dark spot. Scale bars: 0.2 mm.

Figure 25. Habitus of males (A-G) and females (H-M). A, H Opopaea berlandi B, I Opopaea kulczynskii C, J Opopaea makadara sp. nov. D Opopaea ngulia sp. nov. E, K Opopaea ngangao sp. nov. F, L Opopaea sheldrick sp. nov. G, M Opopaea wundanyi sp. nov. Scale bars: 0.8 mm.