Trogloraptor Griswold, Audisio & Ledford

Griswold, Charles E., Audisio, Tracy & Ledford, Joel M., 2012, An extraordinary new family of spiders from caves in the Pacific Northwest (Araneae, Trogloraptoridae, new family), ZooKeys 215, pp. 77-102 : 80-82

Trogloraptor Griswold, Audisio & Ledford gen. n.

Type species.

Trogloraptor marchingtoni new species, here designated.

Etymology.

The generic name refers to the cave habitat and raptorial tarsi.

Diagnosis.

By the characters of the family.

Synapomorphies.

As for the family.

Description.

Cephalothoraxwith carapace pear-shaped, narrowed anteriorly, pars cephalica faintly distinguished from pars thoracica, fovea indistinct (Figs 11, 16); six eyes, AME absent, ALE and PLE contiguous, PME separated from lateral eyes by their diameter, separated from each other by more than twice their diameter, shiny tapeta fill entire eyecup, of “primitive” type ( Homann 1971) (Figs 9, 11); clypeus high, more than six times PME diameter, sloping anteriorly, ventral margin straight (Fig. 9); chelicerae free at base, without a boss (Figs 9, 22), with weak mesal lamellar ridge for basal 2/3 (Fig. 23), fang furrow with one large distal prolateral tooth and two promarginal and two retromarginal small proximal teeth; promargin with more than 30 elongate setae and setae on both margins at fang base (Figs 20, 21, 24), cheliceral gland opens as sparse pores near position of fang tip (Figs 20); fang without serrations along inner margin, apex longer than base, poison gland pore subapical, retrolateral (Figs 23, 24); no apparent chilum beneath clypeus but with small anterior sclerite between cheliceral bases, intercheliceral sclerite a narrow rectangle (Fig. 9); labrum elongate, with numerous plumose setae from base to middle, labral tongue free, longitudinally wrinkled apically, with minute, bristle-like setae distad of tongue apex (Fig. 27); pedipalpal coxa narrow, pointed apically, with membranous cuticle at apex and retroapical serrula (Fig. 10), serrula teeth in two rows (Figs 25, 26), with dorsal maxillary gland opening mesally near labrum (Figs 27, 28); labium narrow, sides converging, with weak basal notches, fused to sternum (Fig. 10); sternum heart-shaped, laterally undulate, anterior margin rounded on each side of labium, laterally with narrow lobes opposite coxae and rounded lobes between coxae, without free sclerites, posteriorly narrowly rounded between coxae IV (Fig. 18); coxae cylindrical, without retrocoxal hymen, trochanters shorter than coxae, apices straight, without notch (Fig. 18); narrow, slightly curved supracoxal sclerites above each leg coxa; leg formula 1243, legs elongate, femur I 1.69-2.30 times carapace length (Figs 1-8, 15, 17), sparsely covered with plumose setae, cuticle smooth or with fine fingerprint pattern (Figs 45-50), autospasy at coxa/trochanter joint, pairs of small sclerites visible in intersegmental membranes between coxae-trochanters and femora-patellae, metatarsi III and IV of female with ventrolateral patch of curved, spinose setae (Figs 29, 33), densest proventrally, Emerit’s glands absent from patellae (Fig. 37) and tibiae, legs with few spines except beneath tarsi I-III, pedipalp with dorsoapical spine on patella and median prolateral on tibia, female pedipalpal tarsus with three prolateral and one retrolateral spines; tarsal trichobothria absent, with only a single, subapical trichobothrium on metatarsi, 1-3 dorsal trichobothria on leg tibiae, more on pedipalpal tibia, bothrium with proximal hood (Fig. 50) or a smooth, entire ring, narrower apically (Fig. 49), trichome plumose, slightly narrowed basally (Fig. 49); tarsal organ near apex of pedipalp, at mid point of leg tarsi proximad of second membranous subsegmentation (Fig. 45), exposed, round, nearly flat, with central depressed circle or 1-2 raised sensillae (Figs 46-48); leg tarsi raptorial (Figs 5, 6, 13, 14, 29-32, 34), with flexible subsegmentations (Figs 13, 14, 30) near base and subapically in female tarsi I-IV, male I-III, subapical only in male tarsus IV, tarsi I-III with paired stout spines ventrally, one pair proximad of and three pair distad of basal subsegmentation (Figs 13, 40, 43, 44), tarsus IV lacks such spines (Figs 14, 30); leg tarsi with three claws, STC I-III slightly asymmetrical, proclaw longer (Figs 13, 43), STC teeth uniseriate, proclaws I-III with 8-9 teeth and fine basal comb, retroclaw with 15-25 fine teeth, STC IV sexually dimorphic, female claws equal (Fig. 44), male asymmetrical, retroclaw with 22 teeth, proclaw short, palmate, with one large and fan of 9 smaller teeth (Figs 14, 39), ITC long, curved, with distal and proximal teeth, tarsus without serrate accessory setae, claw tufts or scopulae (Figs 35, 36, 40-43); female pedipalp with long, smooth claw (Figs 35, 36). Abdomen oval, unsclerotized except at book lung openings, sparsely covered with setae (Figs 12, 15-18); pedicel with ventral sclerite contiguous to sternum, dorsum with lorum divided anteriorly (Fig. 16); male lacks epiandrous spigots (Fig. 82); anterior respiratory system booklungs, posterior respiratory system with broad spiracle closer to spinnerets than to epigastric furrow (Figs 12, 83), with paired, 2-branched lateral tracheal tubes and long, separate median entapophyses (Figs 60, 63), entapophyses tips frayed as muscle attachments (Fig. 64); colulus a large, oval sclerotized lobe, covered with hairs (Figs 75, 81); ALS with three segments (Fig. 69), basal segment divided obliquely by membranous cuticle (Fig. 68), with about 30 PI gland spigots, each with convex base and a narrow tapering shaft, shaft origin slightly sunken into base and encircled by a cuticular ridge (Fig. 71), female mesally with anterior large and posterior small MAP gland spigots (Figs 69, 72, 84); male resembles female except posterior MAP gland spigot replaced by a small nubbin (Fig. 70); PMS of female with two spigots with squat bases and narrow shafts (Figs 77, 78), male retains only the posterior (Fig. 80), suggesting that this is an AC gland spigot and the anterior is a mAP gland spigot, cuticle on mesal surface of PMS wrinkled (Fig. 77); PLS of female (Figs 73, 74) and male (Fig. 86) with two spigots with squat bases and narrow shafts, these probably AC gland spigots; female genitalia haplogyne, anterior edge of epigastric furrow sclerotized, vulva internally (Figs 59, 61) with median atrium and paired, lateral receptacula with sclerotized stalks and membranous apical bulbs (Fig. 62), apical bulbs may serve as muscle attachments; male pedipalp femur to tarsus lacking apophyses, cymbium narrow, without trichobothria or chemosensory scopulae, extending far beyond base of bulb (Figs 9, 15, 17, 51, 52, 57); male pedipalpal bulb piriform, swollen, lacking processes, embolus long, slender, recurved apically (Figs 51-58), spermpore subapical (Fig. 56), reservoir broad, making 1 ½ spiral within bulb (Figs 57, 58), basal haematodocha does not expand but bulb orientation twists slightly.

Composition.

One species described, probably another known only from juveniles.

Distribution.

Known only from caves and old growth forest understory in the Klamath-Siskiyou region of Oregon and California.