Priscula espejoi Huber, 2023

Huber, Bernhard A., Meng, Guanliang, Dupérré, Nadine, Astrin, Jonas & Herrera, Mauricio, 2023, Andean giants: Priscula spiders from Ecuador, with notes on species groups and egg-sac troglomorphism (Araneae: Pholcidae), European Journal of Taxonomy 909, pp. 1-63 : 25-30

Priscula espejoi Huber sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:BF9F8559-152A-4541-8096-56EFDBBEB85C

Figs 5G–H , 16–20

Diagnosis

Distinguished from known congeners by details of procursus ( Fig. 17A–C ; distal ventral sclerite long and slender in lateral view, with distinctive bifid tip in dorsal view; distinctive dorsal membrane smaller than in similar P. azuay sp. nov.; without retrolateral process), genital bulb ( Fig. 17D–F ; main bulbal process with obtuse tip, similar to P. llaviucu , smaller than in P. azuay ), male chelicerae ( Fig. 18A–B ; frontal apophyses in very distal position, longer than in most known congeners), epigynum ( Fig. 19A–B ; in lateral view with anterior bulge), and female internal genitalia ( Fig. 18C ; pore plates roughly triangular, narrower anteriorly than posteriorly and converging anteriorly – apparently indistinguishable from P. azuay ).

Etymology

The species is named for Francisco Javier Eugenio de Santa Cruz y Espejo (1747–1795), a scientist and writer of mestizo origin in colonial Ecuador.

Type material

Holotype ECUADOR – Azuay • ♂; between Guayaquil and Cuenca , ‘loc. 1’; 2.664° S, 79.445° W; 1100 m a.s.l.; 21 Sep. 2021; B.A. Huber and M. Herrera leg.; in tunnel under road; MECN–ARAC–28–T .

Paratype ECUADOR – Azuay • 1 ♀; same collection data as for holotype but in forest at roadside; MECN– ARAC–29–T , in ZFMK Ar 24096 .

Other material examined

ECUADOR – Azuay • 2 ♀♀, 3 juvs, in pure ethanol; same collection data as for paratype; ZFMK Ecu151 • 1 ♂, 1 ♀; between Guayaquil and Cuenca , ‘loc. 2’; 2.706° S, 79.435° W; 2400 m a.s.l.; 21 Sep. 2021; B.A. Huber and M. Herrera leg.; ravine with forest remnant near road; MECN–ARAC–30–T , in ZFMK Ar 24097 • 3 ♀♀, in pure ethanol; same collection data as for preceding; ZFMK Ecu154 .

Description

Male (holotype)

MEASUREMENTS. Total body length 4.8, carapace width 2.25. Distance PME–PME 230 µm; diameter PME 220 µm; distance PME–ALE 130 µm; distance AME–AME 35 µm; diameter AME 65 µm. ALE and PLE larger than PME (diameters 270 µm). Leg 1: 41.2 (10.8+0.9 +10.9 +16.5 +2.1), tibia 2: 7.5, tibia 3: 4.9, tibia 4: 6.9; tibia 1 L/d: 52.

COLOR (in ethanol). Carapace pale ochre-yellow, with brown median mark and lateral bands, ocular area and clypeus also dark brown; sternum brown with some lighter marks; legs ochre-yellow, with dark rings subdistally on femora and proximally and subdistally on tibiae; abdomen gray, dorsally and laterally densely covered with black marks and small white marks in-between, ventrally with distinct brown plate in front of gonopore and ochre mark between gonopore and pedicel.

BODY. Habitus as in Fig. 5G . Ocular area raised, without hump on posterior side, with stronger hairs at median side of each ocular triad. Deep thoracic groove. Clypeus unmodified except sclerotized rim. Sternum wider than long (1.35/1.00), unmodified.Abdomen higher than long, dorso-posteriorly rounded.

CHELICERAE. As in Fig. 18A–B , with short entapophyses, pair of frontal apophyses in very distal position and in lateral view pointing towards distal, without stridulatory ridges.

PALPS. As in Fig. 16A–C ; coxa unmodified, trochanter with low whitish rounded ventral protrusion, femur large, proximally with distinct retrolateral process, ventrally with low rounded process at half-length followed by whitish round area, distal ventral rim protruding, in ventral view with wide excavation; patella ventrally reduced to strongly sclerotized narrow rim; tibia small relative to femur; procursus ( Fig. 17A–C ) distally with dorsal transversal membranous element and distinctive ventral sclerite; genital bulb ( Fig. 17D–F ) with small process on proximal sclerite, with whitish area on retrolateral-ventral side (collapsed in holotype), slightly spiraling main bulbal process.

LEGS. Without spines; with curved hairs on metatarsi 1–3, some weakly curved hairs also on tibiae 1–2; with few short vertical hairs; retrolateral trichobothrium of tibia 1 at 6%; prolateral trichobothrium present on all leg tibiae; tarsi without regular pseudosegmentation but rather with many indistinct platelets.

Male (variation)

Tibia 1 in second male: 9.3.

Female

In general similar to male ( Fig. 5H ), but clypeus rim not sclerotized, hairs between eye triads shorter. Tibia 1 in seven females: 7.4–8.1 (mean 7.7). Epigynum ( Figs 19A–B , 20A–B ) main anterior plate trapezoidal, in lateral view anteriorly protruding and angular. Internal genitalia ( Figs 18C , 19C–D , 20C– F ) with pair of triangular pore plates at slightly variable distances, converging anteriorly.

Distribution

Known from two neighboring localities in Azuay Province, Ecuador ( Fig. 4A ). The two localities are close together (<5 km straight line) but at very different altitudes (1100 and 2400 m a.s.l.).

Natural history

Most specimens were found deep in sheltered spaces in the ground; the male at the type locality was collected in a tunnel under the road. One egg-sac had a diameter of 4.5 mm, and contained ~ 40 eggs with a diameter of 1.20 mm.

Figures

Fig. 5. Priscula spp., gularis group, live specimens. A–B. P. azuay Huber sp. nov.; male and female from Guayaquil-Cuenca, ‘loc. 2’. C–D. P. llaviucu Huber sp. nov.; male and female with egg-sac from Cajas National Park. E–F. P. cf. gularis; males from near Zhud and from near Baños. G–H. P. espejoi Huber sp. nov.; male and female with egg-sac from Guayaquil-Cuenca, ‘loc. 1’.

Fig. 16. Priscula espejoi Huber sp. nov.; male holotype from between Guayaquil and Cuenca, ‘loc. 1’, MECN-ARAC-28-T; left male palp, prolateral, dorsal, and retrolateral views. Scale line: 0.5 mm.

Fig. 17. Priscula espejoi Huber sp. nov.; male holotype from between Guayaquil and Cuenca, ‘loc. 1’, MECN-ARAC-28-T. A–C. Left tarsus and procursus, prolateral, dorsal, and retrolateral views; arrow points at distinctive dorsal membrane. D–F. Left genital bulb, dorsal, retrolateral, and ventral views (note that whitish area is slightly collapsed in this specimen). Abbreviation: vs=ventral sclerite. Scale lines: 0.5 mm.

Fig. 18. Priscula espejoi Huber sp. nov.; male holotype and female paratype from between Guayaquil and Cuenca, ‘loc. 1’, MECN-ARAC-28-T (♂) and ZFMK Ar 24096 (♀). A–B. Male chelicerae, frontal and lateral views. C. Cleared female genitalia, dorsal view. Scale lines: 0.5 mm.

Fig. 19. Priscula espejoi Huber sp. nov.; female paratype from between Guayaquil and Cuenca, ‘loc. 1’, ZFMK Ar 24096. A–B. Abdomen, ventral and lateral views. C–D. Cleared genitalia, ventral and dorsal views. Scale lines: 0.5 mm.

Fig. 20. Priscula espejoiHuber sp. nov.; females from between Guayaquil and Cuenca, ‘loc. 2’, ZFMKAr 24097 (A–D), and from between Guayaquil and Cuenca, ‘loc. 1’, ZFMK Ecu151 (E–F). A–B. Abdomen, ventral and lateral views. C–F. Cleared genitalia, ventral and dorsal views. Scale lines: 0.5 mm.

Fig. 4. Known distribution of Priscula in Ecuador. A. Representatives of the gularis group. Circles: P. gularis (TL=type locality) and specimens treated herein as “P. gularis?” and “P. cf. gularis”. Squares: other Ecuadorian representatives of the gularis group. B. Representatives of the andinensis group (red) and binghamae group (blue) in Ecuador. The background colors indicate biogeographic regions of Ecuador (as far as relevant for Priscula, i.e., Andean regions from western foothill forests to eastern foothill forests), taken from Torres-Carvajal et al. (2019).