Niarchos normani, Duperre, Nadine & Tapia, Elicio, 2017

Duperre, Nadine & Tapia, Elicio, 2017, The goblin spiders (Araneae, Oonopidae) of the OTONGA Nature Reserve in Ecuador, with the description of seven new species, Evolutionary Systematics 1 (1), pp. 87-109 : 88

Niarchos normani sp. n. Figs 1, 2, 30

Type material.

Male holotype from Ecuador, Cotopaxi province, OTONGA Biological Reserve, 21.vi.2014, sifting moss, Berlese, E. Tapia, C. Tapia, N. Dupérré (QCAZ).

Etymology.

In honor of Dr. Norman Platnick, curator emeritus at the American Museum of Natural History, for his innovative and comprehensive work on the spider family Oonopidae .

Diagnosis.

This species most resemble Niarchos palenque Platnick & Dupérré, 2010, but differs from all species of the genus by the horizontally directed anterior projections of the male endites (Fig. 2) and the general appearance of the bulb (Fig. 1)

Description.

Male (holotype). Total length: 1.8; carapace length: 1.3; carapace width: 0.9.

COLORATION: Carapace orange (Fig. 30); sternum, chelicerae, endites, labium, legs, and palpi pale orange; dorsal and ventral scuta pale orange (Fig. 30); soft portions of abdomen white. CEPHALOTHORAX: Elongate oval in dorsal view (Fig. 30); pars cephalica slightly elevated in lateral view, surface of elevated portion of pars cephalica smooth, sides finely reticulate; fovea absent. Clypeus margin slightly rebordered, vertical in lateral view. Sternum longer than wide, surface smooth. Labium triangular, not fused to sternum, anterior margin not indented at middle (Fig. 2). Endites distally not excavated, anteromedian tip with bidentate externally directed projections (Fig. 2). Chelicerae straight; without teeth. EYES: Six eyes; reduced in size, ALE much larger than posterior eyes; all eyes oval; posterior eye row recurved from above; PLE-PME touching; ALE touching, ALE-PLE touching, PME touching. LEGS: Leg formula 4123; leg spination: tibiae IV v0-0-1p. ABDOMEN: Without color pattern, cylindrical; book lung covers large; posterior spiracles connected by groove; dorsal scutum present, strongly sclerotized, without color pattern, covering most of dorsum but not fused to epigastric scutum, surface finely reticulate; epigastric scutum strongly sclerotized, surrounding pedicel, fused to long, strongly sclerotized postepigastric scutum, postepigastric scutum occupying most of the venter; supraanal scutum absent; spinneret scutum reduced. GENITALIA: Male palp not strongly sclerotized; cymbium ovoid in dorsal view, completely fused with bulb; bulb elongated; embolus wide, sclerotized accompanied by a translucent distal portion (Fig. 1).

Female. Unknown.

Distribution.

Only known from the type locality.

Note.

The species belongs to the palenque-group Platnick & Dupérré, 2010, based on the bipartite embolar region with a sclerotized basal embolus and a translucent distal portion.