Hortipes gigapophysalis, Rudy Jocque, Jan Bosselaers & Arnaud Henrard, 2012

Rudy Jocque, Jan Bosselaers & Arnaud Henrard, 2012, A new species of Hortipes (Araneae, Corinnidae), the Frst spider with an insertable retrolateral tibial apophysis on the male palp, European Journal of Taxonomy 26, pp. 1-11 : 3-6

Hortipes gigapophysalis sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:199C827C-56D9-4F42-A103-F063ACA0033F

Figs 1-5

Diagnosis

Males of H. gigapophysalis are easily recognized by the long, winding RTA; the female is characterized by the central depression and the separate duct systems in the epigyne. These characters are unique in the genus.

Etymology

The species is called gigapophysalis in view of the extraordinarily long retrolateral tibial apophysis on the male palp.

Type material

Holotype

♂ ( MRAC 239507 ): GUINEA, Mt. Nimba, Station de pompage Zié , alt. 1250 m, 07° 40’ N - 008° 22’ W, 0 3 Feb. 2012, hand collecting by A. Henrard, C. Allard, P. Bimou and M. Sidibé near Zié river, forest .

Paratypes

2 ♂♂ ( MRAC 239104 ) and, together with holotype , 1 ♀ ( MRAC 239482 ): GUINEA, Mt. Nimba, Pierre Richaud , Kaiser 1 , alt. 1480 m, 07° 39’ N - 008° 22’ W, 7 Oct. 2011, hand collecting by A. Henrard and D. Vandenspiegel, at the entrance (± 4 m inside) of disused humid adit, under wood log .

Description

Male

MEASUREMENTS. Total length 2.21 carapace 1.07 long, 0.87 wide; length of fe: I 0.89, II 0.92, III 0.72, IV 1.07.

LEG SPINATION. Fe: I plv 1-1-1 rlv 1-1-1; II plv 1-1-1 rlv 1-1-1; ti: I plv 1-1-1-1-1-1 rlv 1-1-1-1-1-1; II plv 1-1-1-1-1-1 rlv 1-1-1-1-1-1; IV pl 0-1-0 rl 0-1-0; mt: I plv 1-1-1 rlv 1-1-1; II plv 1-1-1 rlv 1-1-1; IV pl 1-0-1 rl 1-0-1 vt 2.

COLORATION. Carapace and legs yellow, with an orange tinge; sternum pale yellow, chelicerae, labium and endites yellow. Abdomen pale. ( Fig. 1 A-C).

PALP ( Figs 2 A-B, 4 A-F). Tibia with central constriction. RTA very long, slender and coiled, narrowing from base to tip; cymbium subcircular, proximally with deep retrolateral fold, with few straight setae along retrolateral margin and group of chemosensory setae at distal dorsal tip; sperm duct appears at base of embolus, runs along retrolateral, posterior and prolateral margins of tegulum, fairly broad over entire course except last quarter strongly narrowed before entering E; E originating at distal end of tegulum directed retrolaterad, very long, whiplike, looped over slightly more than some 500°. True MA, being an articulated tegular process inserted on a Fexible membrane ( Bonaldo 1997: 166) absent, but tegulum distally with membranous, translucent DTA, directed retrolaterad, curved back over 90° ending near posterior margin of cymbium.

Female

MEASUREMENTS. Total length 2.54; carapace 1.15 long, 0.85 wide; length of fe: I 0.95, II 1.00, III 0.81, IV 1.11.

LEG SPINATION. Fe: I plv 1-1-1-(1) rlv 1-1-1; II plv 1-1-1 rlv 1-1-1-1-(1); ti: Palp do 1-0-0; I plv 1-1-1-1- 1-1 rlv 1-1-1-1-1-1; II plv 1-1-1-1-1-1 rlv 1-1-1-1-1-1; mt: I plv 1-1-1 rlv 1-1-1; II plv 1-1-1 rlv 1-1-1; IV pl 0-0-1 rl 0-0-1 vt 2.

COLORATION. Carapace, legs and chelicerae pale orange; sternum pale. Abdomen pale ( Fig. 1 D-F).

GENITALIA. Epigyne with a central concavity and with convoluted tubes visible in transparency. Two funnel-shaped openings leading into a system of wide, very simple, thin-walled tubes, with blind ends ( Fig. 2 C-F). Thick-walled insemination ducts starting from slit-shaped lateral openings leading to two sets of spermathecae. Anterior pair oval, opening posteriorly into ducts leading towards posterior, globular pair. The systems are separate and there is no connection between them ( Figs 2 C-F, 3A-B).

Variability

Male paratypes (n=2) TL: 2.16 and 2.03; CL 1.10 and 0.89; CW 0.89 and 0.85. Spination identical.

Distribution

High altitude gallery forest (> 1200 m) on Mt Nimba, Guinea.

Figures

Fig. 1. Hortipes gigapophysalis sp. nov. A. Male habitus, dorsal view. B. Male prosoma, ventral view. C. Male habitus, lateral view. D. Female habitus, dorsal view. E. Female prosoma, ventral view (epigyne removed). F. Male prosoma, ventrolateral view.

Fig. 2. Hortipes gigapophysalis sp. nov. A. Male palp, lateral view. B. idem, ventral view. C. Epigyne, ventral view. D. Epigyne, cleared, dorsal view, second system omitted. E. idem, primary system omitted. F. idem, both systems combined. E: embolus, ent 1: entrance of insemination duct, ent 2: entrance of secondary duct system, dv: dorso-ventral stretch of secondary duct system, pdv: position of dorsoventral stretch, RTA: retrolateral tibial apophysis, st 1: spermathecae 1, st 2: spermatheca 2. Scale bars: 100 µm.

Fig. 3. Hortipes gigapophysalis sp. nov. A. Epigyne cleared in methyl salicylate, ventral view. B. idem, dorsal view.

Fig. 4. Hortipes gigapophysalis sp. nov. A. Male palp, retrolateral view. B. Male palpal patella and tibia, dorsal view. C. Male palp, ventral view. D. idem, dorsal view. E. Male palpal tibia and patella, dorsolateral view. F. Detail of previous. E: embolus, DTA: distal tegular apophysis, RTA: retrolateral tibial apophysis.

Fig. 5. Cladogram obtained from the character matrix in Bosselaers & Jocqué (2000) with inclusion of H. gigapophysalis. Strict consensus of 18 trees of Ft - 53.061 (PAUP values), obtained under implied weighting. Bremer support values are shown under the branches.