Phonotimpus separatus Gertsch & Davis, 1940

Chamé-Vázquez, David, Ibarra-Núñez, Guillermo & Jiménez, Maria Luisa, 2018, Redescription of Phonotimpus separatus Gertsch & Davis, 1940 (Araneae: Phrurolithidae) and description of two new species of Phonotimpus from Mexico, Zootaxa 4407 (2), pp. 213-228 : 215-216

Phonotimpus separatus Gertsch & Davis, 1940

Fig. 1

Note. Although the holotype of Phonotimpus separatus has not been examined by us, the studied specimen was collected at the type locality and is consistent with most of the descriptive characters provided by Gertsch & Davis (1940), including the illustration of the epigynum. Dr. N. Platnick (American Museum of Natural History, New York) compared our figures of P. separatus with the holotype specimen and confirmed that they are conspecific.

Material examined. MEXICO: San Luis Potosí, Municipio de Matlapa, 2.5 km N of Matlapa (21°21'39.5"N 98°49'51.9"W), 29 July 2017, in leaf litter, leg. J.F. Gómez, 1♀ (ECOTAAR-9018).

Diagnosis. P. separatus differs from P. eutypus by having only one small and very shallow atrium ( Figs 1E–F ), while P. eutypus has two separate slit-like atria ( Gertsch & Davis 1940: fig. 27). The female of P. separatus differs from those of P. pennimani sp. nov. and P. talquian sp. nov. by having only one small and very shallow atrium, S1 posterior to CO, and FD that arise from the anterior part of the S1 ( Figs 1E–H ), the carapace that is slightly longer than wide, and the opisthosomal scutum that is narrow and short ( Figs 1A, C ), while P. pennimani sp. nov. and P. talquian sp. nov. have two large oval atria, the S1 lie ectal to the CD, the FD arise from the posterior part of the S1 ( Figs 5A–D , 10A–D ), the carapace is almost as wide as long, and the opisthosomal scutum is wider and longer ( Figs 2C , 7C ).

Description. Female. Carapace, labium, sternum, endites and all legs dull yellow; opisthosoma dusky-yellow, scutum yellowish ( Figs 1A–D ). Total length 1.64; carapace 0.68 long, 0.58 wide; opisthosoma 0.96 long, 0.68 wide. Carapace pear-shaped, fovea longitudinal. AER almost straight, PER recurved as seen from above. Eyes sizes and interdistances: AME 0.03, ALE 0.05, PME 0.03, PLE 0.05. AME-AME 0.01, AME-ALE touching, PME-PME 0.04, PME-PLE 0.02, ALE-PLE 0.01. MOA 0.10 long, front width 0.08, back width 0.10. Clypeus height 0.03. Paturon with two frontal spines, mesal one strong, ectal one smaller. Labium slightly wider than long (0.11/0.08), endites longer than wide (0.20/0.13), sternum slightly longer than wide (0.43/0.41). Opisthosoma oval, with dorsal scutum narrow and small, covering 1/3 of the opisthosoma. Leg measurements: I 2.14 (0.59, 0.23, 0.55, 0.50, 0.27), II 1.81 (0.50, 0.22, 0.40, 0.41, 0.28), III 1.67 (0.45, 0.19, 0.31, 0.42, 0.30), IV 2.32 (0.62, 0.21, 0.52, 0.60, 0.37). Leg formula 4123. Leg spination: femur I with 2 prolateral spines in distal half; right tibia I with 6 pairs of ventral spines but left tibia I lacks 1 retroventral spine; metatarsus I with 4 proventral spines and 3 retroventral spines. Femur II with 1 prolateral spine in distal half; tibia II with 5 proventral and 4 retroventral spines; metatarsus II with 4 proventral spines and 2 retroventral spines; left femur IV with one dorso-basal macroseta but right femur IV without such spine; metatarsus III with some distal setae, forming a kind of preening comb. Palpus: femur with one dorso-distal spine, patella with one prolateral spine on its basal half, tibia with one dorso-basal, one dorsodistal and one prolateral-basal spine; with ventral patch of setae on tarsus and small claw. Epigynum: CO opposite one another, sharing single small and shallow atrium ( Figs 1E–F ), oval B bigger than S1; egg-shaped S1 lie posterior to CO ( Figs 1F, 1H ). In dorsal view, B arise near to CO; FD arise from mesal side of anterior part of S1 ( Figs 1G–H ).

Taxonomic notes. Gertsch & Davis (1940: 21) stated about P. separatus “The atriobursal orifices are widely separated whereas in eutypus they are closely approximated.” The examination of the specimen described here show that they confused the bursae (visible through the integument) with the copulatory openings. They also stated about the PER in this genus (1940: 20) “In P. separatus the median eyes are much nearer the laterals but in P. eutypus the four posterior eyes are subequidistantly spaced”, Dr. N. Platnick (who examined both holotypes) informed us that this is also inaccurate, as P. eutypus has the same eye pattern as P. separatus .

Habitat. Gertsch & Davis (1940) did not give information about the habitat. The specimen described here was collected from leaf litter from a secondary vegetation forest, near to maize crops.

Distribution. The female described by Gertsch & Davis (1940) was found “ 5 miles north Tamazunchale”; the town of Matlapa is located about 8 km north (5 miles) of Tamazunchale; therefore, this corresponds to the area of the type locality ( Fig. 12 ).

Figures

FIGURE 2. Phonotimpus pennimani sp. nov. A Male habitus, dorsal view; B Male habitus, ventral view; C Female habitus, dorsal view; D Female habitus, ventral view.Scale bars:0.5 mm.

FIGURE 5. Phonotimpus pennimani sp. nov. A, C Epigynum, ventral view; B, D Epigynum, dorsal view.

FIGURE 7. Phonotimpus talquian sp. nov. A Male habitus, dorsal view; B Male habitus, ventral view; C Female habitus, dorsal view; D Female habitus, ventral view.Scale bars:0.5 mm.

FIGURE 10. Phonotimpus talquian sp. nov. A, C Epigynum, ventral view; B, D Epigynum, dorsal view (asterisk on internal atrial hood).

FIGURE 12. Distribution map of Phonotimpus spp.: Black square, P. eutypus; Black star, P. separatus; White triangle, P. pennimani sp. nov.; Black circle, P.talquian sp.nov.

FIGURE1. Female of Phonotimpus separatus. A, C Habitus, dorsal view; B, D Habitus, ventral view; E–H Epigyne, EIntact, ventral view, F Dissected, ventral view, G Dissected, dorsal view, H Dorsal view.Scale bars (A–D):0.25 mm.