Gongylidiellum linguiformis, Tu & Li, 2004

Tu, Lihong & Li, Shuqiang, 2004, A Preliminary Study Of Erigonine Spiders (Linyphiidae: Erigoninae) From Vietnam, Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 52 (2), pp. 419-433 : 425

Gongylidiellum linguiformis , new species

( Fig. 4 )

Material examined. – Holotype - female, Gao Bao Village , Ha Jiang Province, Vietnam (017), 9 Dec.2000.

Diagnosis. – Female of the new species can be diagnosed by tongue like ventral plate, as well as the strongly sclerotized posterior portion of epigynum.

Description of male. – Unknown.

Description of female. – Total length: 1.12. Carapace: 0.47 long, 0.38 wide. Abdomen: 0.70 long, 0.50 wide. Carapace pale white with black margin, unmodified ( Fig. 4A ). Eyes with black surroundings, AMEs smaller, other eyes subequal; AER recurved, eyes separated by AMEr; PER straight, PME- PME longer than PMEr, PME-PLE shorter, ALE and PLE juxtaposed. Chelicerae brown, stridulatory ridges absent on ectal side, fang groove with five promarginal and four retromarginal teeth ( Fig. 4B ). Sternum whitish gray. Abdomen dark gray, with white and black dapples. Lengths of legs: I 1.08 (0.33+ 0.33+ 0.20+ 0.22), II 0.98 (0.30+ 0.30+ 0.18+ 0.20), III 0.89 (0.27+ 0.27+ 0.17+ 0.18), IV 1.15 (0.38+ 0.40+ 0.17+ 0.20). Tibia spine: 0-0-0-0. Tm I: 0.35. Tm IV absent.

Epigynum ( Fig. 4C ): Ventral plate extending as tongue like projection. Posterior portion of epigynum shield-like, slightly convex and strongly sclerotized. Copulatory ducts with their openings under base of ventral plate projection, spiraling from ventral side to dorsal side ( Figs. 4 D-E).

Etymology. – The specific name comes from the Latin linguiformis (tongue-shaped) in reference to the shape of ventral plate.

Remarks. – The inner course of vulva shows similar pattern with that of Gongylidiellum . Comparison with the illustration of Gongylidiellum murcidum Simon, 1884 provided by Wiehle (1960: 489, Fig. 906) shows a striking resemblance to the new species, the sclerotized shield-like structure maybe the unique character of the new species.

Distribution. – Known only from the type locality.

Figures

Fig. 4, Gongylidiellum linguiformis, new species. A, carapace, dorsal view; B, left chelicera, frontal view; C, epigynum, ventral view; D, vulva, dorsal view (before cleared in boiling KOH solution); E, vulva, dorsal view (after cleared in boiling KOH solution). [Scale bars: 0.05mm].