Phintella handersoni Sen, Sudhin & Caleb sp. nov.

Figs 2E-H, 3A-H, 4E-H, 14

Phintella accentifera: Żabka 1985: 428, figs 430-434, 452 (♀); Xie, 1993: 358, figs 6-7 (♀); Peng et al. 1993: 150, figs 515-517 (♀); Song et al. 1999: 537, figs 307H, 327R (♀); Tyagi et al. 2019: supplement, figs S2.53 (♀); Peng 2020: 294, figs 209a-c (♀); Sudhin et al. 2023: 87, figs 24-27 (♀) (all misidentified).

Phintella suavis: Żabka 1985: 427, figs 426-429, 451 (♂); Peng et al. 1993: 160, figs 560-564; Song et al. 1999: 539, figs 308M-N (♂); Peng 2020: 307, figs 220a-e (♂) (all misidentified).

Type material.

Holotype ♂. INDIA: Meghalaya, Ri Bhoi District, Anderson Tea Estate, 25°47'42"N, 91°53'03"E, 810 m elev., 13.iii.2023, S. Sen & P.P. Sudhin coll. (NZC-ZSI-8313/18). Paratype: 1♀, same data as holotype (NZC-ZSI-8371/18).

Diagnosis.

P. handersoni sp. nov. is most similar to Phintella accentifera (Simon, 1901) in having the similar palpal and epigynal morphology, but it can be distinguished by the following combination of characters: abdominal pattern with dark brown and pale yellow transverse bands (without transverse bands, but with mid-dorsal chevron markings in P. accentifera); RTA conical and directed apically in retrolateral view (curved and directed ventrad in P. accentifera); tegulum with large lobe-like lamellar process (almost triangular in P. accentifera); embolus directed at 2 o’clock position in ventral view (3 o’clock position in P. accentifera); epigyne with distinct postero-medial protrusion (without any posterior projection in P. accentifera); copulatory ducts relatively narrow (broad in P. accentifera) (cf. Figs 2E-H, 3A, D, 4E-H with fig. 156 in Prószyński (1984) and figs 4.28A, D, E, G, I and J in Luong (2017)).

Description.

Male (Holotype, NZC-ZSI-8313/18) (Figs 2E-F, 3A-C, G, 4E, F): Measurements: body length 3.72; carapace length 1.73, width 1.43; abdomen length 1.72, width 1.12. Ocular area length 1.05, width 1.21. Eye diameters: AME 0.41, ALE 0.22, PME 0.08, PLE 0.21. Eye interdistances: AME-AME 0.02, ALE-AME 0.03, ALE-ALE 0.83, ALE-PLE 0.53, PLE-PLE 0.89, PME-PME 0.98, PME-PLE 0.21. Clypeus height 0.22. Length of chelicera 0.78. Measurement of palp and legs: palp 1.69 [0.65, 0.21, 0.17, 0.66], leg I 3.67 [1.07, 0.59, 0.87, 0.78, 0.36], II 3.44 [1.13, 0.46, 0.78, 0.64, 0.43], III 4.01 [1.28, 0.47, 0.86, 0.91, 0.49], IV 4.41 [1.40, 0.46, 1.03, 1.05, 0.47]. Leg formula: 4312. Leg setation: femur I-II pl 1 rl 1 do 3, III pl 1 rl 3 do 3, IV pl 1 rl 2 do 3; patella III-IV rl 1; tibia I pl 2 plv 4 rlv 4, II pl 2 rl 2 plv 4 rlv 4, III-IV pl 2 rl 2 plv 2 rlv 2; metatarsus I pl 1 rl 1 plv 2 rlv 2, II-III pl 2 rl 2 plv 2 rlv 2, IV pl 3 rl 3 plv 1 rlv 1. Carapace oval, high, sloping posteriorly, dark brown, anterior of thorax with a transverse diamond-shaped yellowish area behind eye field, margin of carapace with narrow black lines (Fig. 3A); eye field dark brown, anterior row of eyes encircled with pale yellow setae (Fig. 3G). Clypeus low, covered with silvery white setae (Fig. 3G). Chelicerae long, subvertical, diverging, yellowish-brown (Fig. 3G), promargin with two teeth and retromargin with a single tooth. Endites brown, scopulate, margins with narrow black lines (Fig. 3B). Labium brown, with paler tip, distally with dark brown setae (Fig. 3B). Sternum oval, anteriorly flat, dark brown with yellow dots, covered with white setae, lateral sides with more setae (Fig. 3B). Abdomen oval, dark brown, medially and posteriorly with transverse yellow bands (Fig. 3A); abdomen posteriorly with recurved yellow dotted lines and laterally with yellow and dark brown brick line patterns (Figs 3A, C); venter pale yellow medially with a light brown longitudinal band (Fig. 3B). Spinnerets pale yellow, covered with black setae. Legs brown, proximal region of metatarsus I, femora III and IV, metatarsi and tarsi II-IV pale yellow; all femora, patellae and tibiae covered with metallic lustrous setae, I-II with more lustrous setae. Palp brown (Fig. 2E, F); patella and tibia distal region with long black dorsal setae (Fig. 2E, F); tibia and patella covered with black setae (Fig. 2E, F); RTA short, stout, anteriorly directed, wide at base, slightly narrowing distally, tip slightly bent ventrally (Figs 2F, 4F); cymbium elongate oval, covered with long brown setae (Figs 2E, F, 4E, F); tegulum with well-developed posterior lobe (Figs 2E, 4E); lamellar process large, almost cone-shaped (Figs 2E, 4E); tegulum with conspicuous retrolateral shoulder, sperm duct visible at this shoulder (Figs 2E, 4E); embolus short, situated anterior to bulbus, narrowing tip directed at 2 o’clock position in ventral view (Figs 2E, 4E).

Female (Paratype) (Figs 2G, H, 3D-F, H, 4G, H): Measurements: body length 4.24; carapace length 1.68, width 1.32; abdomen length 2.15, width 1.67. Ocular area length 1.01, width 1.22. Eye diameters: AME 0.46, ALE 0.23, PME 0.04, PLE 0.23. Eye interdistances: AME-AME 0.03, ALE-AME 0.05, ALE-ALE 0.88, ALE-PLE 0.57, PLE-PLE 1.06, PME-PME 1.13, PME-PLE 0.27. Clypeus height 0.08. Length of chelicera 0.56. Measurement of palp and legs: palp 1.31 [0.47, 0.16, 0.25, 0.43], leg I 2.77 [0.87, 0.36, 0.68, 0.54, 0.32], II 2.65 [0.88, 0.38, 0.57, 0.50, 0.32], III 3.21 [1.02, 0.39, 0.65, 0.73, 0.42], IV 3.73 [1.17, 0.40, 0.85, 0.87, 0.44]. Leg formula: 4312. Leg setation: femur I-III pl 2 rl 1 do 3, IV pl 1 rl 1 do 3; patella III-IV rl 1; tibia I pl 1 rl 1 plv 2 rlv 2, II pl 2 rl 1 plv 3 rlv 3, III-IV pl 2 rl 3 plv 2 rlv 1; metatarsus I pl 1 rl 1 plv 2 rlv 2, II pl 2 rl 2 plv 3 rlv 3, III pl 2 rl 2 plv 3 rlv 3, IV pl 3 rl 3 plv 1 rlv 1. In all details as male, except the following: eye field black (Fig. 3D); chelicerae small, vertical, yellowish-brown with darker dorsal side (Fig. 3H); endites dark brown with pale yellow inner tips (Fig. 3E); labium dark brown (Fig. 3E); abdomen light brown with faint medial transverse band (Fig. 3D); venter with prominent, lens-shaped longitudinal median brown band (Fig. 3E). Epigyne wider than long, sclerotised, with wide, curved posterior margin (Figs 2G, 4G); copulatory openings round, separated from each other, situated anterior region of epigyne (Figs 2G, 4G); copulatory ducts highly sclerotised, slightly curved, extending posteriorly and entering at posterior part of spermathecae (Figs 2G, 4G); spermathecae nearly pear-shaped, separated from each other (Figs 2H, 4H); fertilisation ducts long, orientated anterolaterally, located at anterior region of spermathecae (Figs 2H, 4H).

Etymology.

The species is named after the late Handerson Syiemlieh, the owner of the tea estate from where the type series was collected.

Distribution.

India (Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya) (Fig. 14), China and Vietnam.

Remarks.

Since both sexes were collected together in this study, it was possible for us to determine the identity as we compared them with previous illustrations and with those of the type images (Luong 2017) of both P. accentifera and P. suavis . The general colour pattern of the female which was earlier identified as P. accentifera did not match with the type, thus leading us to re-verify all previous illustrations. On the other hand, it was concluded that P. suavis was a synonym of P. vittata (Luong 2017: 104). We agree with Luong’s conclusion on the synonymy, based on the images of the type specimens; however, that decision has not been made formally yet. Based on these observations, we concluded that this species was misidentified earlier and each sex was assigned to different names by previous scientists. Żabka (1985) illustrated the male as P. suavis and the female as P. accentifera from Vietnam. This was followed by Chinese (Peng et al. 1993; Xie 1993; Song et al. 1999; Peng 2020) and Indian authors (Tyagi et al. 2019; Sudhin et al. 2023). Two females from Assam (Tyagi et al. 2019: GenBank accession numbers MK392820 and MK392821) and two females from Manipur (Sudhin et al. 2023) were misidentified as P. accentifera .

Simon (1901) does not provide the exact locality for P. accentifera (Simon, 1901); however, mentions, "et dans les espèces des montagnes de l’Inde, T. accentifera E. Sim.," ("and in the species of the mountains of India, T. accentifera E. Sim.," - Simon, (1901: 548)). Luong (2017) examined the syntypes of P. accentifera deposited in the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris and precisely designated the lectotype, based on a specimen from Kodaikanal (a hill station in South India) from the vial No. 10254. Nevertheless, the designation of lectotype and paralectotypes has not yet been formally published. Nevertheless, based on the information from the original description of Simon (1901) and the type label (Luong 2017: fig. 4.28K), the type locality of P. accentifera is, thus, Kodaikanal in Tamil Nadu, India. P. accentifera (Simon, 1901) is presently confined to its type locality in South India.