Spermophora akwamu, Huber, Bernhard A. & Kwapong, Peter, 2013

Huber, Bernhard A. & Kwapong, Peter, 2013, West African pholcid spiders: an overview, with descriptions of five new species (Araneae, Pholcidae), European Journal of Taxonomy 59, pp. 1-44 : 31-34

Spermophora akwamu sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:D0DB384E-4A3F-4EB1-80D6-48278C31EB82

Figs 11-13 , 34 , 77-91

Diagnosis

Distinguished from the very similar S. dieke and from a similar undescribed species from Congo DR (in MRAC) by pair of processes on male clypeus ( Fig. 80 ; only one median process in S. dieke ; bifid process in species from Congo DR); from other congeners by armature of male chelicerae (only one pair of weakly sclerotized proximal processes; Fig. 89 ), by shapes of procursus (ventral sclerotized flap, distal flagellum; Figs 87-88 ) and bulb (shape of hooked apophysis; Fig. 87 ), and by shape of epigynum (rectangular plate without pockets; Figs 85 , 90 ).

Etymology

The name is a noun in apposition, derived from the Akwamu (or Akuambo), an Akan kingdom in the 17th and 18th centuries whose founders settled in the area of modern-day Kakum National Park.

Type material

Holotype ♂, in ZFMK ( Ar 10522 ) .

Type data

GHANA: Central Region: Kakum National Park (5°20.9’N, 1°23.0’W), 160 m a.s.l., forest near entrance, day collecting, 19 Feb. 2013 (B.A. Huber).

Other material examined

GHANA: Central Region: 15 ♂♂ 25 ♀♀ 8 juvs in ZFMK ( Ar 10523-24 ), Kakum National Park , same data as holotype ; 7 ♂♂ 7 ♀♀ 2 juvs in ZFMK ( Ar 10525 ), same data but 20 Feb. 2013 ; 1 ♂ 8 ♀♀ 2 juvs in pure ethanol in ZFMK ( Gha 145 ), same data ; 6 ♂♂ 6 ♀♀ in ZFMK ( Ar 10526-27 ), same data but night collecting, 20 Feb. 2013 ; 11 ♂♂ 28 ♀♀ in MRAC ( 217694, 698, 712, 725, 737 ), Kakum Forest , fogging in primary forest, 16-25 Nov. 2005 (R. Jocqué, D. De Bakker, L. Baert) ; 8 ♂♂ 20 ♀♀ in MRAC ( 217687, 701, 703, 708 ), same data but secondary forest, 12-19 Nov. 2005 ; 1 juv. in MRAC ( 217292 ), same data but beating in secondary forest, 23 Nov. 2005 ; 3 ♂♂ 2 ♀♀ in MRAC ( 217261, 277 ), same data but beating between primary and secondary forest, 11-12 Nov. 2005 ; 1 ♂ 2 ♀♀ 1 juv. in MRAC ( 217173 ), same data but sieving of forest litter, 10 Nov. 2005 . Eastern Region: 2 ♂♂ 1 ♀ 1 juv. in ZFMK ( Ar 10528 ), Atewa Hills, Atewa Atwirebu Reserve at 500 m a.s.l. (6°13.8’N, 0°32.4’W), degraded forest along road, 24 Feb. 2013 (B.A. Huber) ; 1 ♀ 5 juvs in ZFMK ( Ar 10529 ), Atewa Atwirebu Reserve at 740 m a.s.l. (6°13.8’N, 0°33.5’W), 25 Feb. 2013 (B.A. Huber) ; 1 juv. in pure ethanol in ZFMK ( Gha 139 ), same data . Western Region: 5 ♂♂ 4 ♀♀ 2 juvs in ZFMK ( Ar 10530 ), Ankasa National Park (5°13.0’N, 2°39.1’W), 180 m a.s.l., forest near entrance, day collecting, 22 Feb. 2013 (B.A. Huber) ; 2 ♂♂ 2 juvs in pure ethanol in ZFMK ( Gha 159 ), same data ; 1 ♂ 2 ♀♀ in ZFMK ( Ar 10531 ), Ankasa National Park , forest along Big Tree Trail (~ 5°15.1’N, 2°38.4’W), ~ 100 m a.s.l., 23 Feb. 2013 (B.A. Huber) .

Description

Male (holotype)

MEASUREMENTS. Total body length 2.1, carapace width 0.7. Leg 1: 22.3 (5.3 + 0.4 + 5.4 + 9.2 + 2.0), tibia 2: 3.1, tibia 3: 2.0, tibia 4: 3.0; tibia 1 L/d: 76. Distance PME-PME 115 µm, diameter PME 95 µm, distance PME-ALE 35 µm, no AME.

COLOR. Carapace pale gray with narrow black margins and indistinct median line ( Fig. 77 ), ocular area and clypeus dark brown to black, sternum pale gray ( Fig. 79 ), legs ochre-yellow, with indistinct dark rings subdistally on femora and tibiae, abdomen mostly pale gray, with black transversal mark at posterior tip, further black marks posteriorly above spinnerets and near gonopore.

BODY. Habitus as in Figs 77-79 ; ocular area slightly elevated, each triad on low hump; carapace without median furrow (only dark line); clypeus with distinctive pair of dark processes, about 100 µm long ( Fig. 80 ); sternum wider than long (0.55/0.45), unmodified. Chelicerae as in Fig. 89 , with pair of weakly sclerotized processes proximally, distally without modification, without stridulatory ridges.

PALPS. As in Figs 83-84 and 87-88 , coxa with indistinct ventral process, trochanter with long ventral and shorter retrolateral apophyses, procursus with ventral sclerotized flap, prolatero-dorsal hinged process and thin distal flagellum; bulb with hooked apophysis and long weakly sclerotized embolus.

LEGS. Without spines and curved hairs, few vertical hairs; retrolateral trichobothrium on tibia 1 at 8.5%; prolateral trichobothrium absent on tibia 1, present on other tibiae; tarsus 1 with>20 indistinct pseudosegments.

VARIATION. Tibia 1 in 35 other males: 4.3-5.6 (mean 4.8). Some males from type locality with additional small black marks dorsally on abdomen; in both males from Atewa Hills, these marks are present and larger; in males from Ankasa N.P. the abdomen is almost monochromous, without ventral marks, without marks above spinnerets, only mark at posterior tip.

Female

In general similar to male but sternum in most females dark brown or black ( Fig. 81 ), abdomen dorsally with more and larger black marks ( Fig. 82 ), clypeus unmodified, carapace with small median process acting against indistinct sclerotized plate above pedicel. Tibia 1 in 42 females: 3.5-4.4 (mean 3.9). Epigynum simple rectangular plate, anteriorly with dark transversal internal structure, without pockets ( Figs 85 , 90 ); internal genitalia as in Figs 86 , 91 .

Relationships

Judging from the very similar morphology, this species is probably closely related to S. dieke from Guinea (cf. figures in Huber 2009) as well as to a further very similar (undescribed) species from Congo DR (in MRAC).

Natural history

The spiders were found both under green leaves where they built slightly domed sheets that extended beyond the leaves ( Fig. 13 ; with the spider resting under a leaf), and in the leaf litter, under curved dead leaves, in small webs apparently not extending beyond the leaf.

Distribution

Known from several localities in southern Ghana ( Fig. 34 ).

Figures

Figs 1 - 13. 1. Pholcus doucki Huber, 2011 from Doucki, Guinea. 2 - 3. Pholcus kakum Huber, 2009 from Forêt Classée de Ziama, Guinea (2) and Kakum N. P., Ghana (3). 4. Leptopholcus kintampo sp. nov. from Kintampo, Ghana. 5. Leptopholcus tipula (Simon, 1907) from Kakum N. P., Ghana. 6. Nyikoa limbe Huber, 2007 from Kakum N. P., Ghana. 7 - 8. Pehrforsskalia conopyga Deeleman-Reinhold & van Harten, 2001 from Atewa, Ghana. 9 - 10. Anansus atewa sp. nov. from Atewa, Ghana. 11 - 13. Spermophora akwamu sp. nov. from Kakum N. P., Ghana (13: web). Photos BAH.

Figs 33 - 34. Known distributions of the genera Smeringopus Simon, 1890 and Spermophora Hentz, 1841 in West Africa.

Figs 77 - 86. Spermophora akwamu sp. nov. 77 - 79. ♂, dorsal, lateral, and ventral views. 80. ♂ prosoma, oblique frontal view. 81 - 82. ♀, ventral and dorsal views. 83 - 84. Left ♂ palp, prolateral and retrolateral views. 85 - 86. Cleared ♀ genitalia, ventral and dorsal views. Scale lines: 77 - 79, 81 - 82 = 1 mm; 80, 83 - 84 = 0.5 mm; 85 - 86 = 0.2 mm.

Figs 87 - 91. Spermophora akwamu sp. nov. 87 - 88. Left ♂ palp, prolateral and retrolateral views (hp: hinged process). 89. ♂ chelicerae, frontal view. 90 - 91. Cleared ♀ genitalia, ventral and dorsal views. Scale lines: 87 - 88 = 0.5 mm; 90 - 91 = 0.3 mm; 89 = 0.2 mm.