Lamania kraui (Shear, 1978)

Peter J. Schwendinger & Ondřej Košulič, 2015, Two new species of armoured spiders from Vietnam and Cambodia (Araneae: Tetrablemmidae: Pacullinae), Revue suisse de Zoologie 122 (2), pp. 423-436 : 430-433

Lamania kraui (Shear, 1978)

Figs 6 -7, 8 A, C-E, J

Paculla kraui Shear, 1978: 41-43 , figs 112-120 (description of female and male). – Bourne, 1980 a: fig. 26 (palp of male paratype redrawn from Shear, 1978: fig. 118).

Lamania kraui (Shear, 1978) . – Lehtinen, 1981: 21 (transfer).

Material examined: PENINSULAR MALAYSIA: MCZ 21760 (lot 3452); female holotype; Pahang, Temerloh District, Krau Game Reserve , 30.VI. 1973, leg. J. Feagle. – MCZ 25049 (lot 3452) ; male paratype; same data as for holotype. – MHNG (sample SIM- 01/ 12 ) ; 7 males, 6 females, 1 juvenile; Pahang, Bukit Charas, about 3 km north of Panching , 3 ° 54 ’ 41.1 ’’N, 103 °08’ 50.2 ’’E, 60 m (evergreen forest on limestone); 9./ 10.VII. 2001; leg. P. Schwendinger. – MHNG (sample MAL-04/08 ) ; 4 males, 1 female; Pahang, Bukit Charas, 60 m (rain forest remnants at foot of limestone hill); 3./ 4.VI. 2004; leg. P. Schwendinger. – MHNG (sample WM 93 - 1 a ) ; 2 females; Pahang, Taman Negara, Tembeling Trail , 90-120 m, forêt primaire (tamisage); 10./ 13.III. 1993; leg. I. Löbl & F. Calame. – MHNG (sample WM 93 - 2 a ) ; 2 males, 2 females; Pahang, Taman Negara, Gunung Tahan Trail , 90-130 m, forêt primaire (tamisage dans un ravin); 11.III. 1993; leg. I. Löbl & F. Calame. – MHNG (sample MAL-04/ 13 ) ; 26 males, 14 females, 3 juveniles; Kelantan, 1 km south of Gua Musang railway station , 4 ° 52 ’ 31.3 ’’N, 101 ° 58 ’06.5’’E, 120 m (rain forest remnants at foot of limestone hill); 13./ 14.VI. 2004; leg. P. Schwendinger. – MHNG (sample MAL-04/ 11 ) ; 3 males, 7 females, 2 juveniles; Kelantan, 8 km southwest of Dabong, Gunung Stong , 5 ° 20 ’ 22.5 ’’N, 101 ° 58 ’ 15.2 ’’E, 200 m (rain forest near stream); 10.VI. 2004; leg. P. Schwendinger. – MHNG ; 13 males, 15 females, 1 juvenile; Kelantan, about 30 km south of Kota Baharu, 8 km west of Kampung Padang Pak Amat, Jeram Pasu Waterfall , 100 m, rain forest; 10./ 11.I. 1999; leg. P. Schwendinger. – MHNG (sample THMA-08/01 ) ; 27 males, 32 females, 2 juveniles; Terengganu, Pulau Perhentian Besar, trail across island, from Teluk Pauh to Teluk Dalam , 5 ° 53 ’ 51 ’’N, 102 ° 44 ’ 53 ’’E, 50-100 m, rain forest; 2.- 4.VI. 2008; leg. P. Schwendinger. – THAILAND: MHNG; 4 males, 7 females; Narathiwat Province, Waeng District, Hala- Bala Wildlife Sanctuary , 200 m, rain forest; 8.I. 1999; leg. P. Schwendinger .

Taxonomic remarks: When comparing specimens of L. bokor sp. nov. with the types of L. kraui , we found that the original description of the latter species is incomplete, incorrect and misleading in the following points. Two “large, black, setae-bearing teeth” (= conical setal bases; thickness of setae much exaggerated in Shear, 1978: fig. 116) are present on both sides of the pulmonary plate above the booklung covers in the female holotype (and in only few other conspecific specimens), whereas the male paratype has three (on its left side) and four (on its right side; Fig. 6 B) slightly smaller such tubercles at the same place (not mentioned in the original description). The number of these tubercles in L. kraui specimens examined ranges from one to four, most specimens have three, many specimens have an unequal number of such tubercles on both sides. With regards to this presumably apomorphic character, L. kraui does not differ from L. bokor sp. nov., which is an indication that both species are closely related (belong to the same lineage). The bulbous base of the palpal organ is not as distinctly flattened on its frontal side as shown in Shear (1978: fig. 118), it is in fact a quite regular globe ( Fig. 6 C-D). There are some proximal wrinkles ( Fig. 6 F-G) on the anterior side of the embolus, which can be indistinct, small (in the paratype) or large and bulging, giving the impression of a hump (as in the two males of L. bokor sp. nov. examined). The embolus does not have a narrow subterminal lamella that is narrowest at its base as illustrated by Shear (1978: fig. 118), in fact it is widest at its base ( Fig. 6 C-H). A dark, somewhat crescentshaped area along the posterior margin of the distal half of the embolus (Shear, 1978: fig. 118) is not (or no longer) discernible on both palps of the paratype, nor on those of other conspecific males examined. The distal margin of the embolic part is not as distinctly jagged as shown for the left palpal organ of the paratype by Shear (1978: fig. 118); it is essentially straight, or with a very wide angle in the middle ( Fig. 6 C-H). The two small medio-apical teeth shown there by Shear are in fact two peg-like columns (or the split tip of an otherwise cylindrical column) of coagulated sperm pushed out of the opening of the spermophore ( Fig. 6 E-F), and thus they are not part of the embolus per se. These columns are not present on the right palp 1 of the same specimen ( Fig. 6 G). On the palps of a few other conspecific males we found a single cylindrical column (as wide as the diameter of the spermophore opening) of coagulated sperm which resembles a vermicelli noodle pressed out of the pore of a sieve ( Fig. 6 H). This was presumably also present on the left palp of the paratype before the larger part of the “noodle” broke off. The original illustration of the holotype vulva (Shear, 1978: fig. 120) does not show the two large spermathecae ( Fig. 7 A) and it does not show the second distal margin of the anterior collar ( Fig. 7 A; see Discussion) which would explain that this structure (which is not the entire vulva but only part of it) is not an “open sclerotised tube” as described by Shear (1978: 43).

Variation: Carapace length in ten males (plus the male paratype, in parenthese) ranges 1.37-1.53 (1.43), in ten females (plus the holotype, in parentheses) 1.46-1.61 (1.57). Carapace width in males ranges 1.09-1.20 (1.14), in females 1.11-1.28 (1.20). Variation in the shape of the vulva of five females from different localities is shown in Fig. 7.

Distribution: This species is widely distributed in the central part of Peninsular Malaysia and northwards to, and across, the Thai border. It also occurs on Perhentian Island off the northeastern corner of Malaysia ( Fig. 1, circles). Closely related (same lineage, with enlarged setal bases on anterior side of pulmonary plate and with both apical parts of embolus being equally long), undescribed Lamania species are present to the north of its range. Undescribed species, which are not closely related (different lineage without enlarged setal bases on anterior side of pulmonary plate and with unequally long apical parts of embolus), occur to the south and 1 Another species described in the same paper and presumably based on an atypical specimen is Singaporemma singularis Shear, 1978 . The embolus of the male holotype (the only male then available) is said – and illustrated – to be “cuving sharply posteriorly” (Shear, 1978: 39, figs 109-110), i.e. being bent at right angles at about mid-length. The MHNG houses five Singaporemma males from three localities on Singapore Island, one of them (the McRitchie Reservoir) being the type locality of S. singularis (the others are the Botanical Gardens and the Singapore Island Country Club, both close to the type locality). All these males have essentially straight emboli (only slightly bent ventrad) on both palps. Therefore we assume that Shear described a deformed embolus. An examination of the other palp of the holotype is desirable.

to the east of the range of L. kraui . All other Pacullini specimens in the MHNG collection from the southern and western parts of Peninsular Malaysia belong to the genus Paculla .