Pharta Thorell, 1891

SURESH P. BENJAMIN, 2011, Phylogenetics and comparative morphology of crab spiders (Araneae: Dionycha, Thomisidae), Zootaxa 3080, pp. 1-108 : 17-18

Genus Pharta Thorell, 1891

Type species: Pharta bimaculata Thorell, 1891 Figs 5 E, 48A–D

Pharta Thorell, 1891: 85 . Type species by monotypy Pharta bimaculata Thorell, 1891 , examined.

Sanmenia Song and Kim, 1992: 142 . Type species by original designation Cupa zhengi Ono and Song, 1986 . New synonymy.

Synonymy. The type species of Sanmenia , Cupa zhengi is here considered a junior synonym of P. brevipalpus ( Simon, 1903) comb. nov.. Illustrations of the type specimens of Cupa zhengi by Ono and Song (1986) unambiguously match the type of P. brevipalpus examined by me; see below for details..

Diagnosis. Diagnosed by the presence of posterior epigynal pockets and oval spermatheca. Further, Pharta could be separated from all thomisids except for Ascurisoma , Epidius , Cebrenninus and Geraesta by the presence of a macro-trichobothrium on the palpal tibia and serrated tarsal setae. Separated from Epidius by the absence of an elongated male palp tibia (tibia is longer than the cymbium in Epidius ; Fig 35 C) and the absence of 4 to 6 thick long spines on the distal margin of the tibia of the male palp ( Fig 35 C, 36A–C). Separated from Ascurisoma and Cebrenninus by the presence of a free embolus that originates at the center of the bulb, presence of a SDT inward turn in the male palp as well as the proportionately much larger cephalic area in Ascurisoma and Cebrenninus . Females of Ascurisoma and Cebrenninus can be separated from Pharta by the presence of large globular spermathecae that lack CD in the latter two genera. Separated from Geraesta by the absence of a pair of trichobothria on the dorsal surface of the cymbium of the male palp that is present in Geraesta ( Fig 45 E). Females could be separated from those of Geraesta by the absence of a scapus (cf. Figs 42 C, 46D, showing the scapus in Geraesta ). Separated from Borboropactus by the absence of the following characters found in males and females of Borboropactus: Cshaped spermatheca ( Fig 18 E), the unique sensory patch on tarsi ( Figs 24 C–E), canoe-shaped tapetum and straight PER ( Fig 26 C).

Description. This genus is well described under its older name Sanmenia ( Ono 1995; Ono & Song 1986; Tang et al. 2009; Yang et al. 2006).

Composition. Pharta bimaculata Thorell, 1891 ; Pharta brevipalpus ( Simon, 1903) comb. nov.; Pharta gongshan ( Yang, Zhu &Song, 2006) comb. nov.; Pharta nigra ( Tang, Griswold and Peng, 2009) comb. nov.; Pharta tengchong ( Tang, Griswold & Yin, 2009) comb. nov..

Distribution. Burma, China, Japan, Singapore, Vietnam ( Ono 1995; Ono & Song 1986; Tang et al. 2009; Yang et al. 2006).

Figures

FIGURE 5. Photographs of Thomisidae. A Borboropactus bituberculatus (MNHN 5460 / 1572); B Borboropactus squalidus (MNHN 5045 / 1572); C Cebrenninus rugosus (MNHN 8652 / 1572), prosoma; D Stephanopis cambridgei (SMNH 1163); E lectotype of Pharta bimaculata (SMNH 1167); F C. rugosus, opisthosoma; G S. cambridgei (SMNH 1163), epigynum; H Epidius lyriger (13705); I Epidius rubropictus (MNHN 22347).

FIGURE 18. Borboropactus cinerascens (MHNG). A. male palp (A ventral, B prolateral, C retrolateral); D epigynum, ventral view; E vulva, ventral view. Scale bars = 0.2 mm (D, E), 0.5 mm (A – C).

FIGURE 24. Scanning electron micrographs of Borboropactus nyerere sp. nov. (USNM), female. A, B Chelicera; C – F left leg 1 (C, D dorsal, E, F lateral). Scale bars = 10 µm (D,) 100 µm (A – C, E, F).

FIGURE 26. Scanning electron micrographs of Borboropactus nyerere sp. nov. (USNM). A, C, D prosoma (A ventral, C dorsal, D details); B Sternum, detail. Scale bars = 10 µm (D), 100 µm (B), 1 mm (A, C).

FIGURE 42. Geraesta lehtineni sp. nov. (CASENT 9015689). A – B right male palp (A ventral, B retrolateral); C epigynum, ventral view; D vulva, ventral view. Scale bars = 0.1 mm (D, E), 0.2 mm (A – C).

FIGURE 45. Scanning electron micrographs of Geraesta mkwawa sp. nov. (USNM). A – D, F male palp (A prolateral, B, D ventral, C, F retrolateral); E cymbium, dorsal view. Scale bars = 100 µm.

FIGURE 35. A, B Epidius typicus (SMF 4246). A epigynum, ventral view; B vulva, ventral view. C, D, E Epidius rubropictus. C right male palp, ventral view (MNHN 22347); D – E female from Sumatra (D epigynum, ventral view, E vulva, ventral view). Scale bars = 0.2 mm.