Pholcus songi, Zhang & Zhu, 2009

Zhang, Feng & Zhu, Ming-Sheng, 2009, A review of the genus Pholcus (Araneae: Pholcidae) from China, Zootaxa 2037 (1), pp. 1-114 : 80-82

Pholcus songi sp. nov.

( Fig. 45 )

Types. Male holotype, 6♂, 7♀ paratypes, CHINA: Hubei Province, Fang County, Mt. Shennongjia [31°42’N, 110°36’E], September 22, 2001, leg. M. S. Zhu and Z. Z. Yang ( MHBU) .

Diagnosis. Among its close Pholcus relatives (see the remark of P. clavatus ), this species is very similar to P. taibaiensis in the shape of the palpal bulb and epigynum, both with a branched appendix of palpal bulb ( Figs. 45H and 52H ) and a teat-shaped epigynal apophyses ( Figs. 45A and 52A ). It can be distinguished from them by the shape of the procursus ( Figs. 45G–I ), by the shape of appendix, which splits into two parts of almost equal length ( Figs. 45H–I ) and by a longer club-shaped epigynal apophysis ( Fig. 45A ).

Etymology. The specific name is a patronym in honor of the late Dr. D. X. Song, a well known arachnologist from China.

Description. Male (holotype): total body length 4.9: cephalothorax 1.4 long, 1.5 wide; abdomen 3.5 long, 1.6 wide. Leg I: 37.5 (9.5+0.9+9.1+15.5+2.5), tibia II: 6.1, tibia III: 3.9, tibia IV: 5.3; tibia I L/D: 61. Prosoma shape as in Fig. 45C . Carapace short, broad and almost circular, ochre, with pair of brown marks broadly connecting to ocular area. Cephalic region raised, with a slender longitudinal brown stripe centrally, ocular area dark yellow. Clypeus 0.52, dark ochre, without marks. Distance AME–AME 0.06. Diameter AME 0.10, ALE 0.16, PME0.13, PLE 0.14. Chelicerae as in Fig. 45E , with pair of black apophyses distally, pair of unsclerotized triangular apophyses proximolaterally and pair of unsclerotized rounded apophyses proximocentrally. Labium light yellow. Endites gray. Sternum dark gray, almost dark brown, with three pairs of yellow patches laterally and a mark centrally as in Fig. 45F . Femora, patellae and tibiae fawn, with dark rings, metatarsi and tarsi brown. Abdomen cylindrical, pale ochre, dorsum with many small brown spots as in Fig. 45C . Venter pale brown. Palps as in Figs. 45H–I ; with a semicircular uncus, appendix tip split into two parts and hook-shaped, trochanter with a long ventral apophysis. Procursus as in Fig. 45G . Tarsal organ capsulate.

Variation. Tibia I in six male paratypes: 8.3–9.2 (mean 8.6). Body length in six male paratypes: 4.4–4.9.

Female: in general very similar to male. Total length of bodies 4.0–4.5. A paratype measured (Mt. Shennongjia) total length 4.4: cephalothorax 1.2 long, 1.4 wide; abdomen 3.2 long, 1.6 wide. Tibia I: 6.6. Distance AME–AME 0.08. Diameter AME 0.11, ALE 0.14, PME 0.12, PLE 0.13. Epigynum roughly triangular as in Fig. 45A , with a club-shaped apophysis on the top. Dorsal view as in Fig. 45B , with a trapeziform sclerotized arch anteriorly and a pair of oval pore plates.

Distribution. Known from type locality only.

Figures

FIGURE 45. Pholcus songi sp. nov. A. epigynum, ventral view. B. same, dorsal view. C. male body, dorsal view. D. trochanter of male left palp, dorsal view. E. male left chelicera, frontal view. F. male sternum, ventral view. G. left procursus, dorsal view. H. left palp, prolateral view. I. same, retrolateral view. Scale lines: 1.0mm (C), 0.5mm (A, B, E–I), 0.2mm (D).

FIGURE 52. Pholcus taibaiensis Wang & Zhu, 1992. A. epigynum, ventral view. B. same, dorsal view. C. male body, dorsal view. D. trochanter of male left palp, dorsal view. E. male left chelicera, frontal view. F. male sternum, ventral view. G. left procursus, dorsal view. H. left palp, prolateral view. I. same, retrolateral view. Scale lines: 1.0mm (C), 0.5mm (A, B, E–I), 0.2mm (D).