Pholcus yugong, 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 : 104-106

Pholcus yugong sp. nov.

( Fig. 61 )

Types. Male holotype, 2♀, 1♂ paratypes, CHINA: Henan Province, Jiyuan County, Mt. Wangwu [35°12’N, 112°6’E], July 30, 2006, leg. B. S. Zhang ( MHBU) .

Diagnosis. Among its close Pholcus relatives (see the remark of P. henanensis ), this species is very similar to P. linzhou and P. paralinzhou sp. nov., but can be distinguished from these two by the shape of tip of the procursus ( Figs. 61G–I ), by the hook-shaped appendix ( Fig. 61H ), and by the shape of epigynum, which has a stupa-shaped anterior plate ( Fig. 61A ).

Etymology. Named for “Yugong”, an old man who lived for nearly ninety years behind Mts. Wangwu and Taihang in ancient China. For each of those years he was troubled by the fact that the mountains blocked the way whenever he went out, so he and his entire family toiled to remove the mountains. Eventually the gods were moved by his spirit and sent two heavenly workers to remove the mountains.

Description. Male (holotype): total body length 4.5: cephalothorax 1.4 long, 1.4 wide; abdomen 3.1 long, 1.2 wide. Leg I: 38.8 (10.0+1.0+9.8+15.4+2.6), tibia II: 6.1, tibia III: 4.0, tibia IV: 5.5; tibia I L/D: 61. Prosoma shape as in Fig. 61C . Carapace short, broad and almost circular, ochre, with brown marks broadly connecting to ocular area. Cephalic region raised, with brown longitudinal lines centrally and some brown dots laterally, ocular area dark yellow. Clypeus 0.40, dark ochre, without marks. Distance AME–AME 0.04. Diameter AME 0.08, ALE 0.15, PME 0.13, PLE 0.13. Chelicerae as in Fig. 61E , with pair of black apophyses distally and pair of unsclerotized large thumb-shaped apophyses proximolaterally. Labium and endites light yellow. Sternum almost dark brown, with four pairs of yellow patches as in Fig. 61F . Femora, patellae and tibiae ochre, with dark rings, metatarsi and tarsi light brown. Abdomen cylindrical, pale ochre, dorsum with many small brown patterns as in Fig. 61C . Venter pale brown. Palps as in Figs. 61H–I , bulb with a large uncus, appendix with a hook-shaped tip. Procursus as in Fig. 61G . Tarsal organ capsulate.

Variation. Tibia I in other male 9.7. Body length in other male: 4.5.

Female: in general very similar to male. Total length of bodies 4.6, 5.0. A specimen measured (paratype), total length 4.6: cephalothorax 1.4 long, 1.5 wide; abdomen 3.2 long, 1.4 wide. Tibia I: 7.2. Distance AME–AME 0.03. Diameter AME 0.08, ALE 0.16, PME 0.14, PLE 0.14. Epigynum roughly stupa-shaped as in Fig. 61A , with a long whip-shaped apophysis on the top. Dorsal view as in Fig. 61B , with a rainbow-shaped sclerotized arch anteriorly and a pair of oval pore plates.

Distribution. Known from type locality only.

Figures

FIGURE 61. Pholcus yugong 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, D–I).