Scytodes nicksae, Iost & Alayón & Rheims, 2025

Iost, Flora M., Alayón, Giraldo & Rheims, Cristina A., 2025, On the Antillean spiders of the genus Scytodes Latreille, 1804 (Araneae, Scytodidae), Zootaxa 5728 (3), pp. 496-530 : 521

publication ID	https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5728.3.3
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:1E8C1A2B-F53A-441B-B7A5-2CBFF05B9215
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17895071
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03DC8794-F644-394D-DCA1-F2DAFB3EFC4E
treatment provided by	Plazi
scientific name	Scytodes nicksae
status	sp. nov.

Treatment

Scytodes nicksae sp. nov.

Figs 106–109 View FIGURES 106–109 , 127 View FIGURES 126–134 , 137 View FIGURES 135–138

Type material: Holotype: ♀, JAMAICA: Surrey County: Portland Parish, Oatley Mountain Trail, 18.0778ºN, 63.0577ºW, 142 mts., 17 January 2013, Team Carbio leg., CarBio 00004491, JA12 ( NMNH) GoogleMaps . Paratype: 1 ♀, same collection data as for holotype, CarBio00004132A, JA12 ( NMNH) GoogleMaps .

Etymology. The specific name is a matronym honoring American singer and songwriter Stevie Nicks, known for her work as a solo artist and as a member of Fleetwood Mac, and recognized for her distinctive voice, lyrical style, and influence on rock music.

Diagnosis. Females of S. nicksae sp. nov. are distinguished from the remaining species by the IS shaped like the neck and head of a brontosaurus and OS with a slender stalk and round tip ( Figs 109 View FIGURES 106–109 , 127 View FIGURES 126–134 ). Males are unknown.

Description. Female (CarBio00004491, holotype): prosoma very dark brown with some pale brown markings; chelicerae pale yellow with brown outlines; legs pale brown with brown and dark brown markings covering the surface; labium dark brown with two paler oval-shaped markings; endites brown with dark brown spots covering the surface; sternum dark brown; opisthosoma dark brown with sparse pale markings ( Figs 106, 107 View FIGURES 106–109 ). Measurements: total length 7.1; prosoma: 3.1 long, 2.7 wide; sternum: 1.5 long, 1.1 wide; labium: 0.45 long, 0.50 wide; eye diameters: PME 0.20, ALE 0.19, PLE 0.20; legs (1243): I: 18.4 (5.2, 0.9, 5.2, 5.8, 1.3); II: 14.8 (4.2, 0.8, 4.0, 4.6, 1.2); III: 10.8 (3.2, 0.8, 2.7, 3.0, 1.1); IV: 14.1 (4.2, 0.8, 4.1, 3.8, 1.2). Female genitalia: positioning ridges shaped like a broken wish-bone, postero-laterad and separated from each other by slightly less than their length ( Fig. 108 View FIGURES 106–109 ). Vulva: IS twice as long as OS; PS longer than IS and convoluted ( Figs 109 View FIGURES 106–109 , 127 View FIGURES 126–134 ).

Male. Unknown.

Variation. Females (n=2): total length: 7.1–7.3; prosoma length: 3.1–3.3; femur I length: 4.4–5.2.

Distribution. Only known from the type locality in Oatley Mountain, Jamaica ( Fig. 137 View FIGURES 135–138 ).