Lepthyphantes buensis Bosmans & Jocqué, 1983

Tanasevitch, Andrei V., 2020, Linyphiid spiders collected by V. Mahnert in Kenya, with the description of a new genus and two new species (Arachnida: Araneae), Revue suisse de Zoologie 127 (2), pp. 349-360 : 353-355

Lepthyphantes buensis Bosmans & Jocqué, 1983

Figs 27-28 , 36-40

Material examined: MHNG; 1 male, 2 females [sample KENYA-74/01]; KENYA, Nairobi, sifting dead leaves in garden; 2.XI.1974; leg. V. Mahnert.

Short re-description: Male. Total length 2.00 ( Fig. 27 ). Carapace unmodified, 0.88 long, 0.75 wide, greyish pale brown, with narrow grey radial stripes. Chelicerae 0.33 long. Legs pale brown to yellow. Leg I 4.10 long (1.05 + 0.25 + 1.05 + 1.10 + 0.65), IV 3.63 long (1.00 + 0.23 + 0.95 + 0.95 + 0.50). Chaetotaxy: FeI: 0-1-0- 0, II-IV: 0-0-0-0; TiI: 2-1-1-0, TiII: 2-0-1-0. MtI-III: 1-0-0-0. TmI 0.11. Palp ( Figs 36-40 ): cymbium with two projections basally; paracymbium relatively large, toothless; embolus large, slightly bent, carina reduced; terminal apophysis consisting of two parts of different shapes; lamella characteristica well-sclerotized, complex. Abdomen 1.13 long, 0.75 wide, dorsal pattern as in Fig. 27 .

Female. Total length 2.25 ( Fig. 28 ). Carapace 0.93 long, 0.75 wide. Chelicerae 0.45 long. Leg I 4.34 long (1.10 + 0.28 + 1.08 + 1.00 + 0.88), IV 3.98 (1.10 + 0.25 + 1.00 + 1.05 + 0.58). TmI 0.13. Abdomen 1.50 long, 1.13 wide, dorsal pattern as in Fig. 28 . Epigyne as illustrated by Bosmans & Jocqué (1983), Bosmans (1986). Body and leg coloration, and chaetotaxy as in male.

Distribution: This species was hitherto known from Cameroon only: Mt Cameroon, 1200-1800 m a.s.l. ( Bosmans & Jocqué, 1983) and Mbam Massif, 1200 m a.s.l. ( Bosmans, 1986). It is here recorded for the fauna of Kenya for the first time.

Taxonomic remarks: Judging from male genital morphology, namely the structure the embolus (see Saaristo & Tanasevitch, 1996b), the species belongs to Lepthyphantes sensu stricto, together with L. cruentatus Tanasevitch, 1987 , L. iranicus Saaristo & Tanasevitch, 1996a , L. leprosus ( Ohlert, 1867) , L. minutus ( Blackwall, 1833) , L. rossitsae Dimitrov, 2018 and L. simiensis Bosmans, 1978 .

Figures

Figs 27-35. Photographs of Lepthyphantes (s. str.) buensis Bosmans & Jocqué, 1983 (27-28), Machadocara gongylioides Miller, 1970 (29-31) and Pelecopsis subflava Russell-Smith & Jocqué, 1986 (32-35). (27-29, 32) Habitus, dorsal view. (30-31, 33-35) Prosoma, frontal (30), lateral (31, 34), dorsal (33) and fronto-lateral view (35).

Figs 36-40. Details of male palp structure of Lepthyphantes (s. str.) buensis Bosmans & Jocqué, 1983. (36) Right palp, retrolateral view. (37) Cymbium, prolateral view. (38) Paracymbium, lateral view. (39) Embolic division, ventro-prolateral view. (40) Lamella characteristica, lateral view.