Hotwheels, Liu & Zhang, 2024

Liu, Bo & Zhang, Feng, 2024, Hotwheels gen. nov., a new ground spider genus (Araneae, Gnaphosidae) from southwest China, ZooKeys 1189, pp. 337-347 : 337

publication ID	https://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1189.115996
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:E7B9E7E0-7D64-469A-9B6C-96EBAE1944F9
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/1E5BA5C9-E641-4F3D-B4DC-ED0525F6416E
taxon LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:act:1E5BA5C9-E641-4F3D-B4DC-ED0525F6416E
treatment provided by	ZooKeys by Pensoft
scientific name	Hotwheels
status	gen. nov.

Treatment

Genus Hotwheels gen. nov.

Type species.

Hotwheels sisyphus sp. nov.

Etymology.

The generic name refers to Hot Wheels, a collectible die-cast toy car made by Mattel, as the long, coiled embolus of this new genus resembles a Hot Wheels track; neuter in gender.

Diagnosis.

The new genus resembles Synaphosus Platnick & Shadab, 1980 by metatarsi III and IV having a preening brush, the male palp has a long embolus and large conductor, and the epigyne has a hood and long copulatory ducts (Figs 2 View Figure 2 - 4C, D View Figure 4 , 5 View Figure 5 ). It can be distinguished from Synaphosus by: 1) the presence of a median apophysis (Figs 2 View Figure 2 , 3A-D View Figure 3 ) vs. median apophysis absent (Fig. 3F, G View Figure 3 ; Ovtsharenko et al. 1994: figs 12-14); 2) the basal half of the embolus which rotates counterclockwise (Fig. 2A View Figure 2 ) vs. basal half of the embolus rotates clockwise ( Ovtsharenko et al. 1994: figs 12-14; Marusik and Omelko 2018: figs 8-11, 20-24, 26-36); 3) a weakly sclerotized conductor without an apophysis or outgrowth (Figs 2A View Figure 2 , 3A-D View Figure 3 ) vs. a partially sclerotized conductor with an apophysis or outgrowth (Fig. 3F, G View Figure 3 ; Marusik and Omelko 2018: figs 8-11, 20-24, 26-36); and 4) the copulatory duct is circular, wide anteriorly, and almost twice the width of the primary spermathecae (Fig. 5 View Figure 5 ) vs. copulatory duct twisted, narrow anteriorly, and narrower than the primary spermathecae ( Ovtsharenko et al. 1994: figs 15, 16; Marusik and Omelko 2018: figs 5-7, 12, 13, 17-19, 39-41).

Description.

Small-sized (total length: males = 4.86-5.44; females = 5.45-5.98). In dorsal view, carapace elongate-ovoid, anterior eye row slightly recurved, posterior eye row straight; PME oblique, flat (Figs 1A View Figure 1 , 4A View Figure 4 ). Cheliceral promargin with 4 or 5 teeth, retromargin with 3 or 4 teeth (Fig. 1C, D View Figure 1 ). Leg formula: 4123. Trochanters not notched. Metatarsi III and IV with preening brushes. Sternum elongate oval, with straight anterior edge, pointed posteriorly (Figs 1B View Figure 1 , 4B View Figure 4 ). Anterior lateral spinnerets with 6 enlarged piriform gland spigots, separated by almost 1.2 times their diameter (Fig. 1E, F View Figure 1 ). Color in alcohol (Figs 1A, B View Figure 1 , 4A, B View Figure 4 ): carapace yellow-brown; cephalic groove and radial furrow black; fovea distinct, longitudinal. Legs yellow-brown. Abdomen grey, males with anterior dorsal scutum, almost half of abdominal length and more than half of width.

Male palp and epigyne.

Same as for the species.

Comments.

Murphy (2007) made a formal grouping of gnaphosids without subfamilies, Azevedo et al. (2017) based subfamilies on the results of a morphological phylogenetic analysis, and Lin and Li (2020) erected a monotypic subfamily, Solitudinae . Hotwheels sp. nov. cannot be placed in any known Gnaphosidae subfamily because the cheliceral promargin has 4 or 5 teeth, and the retromargin has 3 or 4 teeth (Fig. 1C, D View Figure 1 ) vs. cheliceral promargin with keel in Herpyllinae ( Azevedo et al. 2017: fig. 20e, g) and cheliceral retromargin with a serrated keel or a rounded lamina in Gnaphosinae ( Azevedo et al. 2017: fig. 20b, d, f); metatarsi III and IV with preening brush (Fig. 4C, D View Figure 4 ) vs. metatarsi III and IV with preening comb in Zelotinae ( Azevedo et al. 2017: fig. 22h); fertilization ducts directed laterally (Fig. 5B, D View Figure 5 ) vs. fertilization ducts directed posteriorly in Leptodrassinae ( Ott 2012: fig. 40); trochanters not notched (Fig. 1B View Figure 1 ) vs. trochanters notched in Drassodinae ( Azevedo et al. 2017: fig. 24); leg IV tarsus straight (Fig. 4C, D View Figure 4 ) vs. leg IV tarsus curved in Solitudinae ( Lin and Li 2020: fig. 1E, F). It can be placed in the Echemus group of genera by the abdomens plain-coloured dorsally and males having an anterior dorsal scutum (Figs 1A, B View Figure 1 , 4A, B View Figure 4 ) ( Murphy 2007).