Cheiracanthium wuquan Yu & Li, 2020

Zhang, Jianshuang, Yu, Hao & Li, Shuqiang, 2020, New cheiracanthiid spiders from Xishuangbanna rainforest, southwestern China (Araneae, Cheiracanthiidae), ZooKeys 940, pp. 51-77 : 51

Cheiracanthium wuquan Yu & Li sp. nov. Figure 6

Holotype.

♀ (IZCAS-Ar 34747, YHCH020), China, Yunnan Province, Xishuangbanna, Mengla County, Menglun Town, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, 48 km landmark in the reserve, seasonal rainforest; 21°58.704'N, 101°19.748'E, elevation ca. 1088 m, 12.VIII.2011, Guo Zheng leg.

Etymology.

The specific name is derived from the Chinese pinyin 'wǔ quān’, which means 'five loops’, and refers to the coiled copulatory ducts, forming five entwined coils; noun in apposition.

Diagnosis.

The female of the new species is similar to those of C. japonicum Bösenberg & Strand, 1906 ( Zhu and Zhang 2011: 341, fig. 246A, B), C. simaoense Zhang & Yin, 1999 ( Zhang and Yin 1999: 286, figs 6, 7), C. turiae Strand, 1917 ( Deeleman-Reinhold 2001: 234, figs 292, 293), and C. virescens (Sundevall, 1833) ( Zhu and Zhang 2011: 346, fig. 250A, B) by the general shape of the atrium and receptacles and the coiling of the copulatory duct around the distal part of the receptacle. The new species can be easily distinguished by the different number of copulatory duct coils (copulatory ducts with five turns in C. wuquan sp. nov. vs. three turns in C. simaoense and C. virescens and four turns in C. japonicum and C. turiae ) (Figs 6C-G ).

Description.

Female. Holotype (Fig. 6A, B ): TL 6.85; CL 2.69, CW 2.42, CI (CL/CW) 1.11; AL 4.15, AW 2.78. Carapace yellowish orange except yellowish brown ocular area, without distinct pattern; cervical groove and radial grooves indistinct. Eyes: both anterior and posterior eye rows almost straight in dorsal view, PER slightly wider than AER. All eyes dark, with black rings. Eye sizes and interdistances: OAL 0.37, OAW 1.10; AME 0.15, ALE 0.11, PME 0.14, PLE 0.14; AME-AME 0.20, AME-ALE 0.23, PME-PME 0.30, PME-PLE 0.33; MOQA 0.46, MOQP 0.57, CLL 0.04. Chelicerae robust and brownish red, with long, red wine-coloured fangs, with three teeth on promargin and two on retromargin. Sternum pale yellow, STL 1.35, STW 1.12. Labium and endites light orange. Legs yellowish white with brown metatarsi and tarsi, without distinct markings. Leg measurements: I 9.38 (2.54,3.35, 2.73, 0.77), II 7.83 (2.00, 2.88, 2.23, 0.72), III 5.78 (1.64, 1.86, 1.65, 0.62), IV 7.96 (2.41, 2.43, 2.42, 0.70); LL/CL 3.49. Abdomen oval, uniformly grey, dorsum with two pairs of conspicuous muscle depressions; venter medially with two longitudinal dotted lines.

Epigyne (Figs 6C-G ). Atrium large, slightly wider than long, located at posterior portion of epigynal plate, with arched anterior hood and indistinct posterior margin; two copulatory openings, large and contiguous, located at basolateral atrial borders; receptacles and copulatory ducts conspicuous through epigynal plate in ventral view; transparent copulatory ducts coiled, with five ascending turns, connecting receptacle anteriorly; receptacles elongated and separated by 1.5 diameters, pear shaped, ducts coil around distal part.

Male. Unknown.

Comments.

Due to the large and long, ovoid receptacles and the slender copulatory duct encircling the anterior part of the receptacles, we justifiably place C. wuquan sp. nov. in Cheiracanthium sensu stricto. Until now, five Cheiracanthium species from China are known from males only: C. antungense Chen & Huang, 2012, C. echinulatum Zhang, Zhang & Yu, 2018, C. gobi Schmidt & Barensteiner, 2000, C. ningmingense Zhang & Yin, 1999, and C. chayuense Li & Zhang, 2019 ( WSC 2020). Based on the palpal structure, with the exception of C. ningmingense , the other four species do not belong to Cheiracanthium sensu stricto ( Wunderlich 2012). C. ningmingense is presently known from Ningming county in Guangxi (type locality), Shimen county in Hunan, and Xishuangbanna in Yunnan. However, C. ningmingense maybe a junior synonym of one known species.

Distribution.

Known only from the type locality, Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China.

Figures

Figure 6. Cheiracanthium wuquan sp. nov., female holotype. A Habitus, dorsal view B habitus, ventral view C epigyne, intact, ventral view D epigyne, cleared, ventral view E vulva, cleared, dorsal view F epigyne, cleared and embedded in Arabic gum, ventral view G vulva, cleared and embedded in Arabic gum, dorsal view. Abbreviations: A = atrium; AAM = atrial anterior margin; CD = copulatory duct; CO = copulatory opening; FD = fertilization duct; R = receptacle. Scale bars: 1 mm (A, B); 0.2 mm (C-G).