Luzonacera lattuensis Li & Li

Chang, Wan-Jin, Li, Fengyuan & Li, Shuqiang, 2019, Three new species of the spider genus Luzonacera Li & Li, 2017 from Philippines (Araneae, Psilodercidae), ZooKeys 822, pp. 17-31 : 22-23

Luzonacera lattuensis Li & Li sp. n. Figs 5, 6, 9, 10

Types.

Holotype: ♂ (IZCAS), Philippines, Luzon Island, Cagayon Province, Tuguegarao City, Penablanca Village, Lattu-Lattuc Cave, 17°42'23"N, 121°49'2"E, 111 m, 31.V.2015, F. Ballarin and Y. Li. Paratypes: 1♂, 1♀ (IZCAS), same data as holotype.

Etymology.

The species name is an adjective referring to the type locality.

Diagnosis.

Both sexes of L. lattuensis sp. n. and L. francescoballarini sp. n. are very similar. Males of L. lattuensis sp. n. can be distinguished from L. francescoballarini sp. n. by the bulb with a dorsal notch (Figure 5A) and a relatively longer cymbium tip (Figure 5E); females can be distinguished by having shorter spermathecae with more widely spaced bases (Figure 6A; versus longer spermathecae with more narrowly spaced bases in L. francescoballarini sp. n. in Figure 8A).

Description.

Male (Holotype). Total length 3.85; carapace 1.28 long, 0.96 wide; abdomen 2.56 long, 0.75 wide. Carapace round and brown, with three longitudinal brown bands; the central band is 3 times wider than the lateral bands (Figure 6C). Fovea shallow, brown. Anterior margin of thoracic region distinctly elevated. Chelicerae brown with lamina, promargin with one tooth and retromargin with two small teeth (Figure 9B). Clypeus slanting, brown with two pale rounded areas laterally and two triangular projections basally. Labium slanting, dark brown. Sternum pale brown with three dark brown patches laterally. Abdomen elongated, with complex patterns dorsally and ventrally. Legs brown with white annulations; measurements: I & II missing, III 7.80 (2.24, 0.32, 2.24, 2.00, 1.00), IV missing. Palp (Figure 5 A–E): tibia swollen at the base, length/width = 2.50; cymbium with distal protrusion, length/width = 2.0; bulb light brown, pyriform; embolus forms a slender spiral extending subapically from bulb.

Female (paratype). General features and coloration are similar to the male, but the female is slightly larger (Figure 6D, E). Measurements: total length 3.81; carapace 1.25 long, 1.00 wide; abdomen 2.56 long, 1.40 wide. Leg measurements: I 11.05 (3.25, 0.40, 3.20, 3.20, 1.00), II 10.57 (3.20, 0.32, 2.88, 3.21, 0.96), III 6.74 (2.00, 0.32, 1.92, 1.75, 0.75), IV 13.35 (3.75, 0.31, 3.80, 4.49, 1.00). Internal genitalia: two pairs of twisted spermathecae, medial spermathecae with globose distal parts and short stalks, and lateral spermathecae with globose distal parts and long stalks (stalks ca. 3 times longer than distal parts) (Figure 6A).

Distribution.

Type locality only (Figure 10).

Natural history.

Collected close to the ground along the wall of a dark, rather dry and dusty secondary cave with huge rocks.

Comments.

Based on the 651 bp- aligned sequences, the COI uncorrected K2P-distance between L. lattuensis sp. n. and L. chang is 12.4%, between L. lattuensis sp. n. and L. duan is 11.5%, and between L. lattuensis sp. n. and L. peterjaegeri sp. n. is 13.6%.