Batueta cuspidata, Zhao, Qingyuan & Li, Shuqiang, 2014

Zhao, Qingyuan & Li, Shuqiang, 2014, A survey of linyphiid spiders from Xishuangbanna, Yunnan Province, China (Araneae, Linyphiidae), ZooKeys 460, pp. 1-181 : 8

Taxon classification Animalia Araneae Linyphiidae

Batueta cuspidata sp. n. Figs 9, 10, 11, 12

Types.

Holotype ♂: CHINA, Yunnan: Mengla County: Xishuangbanna Nature Reserve, Xiaolongha biodiversity preservation corridor, 21°24.161'N, 101°36.412'E, elevation ca 791 m, 16.06.2013, tropical seasonal rain forest, sieving. Paratypes 5♂, same data as holotype; 2♀, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, 21°55.551'N, 101°16.923'E, elevation ca 561 m, 5.-12.10.2007, rubber-tea plantation, hand-collecting; 1♀, 21°54.772'N, 101°16.043'E, elevation ca 556 m, 16.-31.06.2007, Paramichelia baillonii plantation, hand-collecting.

Etymology.

The name is derived from the Latin ‘cuspidatus’, which means 'pointed end’, referring to the sharp tip of the lateral apophysis of the convector; adjective.

Diagnosis.

This new species is mostly related to Batueta voluta Locket, 1982 and Batueta similis Wunderlich & Song, 1995, and can be distinguished from them by the two basal outgrowths of cymbium: one is broad, the other is blunt (Fig. 10A), while Batueta similis has two slim and curved outgrowths. The convector in Batueta cuspidata is well-developed, anterior branch long and erect, slightly folded distally (Figs 9A, 10B), in contrast with the short and pointed ones in Batueta voluta ( Locket 1982: fig. 58) and Batueta similis ( Wunderlich and Song 1995: fig. 10). The female is diagnosed by its spiraling copulatory ducts in epigyne (Fig. 11C), which was not clearly noted in Locket’s work, but its ventral fig resembles that in Batueta voluta ( Locket 1982: figs 62-63).

Description.

Male (holotype). Total length: 1.25. Carapace 0.63 long, 0.48 wide, orange, covered with deep impressions; ocular area elevated. Sternum 0.34 long, 0.34 wide. Clypeus 0.16 high. Chelicerae promargin with 3 teeth, retromargin with 3 teeth. Eye sizes and interdistances: AME 0.05, ALE 0.06, PME 0.06, PLE 0.06, AME-AME/AME 0.20, PME-PME/PME 0.67, AME-ALE/ALE 0.50, PME-PLE/PLE 0.33, coxae IV separated by 1.1 times their width. Length of legs: I 2.49 (0.63, 0.16, 0.69, 0.56, 0.45), II 2.14 (0.55, 0.16, 0.56, 0.47, 0.40), III 1.66 (0.41, 0.14, 0.41, 0.39, 0.31), IV 2.19 (0.55, 0.18, 0.56, 0.50, 0.40). Leg formula: I-IV-II-III. TmI 0.16, TmIV absent. Tibial spine formula: 1-1-1-1. Palp: patella with a thick dorsal spine, tibia without apophysis (Figs 9 A–B, 10 A–B). Cymbium with wide basal outgrowth, the tip of which with two small extensions turning clockwise in dorsal view (in left palp) (Fig. 10A); convector with three arms: anterior arm upright with a folded tip; ventral one with a black pointed tip; posterior one with hooked distal end (Fig. 9A, C); embolus whip-like, forming a coil (Fig. 10B).

Female (one of paratypes). Total length: 1.18. Carapace 0.55 long, 0.45 wide, yellow with green undertone. Sternum 0.32 long, 0.30 wide. Clypeus 0.11 high. Chelicerae promargin with 3 teeth, retromargin with 3 teeth. Eye sizes and interdistances: AME 0.03, ALE 0.05, PME 0.08, PLE 0.05, AME-AME/AME 0.33, PME-PME/PME 0.38, AME-ALE/ALE 0.60, PME-PLE/PLE 0.12, coxae IV separated by 2.9 times their width. Length of legs: I 2.08 (0.52, 0.16, 0.55, 0.41, 0.44), II 1.87 (0.48, 0.16, 0.47, 0.40, 0.36), III 1.56 (0.39, 0.16, 0.36, 0.33, 0.32), IV 1.99 (0.54, 0.18, 0.49, 0.40, 0.38). Leg formula: I-IV-II-III. TmI 0.20, TmIV absent. Tibial spine formula: 1-1-1-1. Abdomen greenish grey with irregular dark patches. Epigyne: ventral fig with three posterior projections, the middle one slightly bigger than the others (Fig. 11A); dorsal fig tongue-shaped (Fig. 11B); copulatory ducts following a double spiral pathway before joining spermathecae (Fig. 11C); spermathecae kidney-shaped, close to each other (Figs 11C, 12B).

Distribution.

Known only from type localities.