Falcileptoneta decemspina, Oh & Lee, 2023

Oh, Jong-Hwa & Lee, Seunghwan, 2023, Six new epigean species of the genus Falcileptoneta Komatsu, 1970 (Araneae Leptonetidae) from South Korea, Zootaxa 5339 (1), pp. 40-58 : 45-46

Falcileptoneta decemspina sp. nov.

Figures 1A–B , 4–5 , 13 (2)

Type material. Holotype: ♁, Paryeong-ro , Yeongnam-myeon, Goheung-gun, Jeollanam-do, Korea (34°37ʹ23.4ʺN, 127°27ʹ05.8ʺE), 14.ix.2021, J.H. Oh leg. ( SNU) . Paratypes: 1 ♁, 1 ♀, and 4 juv., same data as holotype ( SNU) ; 1 male, 28.viii.2017, J.W. Kim & Y.G. Choi leg., other data same as holotype ( YIM) ; 1 ♁, Haban-ro , Bongnaemyeon, Goheung-gun, Jeollanam-do, Korea (34°26ʹ59.1ʺN, 127°30ʹ11.5ʺE), 15.iii.2017, J.W. Kim & Y.G. Choi leg. ( YIM) .

Etymology. The specific name is derived from the combination of the Latin numeral decem meaning “ten” and the noun spina meaning “spine” referring to the number of spines in the tibia of the male palp.

Diagnosis. Falcileptoneta decemspina sp. nov. can be separated from all Falcileptoneta species (except F. hansanensis Seo, 2015 ) by the following combination: palpal tibia with row of strong spines, RTA two spine-like. Separated from F. hansanensis by having eight strong spines on the tibia (six in F. hansanensis ).

Description. Male (Holotype). Habitus as in Fig. 4A, B . Body length 1.30. Prosoma pale brown with purple border line in thoracic region, with two setae scattered in thoracic area, one in front of AER, and three around PME, 0.68 long 0.59 wide, 1.15 times longer than wide; eyes six well developed. Sternum shield shape, slightly protruded posteriorly, 0.46 long, 0.40 wide. Endite L-shaped, longer than wide. Legs thin and slightly elongated, femur I 1.62 times longer than prosoma length, leg formula I-IV-II-III, measurements: I 4.15 (1.10, 0.24, 1.24, 0.92, 0.65); II 3.31 (0.91, 0.23, 0.93, 0.69, 0.55); III 2.80 (0.74, 0.21, 0.77, 0.64, 0.44); IV 3.99 (1.07, 0.23, 1.25, 0.88, 0.56); palp 1.23 (0.47, 0.23, 0.27, 0.26). Palp ( Fig. 4C–F ): femur without row of strong spine; tibia with two trichobothrium, with eight strong spine retrolaterally; retrolateral tibial apophysis absent, but replaced by two spines; tarsus undivided, apically blunt with dense of long setae; palpal bulb oval, 1.87 times longer than wide, with thick beak-like embolus tip, and three types of sclerite: median sclerite narrow leaf-like, prolateral sclerite dark needle shaped, prolateral sclerite membranous. Opisthosoma brown and oval without particular patterns, with scattered setae, 0.62 long, 0.52 wide.

Female. Habitus as in Fig. 5A, B . Similar to male in general appearance but slightly dark and larger than male in body length. Total length 1.56. Prosoma dark brown, 0.66 long 0.57 wide, 1.16 times longer than wide; eyes six well developed. Sternum shield shape, 0.45 long, 0.37 wide. Legs thin and slightly elongated, femur I 1.73 times longer than prosoma length, leg formula I-IV-II-III, Leg measurements: I 3.78 (0.99, 0.24, 1.13, 0.84, 0.58), II 3.08 (0.82, 0.23, 0.86, 0.66, 0.51), III 2.72 (0.73, 0.21, 0.72, 0.62, 0.44), IV 3.59 (0.92, 0.22, 1.06, 0.81, 0.58), palp 1.15 (0.38, 0.15, 0.27, 0.35). Opisthosoma brown, partially dark, 0.90 long, 0.70 wide. Internal genitalia ( Fig. 5C ): atrium sub-quadrangle, spermathecae stalk coiled twice, spermathecae circular heading laterally.

Habitat information. This species was found in a layer of litter in mountainous regions.

Distribution. South Korea (Goheung-gun, Jeollanam-do) ( Fig. 13 ).

Comments. DNA barcodes of this species have been reported in Oh et al. (2022), synonym to Falcileptoneta sp 16 (GenBank Acc. No.: ON042123, ON042124, ON042125, ON042127, ON042128).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Live habitus of collected specimens (A, C, E: male, B, D: female, F: female, immature). A–B, Falcileptoneta decemspina sp. nov.; C–D, F. innuta sp. nov.; E–F, F. jindoensis sp. nov..

FIGURE 4. Falcileptoneta decemspina sp. nov., holotype male. A–B, habitus (A: dorsal view, B: ventral view); C–F, left palp (C: prolateral view, D: retrolateral view, E: dorsal view, F: ventral view). Abbreviations: Em=embolus, MS=median sclerite, PS=prolateral sclerite, RTS=retrolateral tibial spine. Scale bars: A–B=0.5 mm, C–F=0.1 mm.

FIGURE 5. Falcileptoneta decemspina sp. nov., paratype female. A–B, habitus (A: dorsal view, B: ventral view); C, internal genitalia, dorsal view. Abbreviations: At=atrium, SH=spermathecae, SS=spermathecae stalk. Scale bars: A–B=0.5 mm, C=0.1 mm.

FIGURE 13. Sampling sites of collected specimens of six new Falcileptoneta species from Korea. 1 (Pink), F. alboclavata sp. nov.; 2 (Orange), F. decemspina sp. nov.; 3, (Brown) F. innuta sp. nov.; 4 (Yellow), F. jindoensis sp. nov.; 5 (Green), F. stilla sp. nov.; 6 (Blue), F. triformis sp. nov..