Tropizodium viridurbium, Prajapati, Dhruv A., Murthappa, Prashanthakumara S., Sankaran, Pradeep M. & Sebastian, Pothalil A., 2016

Prajapati, Dhruv A., Murthappa, Prashanthakumara S., Sankaran, Pradeep M. & Sebastian, Pothalil A., 2016, Two new species of the ant-eating spider genus Tropizodium Jocqué & Churchill, 2005 (Araneae, Zodariidae, Zodariinae) from India, Zootaxa 4061 (5), pp. 575-584 : 579-581

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.11646/zootaxa.4061.5.7
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:8CBB6D13-5F64-44DF-A154-CC65127EF91F
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6069152
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/A64D87BE-8151-FF89-7BA3-FDF302727482
treatment provided by	Plazi
scientific name	Tropizodium viridurbium
status	sp. nov.

Treatment

Tropizodium viridurbium View in CoL sp. n.

( Figs. 4A View FIGURE 4 A , 5A–C View FIGURE 5 A – C , 8A–G View FIGURE 8 A – G )

Type material. Holotype: Female ( ADSH 112762 A), INDIA: Gujarat: Gandhinagar, Aranya Park near Palaj, 23°11'42.30"N, 72°40'25.67"E, 77 m alt., 17 June 2015, D. A. Prajapati leg., from ground, by hand.

Diagnosis. T. viridurbium sp. n. is closely related to Tropizodium murphyorum Dankittipakul, Jocqué & Singtripop, 2012 , but can be easily differentiated by a median ‘crescent shaped’ sclerotized plate adjacent to the posterior epigynal margin (compare fig. 5B with Dankittipakul et al. 2012a, figs. 7, 12).

Description. Female (holotype, Figs 4A View FIGURE 4 A , 8A–E View FIGURE 8 A – G ): Prosoma, clypeus, chelicerae, fangs, maxillae, labium, leg segments brownish. Cephalic region square shaped, dark brown with reticulation; thoracic region broad. Clypeal margin provided with long, thick bristles. Chilum absent. Chelicerae with stout dorsal setae; cheliceral margins without teeth; inter-cheliceral triangle small. Sternum pale yellowish, heart shaped, with triangular extensions fitting in coxal concavities. Opisthosoma oval; dorsum and lateral sides black, dorsum with creamy-white striae; venter pale yellowish. Leg segments with thick covering of incised hairs; femora I–III provided with single dorsal spine; tibiae I–IV with single pair of ventral spines; metatarsus I with single pair of ventral spines, II–IV possess several irregularly placed ventral spines (II–6, III–10 and IV–9). Palpal segments brownish; patellae with one prolateral spine, tibiae with two prolateral spines, cymbium/tarsi with four prolateral and one ventral spines. Posterior ventral spines (PVS) present, arranged in single row ( Fig. 8D View FIGURE 8 A – G ). Body length 4.65. Prosoma length 2.14, width (in the middle) 1.67, height (in the middle) 1.27. Opisthosoma length 2.51, width (in the middle) 2.02, height (in the middle) 2.1. Eye diameter: ALE 0.08. AME 1.59. PLE 0.06. PME 0.08. Eye interdistances: AME–AME 0.11. AME–ALE 0.04. AME–PME 0.06. ALE–PME 0.05. ALE–ALE 0.5. PLE–PLE 0.3. PME–PME 0.48. PME– PLE 0.09. Clypeus height at ALE 0.37, at AME 0.57. Chelicera length 0.59. Measurements of palp and legs. Palp 1.62 [0.57, 0.31, 0.35, 0.39], I 7.19 [1.79, 0.45, 1.49, 2.21, 1.25], II 6.46 [1.7, 0.46, 1.32, 1.96, 1.02], III 6.43 [1.69, 0.47, 1.27, 2.06, 0.94], IV 8.61 [2.38, 0.47, 2.0, 2.66, 1.10]. Leg formula: 4123. Epigyne ( Figs. 5A–C View FIGURE 5 A – C , 8F–G View FIGURE 8 A – G ): Epigyne simple. Spermathecae nearly globular. Copulatory ducts short, originate posterior to spermathecae ( Fig. 5B View FIGURE 5 A – C ). Epigynal orifice absent, instead a median ‘crescent shaped’ sclerotized plate closely adhered to the posterior epigynal margin ( Figs. 5B View FIGURE 5 A – C , 8G View FIGURE 8 A – G ).

Etymology. The specific epithet is an adjective and is derived from the combination of two Latin words: viridis (green) + urbs (city), referring to the nickname of the type locality (Gandhinagar) ‘Green city’. Distribution. Only known from type locality ( Fig. 9 View FIGURE 9 ).