Bharatasoma eskovi Marusik, 2023

Marusik, Y. M., 2023, A NEW GENUS OF ARANEOID SPIDERS (ARANEI: ARANEOIDAE) FROM NORTHERN INDIA, Far Eastern Entomologist 489, pp. 1-7 : 5-6

Bharatasoma eskovi Marusik , sp. n.

https://zoobank.org/NomenclaturalActs/ 89C84567-4B4A-46A8-8053-F6194A783391

Figs 1–3

TYPE MATERIAL. Holotype: ♀, India: Himachal Pradesh: Patlikuhal Town , 32°07.4ʹ N, 77°08.8ʹ E, 1200 m, 17–23.VI 1999, coll. Y.M. Marusik ( ZMMU).

DIAGNOSIS. Same as for the genus.

DESCRIPTION. Female. Total length 2.75. Carapace 1.1 long, 0.95 wide; sternum 0.57 long and wide, truncate posterior width almost ½ of anterior one; abdomen 2.0 long, 1.8 wide. Labium slightly wider than maxillae’; about 2.5 times wider than long. Clypeus 0.11 high, AME 0.09, AME–AME 0.14, PME 0.11, PME–PME 0.07; lateral eyes subequal in size, as large as AME, PME largest. Chelicera with 3 promarginal teeth.

Carapace dark brown with light brown cephalic part; sternum variegated, with light brown median part and dark brown to black marginal bands; labium and maxillae dark brown basally and yellowish distally. Legs light brown-yellow, with dark proximal parts, tibiae III and IV with median dark ring; palps yellowish, with small claw. Femora, tibiae, metatarsi and tarsi of legs I–II with prolateral row of stiff setae forming catching basket. Metatarsi I and II roundly bent. Leg length as shown below in Table 1.

Abdomen chitinized (tegument tough), with 2 pairs of low humps; light with pattern composed of dark transversal stripes, covered with sparce setae and small round scuta, each seta with sclerotized base. Venter with anterior white bands composed of guanine granules. Book lungs sclerotized, with extension to postgastral part of abdomen. Anterior median spinnerets with dark basal segment.

Epigyne as in Fig. 3A , domed, epigynal plate oval, 1.3 times wider than long, anterior part strongly sclerotized; top of plate with kind of septum surrounded by weakly membranized cuticle forming ‘heart’-shaped figure, posterior with pair of strongly chitinized round structures.

NOTE. Endogyne was not studied because of the tough abdominal cuticle and the risk of destroying the epigyne of the holotype .

ETYMOLOGY. The species name is a patronym in honour of Kirill Y. Eskov (Moscow, Russia), who brought the taxonomic position of this species into my attention.

Figures

Fig. 1. General appearance of Bharatasoma eskovi sp. n., female. A – anterodorsal; B – dorsal.

Fig. 2. Somatic characters of Bharatasoma eskovi sp. n. A – prosoma, ventral; B – abdomen, ventral. Arrows point to the palpal claws. Scale = 0.2 mm.

Fig. 3. Bharatasoma eskovi sp. n. A – epigyne; B – leg I and II.