Smeringopus, Simon, 1890

Yao, Zhiyuan, Kioko, Grace M., Kioko, Esther N. & Li, Shuqiang, 2019, Three new species of the spider family Pholcidae (Arachnida: Araneae) from Taita-Taveta, Kenya, Zootaxa 4651 (1), pp. 114-124 : 120-124

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.11646/zootaxa.4651.1.7
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:3DEDB117-7C71-4BD8-987E-D8D958343972
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5490926
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/AB190347-FF89-FFEB-DFE7-F9EF376567AC
treatment provided by	Plazi
scientific name	Smeringopus
status

Treatment

Smeringopus View in CoL View at ENA voi Yao & Li sp. nov.

Figs 5–7 View FIGURE 5 View FIGURE 6 View FIGURE 7

Type material. Holotype: male (NMK-Ar29682), Tsavo East National Park (3°3.800′S, 38°40.600′E, elev. 396 m), Voi Town, Taita-Taveta County, Kenya, 25 July 2016, G.M. Kioko, Z. Yao and Q. Zhao leg. GoogleMaps Paratypes: 2 females (NMK-Ar29683–29684), same data as holotype GoogleMaps .

Etymology. The specific name refers to the type locality, and is a noun in apposition.

Diagnosis. This species resembles S. oromia Huber, 2012 (see Huber 2012: 40, figs 173–174, 181, 188–189, 198–199, 225–230) with similar male chelicerae ( Fig. 6E View FIGURE 6 ) and epigynum ( Fig. 6A View FIGURE 6 ) but can be distinguished by procursus with large, curved prolatero-ventral sclerite distally positioned (arrow in Fig. 5C View FIGURE 5 ), bulb with sclerotized dorsal apophysis (arrow in Fig. 6C View FIGURE 6 ) and by females with anterior arch of vulva strongly protruding medially (arrow in Fig. 6B View FIGURE 6 ).

Description. Male (holotype): Total length 3.22 (3.36 with clypeus), carapace 1.14 long, 0.80 wide, opistho- soma 2.08 long, 0.95 wide. Leg I: 24.73 (6.79 + 0.50 + 6.15 + 10.26 + 1.03), leg II: 34.54 (8.97 + 0.50 + 8.65 + 14.87 + 1.55), leg III: 16.36 (4.87 + 0.48 + 3.85 + 6.41 + 0.75), leg IV: 24.26 (7.05 + 0.50 + 6.03 + 9.74 + 0.94); tibia I L/d: 52. Distance PME-PME 0.15; diameter PME 0.08; distance PME-ALE 0.06; distance AME-AME 0.03; diameter AME 0.08. Sternum wider than long (0.75/0.63). Habitus as in Fig. 6F View FIGURE 6 . Carapace yellowish, with median and lateral brown marks; ocular area yellowish; clypeus yellowish, with pair of brown stripes; sternum yellowish, with brownish marks. Legs brownish, but slightly whitish on distal parts of femur and tibiae, with darker rings on subdistal parts of femora and tibiae. Opisthosoma yellowish, with distinctive dark brown pattern. Ocular area slightly elevated, secondary eyes (cf. fig. 215 in Huber 2012) with barely visible ‘pseudo-lenses’; thoracic pit deep. Chelicerae as in Fig. 6E View FIGURE 6 , with pair of small distal apophyses. Pedipalps as in Figs 5 View FIGURE 5 A–B; coxa without retrolateral apophysis; trochanter barely modified; femur with shallow retrolateral furrow (cf. fig. 344 in Huber 2012); cym- bium without projection near tarsal organ; procursus simple proximally but complex distally, with large, curved prolatero-ventral sclerite distally (arrow in Fig. 5C View FIGURE 5 ); bulb with sclerotized embolus and sclerotized dorsal apophysis (arrow in Fig. 6C View FIGURE 6 ). Retrolateral trichobothrium of tibia I at 2%; legs without spines, few vertical setae, with curved setae on metatarsi I–II; prolateral trichobothrium present on tibia I.

Female: Similar to male, habitus as in Figs 6 View FIGURE 6 G–H. Total length 3.80 (4.00 with clypeus), carapace 0.96 long, 1.38 wide, opisthosoma 2.84 long, 1.33 wide; tibia I: 8.97; tibia I L/d: 67. Distance PME-PME 0.16; diameter PME 0.09; distance PME-ALE 0.05; distance AME-AME 0.04; diameter AME 0.09. Sternum wider than long (0.95/0.71). Epigynum ( Fig. 6A View FIGURE 6 ) with simple flat plate, without pockets. Vulva ( Fig. 6B View FIGURE 6 ) with sclerotized anterior arch and pair of large pore plates.

Distribution. Kenya (Taita-Taveta, type locality; Fig. 7 View FIGURE 7 ).

Natural History. The species was found on the rock walls.