Pseudonesticus Liu & Li, 2013

Lin, Yucheng, Ballarin, Francesco & Li, Shuqiang, 2016, A survey of the spider family Nesticidae (Arachnida, Araneae) in Asia and Madagascar, with the description of forty-three new species, ZooKeys 627, pp. 1-168 : 56-57

Taxon classification Animalia Araneae Nesticidae

Genus Pseudonesticus Liu & Li, 2013

Pseudonesticus Liu & Li, 2013a: 790.

Type species.

Pseudonesticus clavatus Liu & Li, 2013 from Yunnan, China.

Diagnosis.

Males belonging to Pseudonesticus can be distinguished from those of Cyclocarcina Komatsu, 1942 by the hooked or finger-like terminal apophysis (Ta), always well-developed (shorter and simpler in Cyclocarcina ), the longer embolus, the flat tegular apophysis (Tg) and the less ramified paracymbium, rather than having several apophyses. It can be separated from the other Nesticini by the slimmer or hook shaped terminal apophysis (Ta) and by the usually very long embolus (E) which are thicker and shorter in the other genera. Females can be distinguished from those belonging to the other Nesticini by the shape of the fertilization and copulatory ducts, coiled before reaching the spermathecae, and by the wide or triangular scape which is not shared with any other genus.

Description.

Total length: 1.76-2.72 (male), 1.82-3.24 (female). Carapace almost round in males, ovate in females, usually uniformly yellow. Legs of the same color. Eyes generally reduced or absent. When present, AER and PER straight, MOA trapezoidal, narrower in the front. Eight well-developed eyes and a clear pattern only in Pseudonesticus dafangensis sp. n. Cervical groove and fovea usually indistinct. Chelicera with three promarginal teeth and multiple retromarginal tiny denticles on the fang furrow. Opisthosoma with long setae, yellowish or greyish, rarely heavily pigmented.

Male palp: tibia short, wider than long, basally narrower, with three retrolateral trichobothria and several long setae. Paracymbium well-developed with a laminar distal process, pointed or lobe-shaped, and generally lacking a ventral apophysis, which is always simple when present (e.g. Pseudonesticus clavatus ). Some species with a long and flat dorsal apophysis. Bulb with a well-developed terminal apophysis, hooked or finger-like. Tegular apophysis flat, Pseudonesticus spinosus sp. n. and Pseudonesticus ziyunensis sp. n. with a second tegular apophysis (Tg-II). Conductor wide and laminar, with one or two processes, sometimes with a long apex (e.g. Pseudonesticus miao sp. n., Pseudonesticus ziyunensis sp. n.). Embolus usually thin and long, with the terminal part strongly coiled, reduced only in Pseudonesticus clavatus .

Epigyne: scape always present, wide and lobed or triangularly-shaped. Copulatory openings located under the scape. Spermathecae slightly visible through the tegument. Spermathecae small and globular separated by at least two diameters. Fertilization and copulatory ducts ventrally oriented, thin and coiled with two to three loops. Vulval pockets well developed, located near the spermathecae.

Composition.

Pseudonesticus clavatus Liu & Li, 2013, Pseudonesticus dafangensis sp. n., Pseudonesticus miao sp. n., Pseudonesticus spinosus sp. n., Pseudonesticus wumengensis sp. n., and Pseudonesticus ziyunensis sp. n.

Distribution.

China (Guizhou, Yunnan).