Malamatidia

Jäger, Peter & Dankittipakul, Pakawin, 2010, Clubionidae from Laos and Thailand (Arachnida: Araneae), Zootaxa 2730, pp. 23-43 : 37-38

Malamatidia Deeleman-Reinhold, 2001

This genus was described for three species: the type species Malamatidia bohorokensis Deeleman-Reinhold, 2001 (Sumatra, Sarawak), M. vethi Deeleman-Reinhold, 2001 (Malaysian peninsular, Kalimantan), and M. thorelli Deeleman-Reinhold, 2001 (Sulawesi). The present specimens represent the first record of the genus for Laos. A single male from Luang Prabang Province and a single female from Luang Nam Tha Province are described as new species and represent the northernmost records for this genus. Both are considered separate species due to their different habitat (foliage vs. leaf litter), their different sizes (male with 6.5 mm vs. female with 4.5 mm body length; other Malamatidia spp. with both sexes of about the same size), and their different colours (grass-green in Fig. 73 vs. pale yellowish with distal leg segments bright brown in Fig. 74). Deeleman-Reinhold (personal communication) confirmed that most of small-sized Clubionidae occurring in natural forests are local endemics with small distribution ranges. According to the currently known distribution range the genus is likely to occur in neighbouring countries like China, Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam and Cambodia.

Diagnostic characters are according to Deeleman-Reinhold (2001) beside a pale green colour and a life style in the foliage, a longitudinal rim in the central depression of the female epigyne, and a filiform clockwise curving embolus (left palp) and an S-shaped loop of the sperm duct. From the two new species the diagnosis and description should be extended: Colour can be pale yellow with distal leg segments light brown, probably spiders live in the leaf litter (Fig. 74). It can be confirmed that metatarsi I and II have two long ventral spines. Moreover, the female exhibits 4 pairs of ventral tibial spines and -uniquely- one pair of ventral spines on patella I (Fig. 67)! An additional exceptional feature in M. christae spec. nov. is the female palpal tarsus with its roughly scalene triangle shape in lateral view with the shorter distal side being concave. The size range is extended up to 6.5 mm body length (previously known range: 3.75-5.3 mm). Another diagnostic character for males could be the presence of a distinct and abrupt narrowing of the sperm duct in the tegulum (recognisable in M. bohorokensis , M. vethi and M. zu spec. nov.; not clear in M. thorelli ).