Euophrys miranda, Wesołowska & Azarkina & Russell-Smith, 2014

Wesołowska, Wanda, Azarkina, Galina N. & Russell-Smith, Anthony, 2014, Euophryine jumping spiders of the Afrotropical Region-new taxa and a checklist (Araneae: Salticidae: Euophryinae), Zootaxa 3789 (1), pp. 1-72 : 27-28

Euophrys miranda sp. nov.

Figs 87–89

Holotype: female, SOUTH AFRICA, Eastern Cape Province, Stormsriver Forest Nature Reserve , 33°59'S: 23°55'E, coastal forest, leaf litter, 5 December 2012, leg. J.A. Neethling ( NCA 2013 /654).

Diagnosis. The female is distinctive in having a unique structure of the epigyne with very long seminal ducts and small spermathecae.

Etymology. The specific name is Latin for curious, referring to the unique epigynal structure.

Description. Measurements. Cephalothorax: length 1.6, width 1.2, height 0.7. Abdomen: length 1.9, width 1.4. Eye field: length 0.9, anterior width 1.2, posterior width 1.1.

Male unknown.

Female. General appearance as in Fig. 87 . Carapace oval, dark brown with blackish eye field, clothed in thin translucent hairs. Clypeus low, dark. Chelicerae with two promarginal teeth and single tooth on retromargin, mouth parts and sternum brown. Abdomen oval, dull, with reticulate pattern composed of small light patches on dark background, arranged medially in narrow chevrons ( Fig. 87 ). Venter dark with four lines formed by light dots. Spinnerets dark grey. Legs light brown tinged with grey, leg hairs and spines dark. Pedipalps brown. Epigyne large with two large round depressions ( Fig. 88 ). Copulatory openings placed posterolaterally, covered by flaps; seminal ducts thin and very long, forming two loops; spermathecae oval, smaller than in other Euophrys spp. ( Fig. 89 ).

Distribution. Known only from the type locality.

Figures

FIGURES 87–89. Euophrys miranda sp. nov. 87 female holotype, dorsal view; 88 epigyne; 89 internal structure of epigyne.