Flagelliphantes yunxia Yao & Irfan, 2023

Yang, Lan, Yao, Zhiyuan, Irfan, Muhammad & He, Qiaoqiao, 2023, A newly recorded genus with description of a new cave-dwelling species of Flagelliphantes (Araneae, Linyphiidae) from northeastern China, Biodiversity Data Journal 11, pp. 105488-105488 : 105488

Flagelliphantes yunxia Yao & Irfan sp. n.

Materials

Type status: Holotype. Occurrence: recordedBy: Qiaoqiao He, Zhiyuan Yao ; individualCount: 1; sex: male; lifeStage: adult; occurrenceID: 1F1EDAA3-0991-5FE5-84F8-16B052653512; Taxon : order: Araneae ; family: Linyphiidae ; genus: Flagelliphantes ; Location : country: China; stateProvince: Jilin; municipality: Tonghua ; locality: Erdaojiang District ; verbatimLocality: Yayuan Town , Yunxia Cave ; verbatimElevation: 461 m a.s.l.; verbatimLatitude: 41°45.850'N; verbatimLongitude: 126°12.633'E; Event: samplingProtocol: Collected by hand; year: 2019; month: 8; day: 2; Record Level: institutionCode: SYNU-Ar00297 Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: recordedBy: Qiaoqiao He, Zhiyuan Yao ; individualCount: 3; sex: 1 male, 2 females; lifeStage: adult; occurrenceID: B543A524-D3E4-51EC-81C3-EF0D21C710EC; Taxon : order: Araneae ; family: Linyphiidae ; genus: Flagelliphantes ; Location : country: China; stateProvince: Jilin; municipality: Tonghua ; locality: Erdaojiang District ; verbatimLocality: Yayuan Town , Yunxia Cave ; verbatimElevation: 461 m a.s.l.; verbatimLatitude: 41°45.850'N; verbatimLongitude: 126°12.633'E; Event: samplingProtocol: Collected by hand; year: 2019; month: 8; day: 2; Record Level: institutionCode: SYNU-Ar00298-00300

Description

Male (Holotype). Total length: 1.84. Carapace 0.85 long, 0.76 wide, yellow. Abdomen light yellow (Fig. 4 A and B). Sternum 0.58 long, 0.63 wide. Clypeus 0.13 high. Chelicerae promargin with 2 teeth, retromargin with 4 teeth. Eye sizes and interdistances: AME 0.03, ALE 0.06, PME 0.05, PLE 0.06, AME-AME/AME 0.60, PME-PME/PME 0.80, AME-ALE/ALE 0.63, PME-PLE/PLE 0.86, coxae IV separated by 1.45 times their width. Length of legs: I 5.33 (0.26, 0.16, 1.30, 0.31, 1.28, 1.19, 0.83), II 4.60 (0.23, 0.13, 1.10, 0.29, 1.11, 1.02, 0.72), III 3.57 (0.20, 0.09, 0.84, 0.25, 0.80, 0.83, 0.56), IV 5.10 (0.24, 0.13, 1.27, 0.28, 1.25, 1.18, 0.75). Leg formula: I-IV-II-III. TmI 0.35, TmIV 0.25. Tibial spine formula: 2-2-2-2.

Palp (Figs 1 , 2 ). Patella almost as long as tibia, dorsally with thick macrosetae; tibia conical with two retrolateral trichobothria. Cymbium truncated; glabrous depression present at the base. Paracymbium basal part with microsetae, ventral margin with strongly sclerotised horn-shaped projection in retrolateral view, distal arm margin wave-like, with round tip. Pit hook longer than wide, mid dorsally with horn-shaped projection, pointing towards proximal part of lamella characteristica, apical part hook-shaped with seven teeth. Radix longer than wide, embolus elongated, slightly curved, embolus proper small; thumb hood-shaped. Lamella characteristica ribbon-shaped, apically abruptly broadened with 17 teeth.

Female. Total length: 2.23. Carapace 0.88 long, 0.73 wide, orange. Abdomen light yellow (Fig. 4 C and D). Sternum 0.60 long, 0.54 wide. Clypeus 0.12 high. Chelicerae promargin with 3 teeth, retromargin with 3 teeth. Eye sizes and interdistances: AME 0.03, ALE 0.08, PME 0.06, PLE 0.07, AME-AME/AME 0.83, PME-PME/PME 0.89, AME-ALE/ALE 0.43, PME-PLE/PLE 0.54, coxae IV separated by 1.35 times their width. Length of legs: I 5.19 (0.26, 0.15, 1.30, 0.28, 1.25, 1.16, 0.79), II 4.61 (0.24, 0.13, 1.18, 0.24, 1.17, 1.06, 0.59), III 3.74 (0.20, 0.10, 0.96, 0.21, 0.89, 0.82, 0.56), IV 4.89 (0.24, 0.14, 1.20, 0.26, 1.21, 1.14, 0.70). Leg formula: I-IV-II-III. TmI 0.39, TmIV 0.15. Spine formula like in male.

Epigyne (Fig. 3 ). Protruding; scape S-shaped, proscape long, slightly curved; both median and distal parts of scape short, lateral lobes poorly developed; stretcher distinct, relatively short; posterior median plate longer than wide, as long as proscape; spermathecae convoluted.

Diagnosis

The new species resembles Flagelliphantes flagellifer (Tanasevitch, 1988) described from the Kolyma Upland in northeastern Siberia by Tanasevitch (1988). In both cases, the male palps have similar ribbon-shaped "lamella characteristica", both apically abruptly broadened with serrated margin; the epigynes are also similar with a broad, S-shaped scape (Figs 1 , 2 , 3 ; Tanasevitch (1988), figs 12, 14 and 15). The males of the two species can be distinguished by the following: apical part of terminal apophysis oval in the new species (Fig. 1 A, Fig. 2 A and B) vs. apical part elongated in F. flagellifer ( Tanasevitch (1988), figs 12 and 13); apex of pit hook with seven teeth in the new species (Fig. 1 A, Fig. 2 A and B) vs. apex bifurcated in F. flagellifer ( Tanasevitch (1988), fig. 12); lamella characteristica of F. flagellifer is much wider apically than in the new species (Fig. 1 A, Fig. 2 A and B; Tanasevitch 1988, fig. 13). The females can be distinguished by the following: posterior median plate as long as the proscape (Fig. 3 ) vs. half the length of proscape in F. flagellifer ( Tanasevitch (1988), figs 14 and 15).

Etymology

The specific name refers to the type locality; noun in apposition.

Distribution

China (Jilin).

Biology

The species was found in the aphotic zone inside cave.

Figures

Figure 1. Flagelliphantes yunxia sp. n., holotype male. A Palp, prolateral view; B Palp, retrolateral view; C Palp, dorsal view; D Palp, ventral view. Scale bars: 0.10 mm (A-D).

Figure 2. Flagelliphantes yunxia sp. n., holotype male. A Embolic division, prolateral view; B Embolic division, retrolateral view; C Embolic division, lateral view. Scale bars: 0.10 mm (A-C).

Figure 3. Flagelliphantes yunxia sp. n., paratype female. A Epigyne, ventral view; B Epigyne, lateral view; C Vulva, dorsal view; D Vulva, lateral view. Scale bars: 0.10 mm (A-D).

Figure 4. Flagelliphantes yunxia sp. n., holotype male (A, B), paratype female (C, D). A, C Habitus, dorsal view; B, D Habitus, ventral view. Scale bars: 0.50 mm (A-D).