Micropholcus agadir ( Huber, 2011 )

Huber, Bernhard A. & Meng, Guanliang, 2024, Old World Micropholcus spiders, with first records of acrocerid parasitoids in Pholcidae (Araneae), ZooKeys 1213, pp. 95-182 : 95-182

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.3897/zookeys.1213.133178
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:B8E6EE1A-023D-4B64-8D3A-C1843F0D8376
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13841470
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/B3B8FA44-8A14-5E89-90ED-8DC1A7F0EAC0
treatment provided by	ZooKeys by Pensoft
scientific name	Micropholcus agadir ( Huber, 2011 )
status

Treatment

Micropholcus agadir ( Huber, 2011) View in CoL

Figs 4 D, E View Figure 4 , 60 View Figure 60 , 61 View Figure 61 , 62 View Figure 62 , 63 View Figure 63

Pholcus agadir Huber, 2011: 331, figs 1530–1531, 1553–1554, 1606–1611 (♂ ♀). Eberle et al. 2018 (molecular data). View in CoL

Micropholcus agadir View in CoL – Huber et al. 2018: 83. Huber and Eberle 2021, Suppl. material 1.

New records.

Morocco: Souss-Massa • 3 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀; Paradise Valley ; 30.588 ° N, 9.528 ° W; 305 m a. s. l.; 13 Sep. 2018; B. A. Huber leg.; ZFMK Ar 24679 GoogleMaps • 2 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀ (one abdomen transferred to ZFMK Ar 24679 ), in pure ethanol; same collection data as for preceding; ZFMK Mor 76 GoogleMaps • 2 ♀♀, in pure ethanol; Agadir, path to Kasbah Hill ; 30.4289 ° N, 9.6186 ° W; 60 m a. s. l.; 28 Nov. 2016; S. Huber leg.; ZFMK Sieg 27 GoogleMaps • 4 ♀♀, in pure ethanol; Agadir, path to Kasbah Hill ; 30.4297 ° N, 9.6189 ° W; 110 m a. s. l.; 7 Sep. 2014; S. Huber leg.; ZFMK Sieg 11 GoogleMaps • 1 ♂, in pure ethanol; Road Agadir-Alma ; 30.4864 ° N, 9.5650 ° W; 440 m a. s. l.; 27 Nov. 2016; S. Huber leg.; ZFMK Sieg 25 GoogleMaps . Marrakech-Safi • 1 ♀; NE of Tizi n’Test ; 30.897 ° N, 8.339 ° W; 2075 m a. s. l.; 12 Sep. 2018; B. A. Huber leg.; ZFMK Ar 24683 GoogleMaps .

Diagnosis.

Distinguished from similar congeners ( M. tegulifer , M. ghar sp. nov.) by short and distally widened dorsal hinged process of procursus (Fig. 61 C View Figure 61 ), by rounded uncus with scales (Fig. 61 D, E View Figure 61 ; similar only in M. khenifra sp. nov., cf. Fig. 69 E View Figure 69 ), and by flat and oval appendix with small proximal spine and prolateral ridge (Fig. 61 D View Figure 61 ); from M. tegulifer also by presence of two pairs of processes proximally on male chelicerae (Fig. 62 A, B View Figure 62 ; absent in M. tegulifer ), by lateral marks on carapace (Fig. 4 D, E View Figure 4 ; absent in M. tegulifer ), and by oval rather than elongate pore plates in female internal genitalia. From M. ghar sp. nov. also distinguished by smaller triangular plate posteriorly on epigynum (compare Fig. 63 B View Figure 63 with Fig. 67 A View Figure 67 ).

Description (amendments; see also Huber 2011). Tibia 1 length in seven males (incl. holotype): 6.0–7.4 (mean 6.7); in 12 females (including those in Huber 2011): 4.8–5.9 (mean 5.6). The drawings in Huber (2011) are from the male holotype and from a topotypical female. Compared to the newly collected males, the procursus of the holotype was slightly twisted towards prolateral; thus, the dorsal hinged process was described as “ prolateral branch ”. The new material also shows that the dorsal process is connected to the main part of the procursus by slightly membranous cuticle, i. e., it is hinged, comparable with the dorsal processes of congeneric species. The female epigynal knob was originally said to be on the posterior plate ( Huber 2011). Instead, it is situated on a small, slightly separate triangular part of the anterior plate. The posterior epigynal plate in M. agadir is indistinct (Fig. 63 B View Figure 63 ); it was indicated by a row of hairs in Huber (2011: fig. 1610), but not explicitly drawn.

Distribution.

Known from several localities in southern Morocco, in Souss-Massa and Marrakech-Safi regions (Fig. 13 D View Figure 13 ).

Natural history.

In Paradise Valley, the spiders were found on overhanging rock-surfaces, often in very close proximity to Holocnemus reini (C. Koch, 1873) . While the latter had large and distinct webs, the webs of Micropholcus were barely visible. Two egg sacs had diameters of 1.9 and 2.4 mm, respectively, contained 23 / 31 eggs with an egg diameter of 0.60–0.63 ( Huber and Eberle 2021).