Pholcus xingyi, Chen, Hui-Ming, Zhang, Feng & Zhu, Ming-Sheng, 2011

Chen, Hui-Ming, Zhang, Feng & Zhu, Ming-Sheng, 2011, Four new troglophilous species of the genus Pholcus Walckenaer (Araneae, Pholcidae) from Guizhou Province, China, Zootaxa 2922, pp. 51-59 : 57

Pholcus xingyi sp. nov.

Figs. 23–29

Type. Male holotype, 131Ƥ paratypes, CHINA: Guizhou Province, Xingyi County, Pengzha Town [25°06’N, 104°48’E], Mingyang Cave, May 27, 2006, leg. by H. M. Chen.

Diagnosis. This new species is similar to Pholcus gui Zhu & Song, 1999 in the palpal organ and epigynum, but easily distinguished from the latter by the cymbium absent the conical projection ( Figs 25–27 ), by the palpal femur present a dorsal projection retrolaterally ( Fig. 27 ), by the relatively straight procursus ( Fig. 27 ); by the short and thick epigynal apophysis ( Fig. 28 ); by vulva with large sofa-shaped sclerotized arch anteriorly and egg-shaped pore plate ( Fig. 29 ).

Etymology. The species name is a noun in apposition, taken from the type locality.

Description. Male (holotype): total body length 5.1: cephalothorax 1.5 long, 1.6 wide; abdomen 3.6 long, 1.4 wide. Prosoma shape as in Fig. 23 . Leg I: (12.3+0.7+11.3+20.7+2.3), tibia II: 7.7, tibia III: 5.4, tibia IV: 6.4; tibia I L/D: 81. Carapace short, broad and almost circular, ochre, with brown marks broadly connecting to ocular area. Cephalic region raised, with brown central marks, ocular area dark yellow. Clypeus 0.44, ochre, with brown mark. Each eye triad on the top of a relatively longer eye-stalk. Distance AME–AME 0.05, PME–PME 0.55. Diameter AME 0.08, ALE 0.18, PME 0.16, PLE 0.15. Chelicerae shape as in Fig. 24 , with pair of black distal apophyses, pair of unsclerotized thumb-shaped apophyses proximolaterally, and pair of sclerotized rounded apophyses proximocentrally, companying with several hairs. Labium and endites light yellow. Sternum dark gray, with yellow small patches. Legs ochre, femora, patellae and tibiae without dark rings. Tarsal organ of tarsus 1 capsulate. Abdomen cylindrical, pale ochre, dorsum with small brown patterns as in Fig. 23 . Venter pale brown. Palps as in Figs. 26 and 27 , femur with a dorsal projection retrolaterally; tibia spindle-shaped, with a small triangular projection ventrally; uncus margin with many teeth or scales; short appendix with a hooked tip; embolus between the uncus and appendix, long and transparent, with a pointed tip; procursus complex, with a nearly triangular process retrolaterally.

Variation. Tibia I in other male: 11.1. Body length in other male 5.0.

Female: in general very similar to male. The paratype total length 5.3: cephalothorax 1.4 long, 1.5 wide; abdomen 3.9 long, 1.4 wide. Tibia I: 10.5. Distance AME–AME 0.04, PME–PME 0.25. Diameter AME 0.06, ALE 0.15, PME 0.14, PLE 0.15. Epigynum roughly triangular as in Fig. 28 , with a large teat-shaped apophysis. Dorsal view as in Fig. 29 , with a sofa-shaped sclerotized arch anteriorly and a pair of egg-shaped pore plates.

Distribution. Known from type locality only.

Figures

FIGURES 23 – 29. Pholcus xingyi sp. nov. 23. male body, dorsal view. 24. male left chelicera, frontal view. 25. left procursus, dorsal view. 26. left palp, prolateral view. 27. same, retrolateral view. 28. epigynum, ventral view. 29. same, dorsal view. Scale lines: 1.0 mm (20), 0.5 mm (21 – 25).