Anapistula orbisterna, Lin & Pham & Li, 2009

Lin, Yucheng, Pham, Dinh-Sac & Li, Shuqiang, 2009, Six New Spiders From Caves Of Northern Vietnam (Araneae: Tetrablemmidae: Ochyroceratidae: Telemidae: Symphytognathidae), Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 57 (2), pp. 323-342 : 338-340

Anapistula orbisterna new species

( Figs. 12 A−F)

Holotype. – Female ( IZCAS), Mat Cave (20°21'N, 105°42'E; Alt: 18 m), Cuc Phuong National Park, Vietnam, coll. S. Li, 22 July 2008.

Diagnosis. – This new species resembles Anapistula secreta from Panama ( Gertsch, 1941), but can be distinguished by the globose spermathecae, the broad median epiginal median ducts and the long fertilization ducts.

Etymology. – The specific name derives from Greek orbi- = orbicular and stern- = sternum, referring to the nearly round sternum in female.

Description. – Holotype female. Total length 0.66. Carapace 0.28 long, 0.27 wide, 0.21 high. Sternum 0.21 long, 0.21 wide. Abdomen 0.36 long, 0.32 wide, 0.40 high. Carapace pale yellow, flat, smooth, with paired long hairs at ocular and thoracic areas respectively, without pigmental pattern. Four eyes in two diads, subequal in size, ovoid and white. Anterior margin of clypeus without short setae. Clypeus width subequal to 2.5 times ALE diameter. Palp absent. Chelicerae yellow, fused at midline pars, each with two sharp adnate teeth. Labium wider than long (length/width 0.45). Sternum length and width subeuqal (length/width 1.00). Legs clothed with setae and bristles. Each tibia bears a mesial-dorsal spine and three proximal trichobothria. Legs measurement: I 1.10 (0.34, 0.12, 0.24, 0.14, 0.26); II 1.02 (0.32, 0.12, 0.22, 0.14, 0.22); III 0.79 (0.24, 0.10, 0.14, 0.11, 0.20); IV 0.95 (0.29, 0.11, 0.19, 0.12, 0.24). Leg formula: I-II-IV-III. Abdomen pale, covered with long hairs, globular, slightly longer than wide (length/width 1.13), relatively high (height/length 1.11), and posterior rear expanded beyond spinnerets. Anterior spinnerets slightly larger than posterior ones; median spinnerets smallest; colulus absent. Book lung absent. Two pairs of spiracles.

Epigine relatively small, unsclerotized, surface smooth, bears sparse long hairs. Vulva relatively simple. Spermathecae widely spaced, globose, distinctly sclerotized. Fertilization ducts long, thin, derived from ventral spermathecae. Epiginal median ducts wide, with broad base and cupped

top. Bilateral branches short, directly connected to the spermathecae. Ventral plate absent ( Fig. 12 D-F).

Male. Unknown.

Distribution. – Known only from the type locality ( Fig. 13 ).

Figures

Fig. 12. Anapistula orbisterna new species: A. Female body, dorsal view; B. Sternum, coax, labium and maxillae, ventral view; C. Female chelicerae, frontal view; D. Epigine, ventral view; E. Cleared vulva, dorsal view; F. Cleared vulva and tracheal system, ventral view. Scale bars: 0.1 mm for A and B; 0.05 mm for C, D and F; 0.025 mm for E.

Fig. 13. Locality records of cave spiders in Vietnam.