Canaima guaraque Huber sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: C64AF2C8-4C26-4630-BF1B-85B163F9E225

Figs 56–57, 89–92, 99–101, 1034

Diagnosis

Easily distinguished from known congeners by male pedipalp (Figs 89–90; long and slender procursus; complex embolar division with several distinctive processes), by male chelicerae (Fig. 91; pair of long frontal apophyses; similar only in C. loca Huber sp. nov.), and by internal female genitalia (Figs 92, 101): oval pore plates far apart, without tongue-shaped posterior membranous process and without anterior median receptacle; note that female of C. merida Huber, 2000 is unknown.

Etymology

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

Type material

VENEZUELA – Mérida • ♂ holotype, ZFMK (Ar 21837), between Tovar and Guaraque (8.2578° N, 71.7184° W), 2490 m a.s.l., forest along stream, 11 Feb. 2020 (B.A. Huber, O. Villarreal M., Q. Arias C.) .

Other material examined

VENEZUELA – Mérida • 1 ♂, 1 ♀, ZFMK (Ar 21838), and 1 ♀ in pure ethanol, ZFMK (Ven20-127), same collection data as for holotype .

Description

Male (holotype)

MEASUREMENTS. Total body length 1.7, carapace width 0.75. Distance PME–PME 60 µm; diameter PME 70 µm; distance PME–ALE 60 µm; distance AME–AME ~ 10 µm; diameter AME ~ 10 µm (AME possibly non-functional). Leg 1: 11.5 (2.9 +0.2 +2.8+ 4.3+1.3), tibia 2: 1.7, tibia 3: 1.3, tibia 4: 1.5; tibia 1 L/d: 40.

COLOR (in ethanol). Carapace ochre-yellow, with light brown median and lateral bands connected posteriorly, ocular area and clypeus darker brown, sternum pale ochre to light brown; legs ochre-yellow, with slightly darker rings on femora (subdistally) and tibiae (proximally and subdistally); abdomen greenish-gray, with three pairs of dark bluish marks dorsally, dark mark in gonopore area.

BODY. Habitus as in Fig. 56. Ocular area slightly raised. Carapace with distinct thoracic groove. Clypeus with sclerotized rim but otherwise unmodified. Sternum wider than long (0.62/0.40), with pair of small but distinct anterior humps. Abdomen globular.

CHELICERAE. As in Fig. 91, with entapophyses of regular length and pair of long frontal apophyses overhanging fangs.

PALPS. As in Figs 89–90; coxa with distinct retrolateral-ventral apophysis, trochanter barely modified, femur proximally with retrolateral process, distally with rounded retrolateral-ventral process; tibia very short, globular; procursus long and slender, widely curved; genital bulb with complex embolar division with several distinctive distal processes.

LEGS. Without spines and curved hairs; with higher than usual density of vertical hairs on tibiae; retrolateral trichobothrium of tibia 1 at 14%; prolateral trichobothrium absent on tibia 1; tarsus 1 with ~18 pseudosegments, fairly distinct.

Male (variation)

Tibia 1 in second male: 2.6.

Female

In general similar to male (Fig. 57) but without humps on sternum, clypeus rim not sclerotized, few vertical hairs on tibiae, dark rings on legs more distinct. Tibia 1 in two females: 1.7, 1.9. Epigynum (Fig. 99) simple, slightly protruding plate with whitish median area; short and wide posterior plate; sclerotized arc on posterior side of genital opening. Internal genitalia (Figs 92, 100–101) with oval pore plates far apart, without tongue-shaped posterior membranous process and without anterior median receptacle.

Distribution

Known from type locality only, in Venezuela, Mérida (Fig. 1034).

Natural history

The spiders were brushed from mosses growing on rocks near a small forest stream.