Chibchea thunbergae Huber sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 91ADBB74-C36E-45E0-8584-C2AA3C4DFBBD

Figs 106–107, 112–120, 128–130, 1035

Diagnosis

Distinguished from similar congeners ( C. tunebo Huber, 2000; C. merida Huber, 2000; C. danielae Huber sp. nov.) by male chelicerae (Figs 118–119; without proximal apophyses, without short spine-like hairs distally), and by long median receptacle in internal female genitalia (Figs 120, 129).

Etymology

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Type material

VENEZUELA – Lara • ♂ holotype, ZFMK (Ar 21841), between Coro and Barquisimeto, El Rodeo (10.7240° N, 69.3008° W), 400 m a.s.l., 19 Nov. 2018 (B.A. Huber, O. Villarreal M.) .

Other material examined

VENEZUELA – Lara • 2 ♂♂, 5 ♀♀, ZFMK (Ar 21842), and 3 ♀♀, 3 juvs in pure ethanol, ZFMK (Ven18-200), same collection data as for holotype .

Assigned tentatively

VENEZUELA – Falcón • 1 ♂, 1 ♀, ZFMK (Ar 21843), and 1 ♀ in pure ethanol, ZFMK (Ven20-150), forest near Santa Cruz de La Alegría (10.8795° N, 68.4949° W), 100 m a.s.l., 15 Feb. 2020 (B.A. Huber, O. Villarreal M., Q. Arias C.) .

Description

Male (holotype)

MEASUREMENTS. Total body length 2.0, carapace width 0.8. Distance PME–PME 95 µm; diameter PME 65 µm; distance PME–ALE 100 µm; distance AME–AME 15 µm; diameter AME 15 µm. Leg 1: 14.2 (3.4 +0.3 +3.5+6.0 +1.0), tibia 2: 2.4, tibia 3: 2.0, tibia 4: 2.6; tibia 1 L/d: 50.

COLOR (in ethanol). Carapace ochre to light brown, medially and laterally slightly darker; clypeus with pair of wide brown marks; sternum dark ochre; legs ochre to light brown, without dark rings; abdomen pale greenish gray, dorsally and laterally with dark bluish marks, ventrally with light brown mark in front of gonopore and long dark blue band behind gonopore.

BODY. Habitus as in Fig. 106. Ocular area moderately raised. Carapace with distinct thoracic groove. Clypeus unmodified. Sternum wider than long (0.56/0.40), unmodified. Abdomen elongated, tapering towards spinnerets.

CHELICERAE. As in Figs 118–119, pair of proximal bulges set with slightly stronger and longer hairs, distally strongly invaginated, with pair of distinctive brushes of hairs directed towards median; fangs unmodified.

PALPS. In general as in C. merida Huber, 2000 (cf. Huber 2000: figs 643–644); coxa with distinct retrolateral apophysis, trochanter barely modified, femur proximally with retrolateral-ventral process, distally only weakly widening; tibia very short; procursus very simple (Figs 112–114); genital bulb (Figs 115–117) with hair-like processes on distal apophysis (very similar C. merida).

LEGS. Without spines and curved hairs; few vertical hairs; retrolateral trichobothrium of tibia 1 at 11%; prolateral trichobothrium absent on tibia 1; tarsus 1 with ~20 pseudosegments, indistinct.

Male (variation)

Tibia 1 in two other males from type locality: 3.3 (both). The male from Santa Cruz de La Alegría has slightly longer legs (tibia 1: 3.8) and a slenderer bulbal apophysis; material from this locality is thus assigned tentatively.

Female

In general similar to male (Fig. 107). Tibia 1 in five females from type locality: 2.9–3.3 (mean 3.1). Epigynum (Fig. 128) light brown bulging plate, wider anteriorly than posteriorly; without posterior plate. Internal genitalia (Figs 120, 129–130) with pair of oval pore plates and long median receptacle originating anteriorly and directed towards posterior.

Females from Santa Cruz de La Alegría share the long median receptacle but have smaller pore plates; tibia 1: 2.6, 3.0.

Distribution

Known from two localities in the Venezuelan states Lara and Falcón (Fig. 1035); however, specimens from Falcón are assigned tentatively.

Natural history

At the type locality, the spiders were found in a disturbed forest very close to the ground, in strongly curved dome-shaped webs. Three of the eight females had a large whitish genital plug (cf. C. merida Huber, 2000; Huber 2000: figs 645, 647).