Chibchea tunebo Huber, 2000

Figs 110–111, 127, 134–140, 1035

Chibchea tunebo Huber, 2000: 171, figs 652–655 (♂).

Diagnosis

Distinguished from similar congeners ( C. merida Huber, 2000; C. thunbergae Huber sp. nov.; C. danielae Huber sp. nov.) by male chelicerae (Huber 2000: fig. 652; long hairs proximally, deep frontal invagination, short spine-like hairs distally) and by female internal genitalia (Figs 127, 137; Y-shaped anterior receptacle).

Type material

VENEZUELA – Táchira • ♂ holotype, AMNH, Pregonero, “2nd forest road at Camp Siberia”, 1280 m a.s.l. [approximately 7.893° N, 71.719° W], 10–13 Jul. 1989 (S. & J. Peck) .

New record

VENEZUELA – Táchira • 3 ♂♂, 6 ♀♀, 2 juvs, ZFMK (Ar 21845), and 4 ♀♀, 4 juvs in pure ethanol, ZFMK (Ven20-120), SE Pregonero, forest near La Trampa (7.9236° N, 71.7152° W), 1300 m a.s.l., 10 Feb. 2020 (B.A. Huber, O. Villarreal M., Q. Arias C.) .

Assigned tentatively

VENEZUELA – Mérida • 5 ♂♂, 1 ♀, ZFMK (Ar 21846), and 4 ♀♀, 1 juv. in pure ethanol, ZFMK (Ven20-135), forest above Caño Azul (8.8543° N, 71.3651° W), 280 m a.s.l., 13 Feb. 2020 (B.A. Huber, O. Villarreal M., Q. Arias C.) • 1 ♂, 3 ♀♀, 1 juv., ZFMK (Ar 21847), and 3 ♀♀ in pure ethanol, ZFMK (Ven20-109), Las Piedras, ‘site 2’ (8.9002° N, 70.6279° W), 1700 m a.s.l., degraded forest, 7 Feb. 2020 (B.A. Huber, O. Villarreal M., Q. Arias C.) .

Note

We were not able to exactly locate the type locality “2 nd forest road at Camp Siberia”, but “Campamento Siberia” is at 3 km from our new collecting site, suggesting that the new site is within a few km from the type locality.

Redescription of male (amendments; see Huber 2000)

Measurements (male from near La Trampa): Total body length 2.4, carapace width 0.9. Distance PMEPME 80 µm; diameter PME 90 µm; distance PME–ALE 80 µm; distance AME–AME 15 µm; diameter AME 20 µm. Leg 1: 19.1 (4.4 +0.3+ 4.6+8.4+ 1.4), tibia 2: 3.0, tibia 3: 2.4, tibia 4: 3.2; tibia 1 L/d: 61. Pair of lateral distal patches of short modified hairs situated on low light brown humps. Retrolateral

trichobothrium on tibia 1 at 10%; prolateral trichobothrium absent on tibia 1. Tibia 1 in three other newly collected males from near La Trampa: 4.2, 4.5, 4.7.

Males from Caño Azul are slightly smaller (tibia 1 in five males: 3.6–4.2, mean 3.9) but appear otherwise indistinguishable from males from near La Trampa. They are assigned tentatively because of the accompanying females (see below).

The male from Las Piedras has considerably shorter legs (tibia 1: 3.2), and the spines on the chelicerae are not divided into two patches on each side; the palps appear identical to males from La Trampa.

Description of female

Female in general very similar to male (Fig. 111). Epigynum simple, weakly curved transversal plate, without posterior plate (Fig. 134). Internal genitalia (Figs 127, 137–138) with pair of large oval pore plates, anterior transparent receptacle Y-shaped. Tibia 1 in six females: 3.2–3.6 (mean 3.4).

Females from Caño Azul are slightly smaller (tibia 1 in five females: 2.7–3.0, mean 2.9) and have a slightly longer but narrower epigynal plate (Fig. 135; length/width: 0.22/0.34, versus 0.20/ 0.40 in females from near La Trampa). They are therefore assigned tentatively. The internal genitalia appear largely identical (large oval pore plates; Y-shaped anterior receptacle).

Females from Las Piedras are slightly smaller (tibia 1 in six females: 2.7–3.0, mean 2.8) and the posterior epigynal margin is protruding rather than indented (Fig. 136); the internal genitalia (Figs 139–140) differ slightly in the shape of the pore plates (narrowing laterally) and in the shape of the receptacle (widened posteriorly rather than Y-shaped). They are therefore assigned tentatively.

Distribution

Known from three localities in the Venezuelan states Táchira and Mérida (Fig. 1035); however, specimens from Mérida are assigned tentatively.

Natural history

At all three new localities, the spiders were found in the leaf litter, in curved leaves that provided space for the small, weakly domed webs.