Psechrus kenting Yoshida, 2009

Bayer, Steffen, 2014, Seven new species of Psechrus and additional taxonomic contributions to the knowledge of the spider family Psechridae (Araneae), Zootaxa 3826 (1), pp. 1-54 : 28-30

Psechrus kenting Yoshida, 2009

Figs 17 , 29 C, 33A

Psechrus kenting Yoshida 2009: 9 , figs 11–13 (Description & illustration of ♀). Bayer 2012: 117 , figs 64a–e, 82c, 89i, 92i (Description & illustration of ♀).

Material examined (5 ♀): TAIWAN: Pingtung County, Hengchun, Mountain Road (higher section), 22°00'42.3''N, 120°45'57.1''E, 161 m, evergreen forest, slopes at roadside, web on a tree trunk and surrounding vegetation, 1.5 m above ground, retreat in a tree hole; S. Bayer leg. by night 27.VI.2013, ♀ ( SB 1266 ), SMF 64090 . Pingtung County, Hengchun, Mountain Road (middle section), 22°00'36.5''N, 120°46'00''E, 132 m, evergreen forest, slopes at roadside; S. Bayer leg. by night 26.VI.2013, ♀ ( SB 1263 ), MHNG, ♀ ( SB 1264 ), BPC. Pingtung County, Hengchun, Mountain Road (lower section), N 22°00'35.2''N, 120°45'55''E, 117 m, evergreen forest, slopes at roadside; S. Bayer leg. by night 27.VI.2013, ♀ ( SB 1265 ), SMF 64089 . Pingtung County, Sheding Park, 21°57'25.2''N, 120°49'15.6''E, 200 m, evergreen forest, rock wall, web ca. 1.5 m above ground; Siegfried Huber leg. by day, 26.VI.2013, ♀ ( SB 1267 ), SMF 64091 .

Revised diagnosis (consider also diagnosis for sinensis -group above): The diagnosis in Bayer (2012) is here confirmed and reproduced, except for the proposed specific epigynal characters. Consequently, delimitation from P. taiwanensis Wang & Yin, 2001 on the basis of epigynal characters alone is not possible.

Females distinguished from all other species of the sinensis -group, except P. taiwanensis , by having a relatively broad median septum (almost as broad as long, Figs 17 A, 29C), narrow and curved initial sections of copulatory ducts and bulbous sections of the copulatory ducts having contact with the receptacula ( Figs 17 B, 17D, 33A). Distinguished from P. taiwanensis by the following very fine differences: bulbous section of copulatory duct minimally shorter ( Fig. 33 A) and without a small bulge anteriorly like present in P. taiwanensis ( Bayer 2012, fig. 65b); spermathecal heads seemingly slightly shorter than in P. taiwanensis .

Description. Male: unknown.

Female (Measurements listed in Bayer [2012] are here included. For spination, leg formula, cheliceral dentition etc. the most common patterns are listed first, the less common ones in parentheses with the rarest rightmost): Body and eye measurements: Carapace length 7.7–11.7, maximal carapace width 5.2–7.9, anterior width of carapace 3.4–5.1, opisthosoma length 12.5–16.9, opisthosoma width 7.2–10.1. Eyes: AME 0.39–0.51, ALE 0.45–0.57, PME 0.45–0.59, PLE 0.46–0.57, AME–AME 0.18–0.28, AME–ALE 0.06–0.08, PME–PME 0.32–0.37, PME–PLE 0.51–0.58, AME–PME 0.68–0.91, ALE–PLE 0.52–0.64, clypeus height at AME 1.20–1.87, clypeus height at ALE 1.14–1.79.

Cheliceral furrow with three promarginal and four retromarginal teeth. Palpal claw with 14 teeth.

Spination: Palp: 131, 110, 1101, 1014. Legs: femur I 546 (556,545,647), II 545 (556,545,555,647), III 545 (556,555), IV 544 (554,555,545,857); patella I–IV 000; tibia I 3038 (304 10), II 3038 (3037,3048,4038), III 2034 (2026,2036,3036,3039), IV 3036 (2037, 2036,3037,3038); metatarsus I 3035 (3037), II 3035 (3037), III 3035, IV 3035 (3036,3037).

Measurements of palp and legs: Palp 9.6–13.3 [3.4–4.8, 1.3–2.0, 1.8–2.3, 3.1–4.2], I 46.0–60.7 [12.5–16.8, 3.4–5.0, 12.6–17.0, 12.0–15.6, 5.5–6.3], II 36.1–49.2 [10.0–14.0, 3.1–4.5, 9.5–13.0, 9.3–12.3, 4.2–5.4], III 25.4–34.4 [7.6–10.5, 2.4–3.5, 5.9–8.3, 6.5–8.3, 3.0–3.8], IV 36.4–48.3 [10.5–13.9, 2.8–4.2, 9.4–12.7, 9.4–12.1, 4.4–5.4]. Leg formula: 1243 (1423). FEM-I+MTT-I/CL=2.77–2.91, n=7 (3.18, n=1), thus legs short in relation to females of other species-groups. The legs range within the spectrum listed in Bayer (2012, p. 96) for females of the sinensis -group.

Colouration of female (see also description for sinensis -group and Psechrus in Bayer 2012): Median bands on carapace not serrated to slightly serrated, lateral bands absent, or if present, slightly serrated and narrow (at most 0.5 diameter of PME). Light longitudinal line ventrally on opisthosoma continuous and broad, subdistally constricted, the distal section in some specimens broader than the pre-subdistal section. If measured centrally on opisthosoma, the width of the longitudinal line is 0.70–1.3x the width of one half of the cribellum.

Intraspecific variation of female copulatory organs. In contrast to the assumption in Bayer (2012), the posterior part of the median septum is not always narrower than the central section, which means in the posterior ¾ of the septum the epigynal slits may almost run parallel ( Figs 17 A,C) like in the holotype of P. taiwanensis ( Bayer 2012, fig. 65a). The bulbous section of the copulatory duct may be slightly higher and slightly more massive ( Fig. 17 D) than usually ( Fig. 33 A). In some cases the bulbous section is even clearly more massive with the median rims running notably steeper antero-laterally ( Fig. 17 B), which may be interpreted as an intermediate character state of the two species P. kenting (general situation, see Fig. 33 A; Bayer 2012, fig. 64b, e) and P. taiwanensis ( Bayer 2012, fig. 65b). Rarely there may be long furrows in the anterior section of the bulbous part of copulatory duct ( Fig. 17 B), which give the latter a strange appearance. The spermathecal heads may be relatively short as in the holotype ( Bayer 2012, fig. 64b) or longer ( Figs 17 B,D, 33A) (but seemingly not as long as in P. taiwanensis ).

Taxonomic remarks. Psechrus kenting is strikingly similar to Psechrus taiwanensis Wang & Yin, 2001 and the potential synonymy of P. kenti ng with the latter has been discussed in Bayer (2012). However, the exact type locality of P. taiwanensis is uncertain and the males from both species are still unavailable so this taxonomic problem remains. Referring to La Touche (1895), Bayer (2012) suggested Qishan (Cishan) in Tainan County as the possible type locality of P. taiwanensis . It is very unlikely that the type locality lies in the northern 2/3 of Taiwan, because much Psechrus material from that part of the island was available, had been examined, and had always been found to be Psechrus clavis Bayer, 2012 . Unfortunately, from the region of Qishan up to now no Psechrus material was available. Qishan is located ca. 100 km north-north-west of the Kenting area, the southernmost tip of Taiwan and the type locality of Psechrus kenting . The examination of the females listed above from Kenting and Hengchun area provides further indications of the potential synonymy, especially in regard to the copulatory organs of SB 1265 and SB 1266 ( Fig. 17 ), which may represent intermediate character states between P. kenting and P. taiwanensis . Nevertheless, all female material of P. k en t i n g still features minute differences in character states of the vulva in comparison to the holotype of P. taiwanensis (see revised diagnosis above). Without males available and without material from the region of Qishan, the species status of P. kenting is for now maintained.

Distribution. Taiwan.

Figures

FIGURE 17. Psechrus kenting, females SB 1265, SMF 64089 (A – B) and SB 1266, SMF 64090 (C – D), both from Hengchun, Pingtung County, Taiwan: copulatory organ. A, C. Epigyne, ventral view. B, D. Vulva, dorsal view.

FIGURE 29. Psechrus spp., photographic images of epigynes, ventral view. A. Psechrus ampullaceus sp. nov.. B. Psechrus obtectus. C. Psechrus kenting. D. Psechrus crepido. A. Holotype (SB 1240, MHNG) from Thac Bac, Lao Cai Prov., Vietnam. B. SB 1238, MHNG, from Yen Tu, Quang Ninh Prov., Vietnam. C. SB 1263, MHNG, from Hengchun, Pingtung County, Taiwan. D. SB 1219, MHNG, from Poombarai, Tamil Nadu Prov., India.

FIGURE 33. Psechrus spp., photographic images of vulvae, dorsal view. A. Psechrus kenting. B. Psechrus crepido. C. Psechrus quasillus sp. nov.. D. Psechrus huberi sp. nov.. A. SB 1263, MHNG, from Hengchun, Pingtung County, Taiwan. B. SB 1219, MHNG, from Poombarai, Tamil Nadu Prov., India. C. Holotype (SB 1224, MHNG) from Bau, Sarawak Prov., Borneo, Malaysia. D. Holotype (SB 1194, SMF) from Los Baños, Laguna Prov., Luzon, Philippines.