Canaima, HUBER, 2000

HUBER, BERNHARD A., 2000, New World Pholcid Spiders (Araneae: Pholcidae): A Revision At Generic Level, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2000 (254), pp. 1-348 : 327-328

CANAIMA , NEW GENUS

TYPE SPECIES: Anopsicus arima Gertsch, 1982 .

ETYMOLOGY: The generic name is the name of a novel of Venezuela’s most famous novelist, Rómulo Gallegos; it is an account of humans’ struggle to survive, psychologically and physically, in the jungle. Gender feminine.

DIAGNOSIS: Tiny to small (total length 1.1– 1.4 mm), six-eyed pholcids with mediumlong legs, globular opisthosoma, male chelicerae with a pair of frontal apophyses, sternum with anterior humps; distinguished from similar New World genera ( Tupigea , Blancoa ) by the very short entapophyses of the chelicerae (arrows in figs. 1321, 1330).

DESCRIPTION: Total length ~ 1.1–1.4 mm. Carapace with distinct thoracic groove, ocular area slightly elevated, with six eyes, AME completely absent; distance PME-ALE rela- tively large (~ 60% of PME diameter). Sternum with anterior humps. Male clypeus unmodified. Basal segments of male chelicerae with pair of simple frontal apophyses; without stridulatory ridges laterally. Male palpal coxa with retrolateral apophysis, femur with distinct retrolateral apophysis proximally, procursus and bulb variable. Tarsal organ exposed (examined: C. arima ). Legs moderately long (leg 1 about 7 X body length; tibia 1 l/d 42–50); leg 1 longest, leg 2 about as long as leg 4, leg 3 shortest; legs without spines and curved hairs; some vertical hairs on tibiae 1 and (in C. arima only) femora 1; retrolateral trichobothrium of tibia 1 at ~ 26%; tarsus 1 with ~ 15 pseudosegments. Opisthosoma globular. Male epigastric system not examined. ALS with only one piriform gland spigot each (examined: C. arima ), other spinnerets typical for family.

Sexual dimorphism slight (female of C. merida unknown). Epigynum very simple.

MONOPHYLY: The species included share the short entapophyses of the chelicerae (arrows in figs. 1321, 1330).

GENERIC RELATIONSHIPS: Blancoa is similar in habitus and eye pattern, and occurs also in Venezuela, but is distinguished by the globular palpal tibia. Tupigea is also very similar overall, but is distinguished by the ventrally long male palpal patella, and is apparently restricted to southeastern Brazil. The Central American and West Indian genus Anopsicus (in which C. arima was originally included) is apparently not closely related.

DISTRIBUTION: The two species described herein are from northeastern Venezuela (Mérida) and Trinidad. The USNM has a third species, very closely related to C. arima , from Tobago, St. Paul Parish.

Canaima arima (Gertsch, 1982) , new combination Figures 33 , 1315–1327

Figures

Figs. 30–35. Sexual modifications on male chelicerae. 30. Galapa baerti (Gertsch), cheliceral fang with basal apophysis (arrow). 31. Chibchea araona, n. gen., n. sp., cheliceral fang with tiny projections (arrow; cf. fig. 666). 32. Blancoa piacoa, n. gen., n. sp., cheliceral fang with basal apophysis (arrow). 33. Canaima arima (Gertsch), cheliceral apophysis and projections. 34. Calapnita vermiformis Simon, scales on distal cheliceral apophysis. 35. Coryssocnemis simla, n. sp., upward-bent apophysis. Scale lines: 20 µm (30–33, 35), 3 µm (34).