Cydrela decidua, Jocqué, 2006

Jocqué, Pakawin Dankittipakul Rudy, 2006, Two New Species Of Cydrela Thorell (Araneae: Zodariidae) From Thailand, Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 54 (1), pp. 93-101 : 97-100

Cydrela decidua , new species

( Figs. 13 , 23, 24 )

Type material. – HOLOTYPE: Female (MHNG), northeastern THAILAND, border between Kalasin and Sakon Nakhon Province, Phu [= Mt.] Phan , 524 m, partially dry stream bed in a mixed evergreen deciduous gallery forest ca. 1 km of the main road near the summit, coll. P. J. Schwendinger, 7-8 Dec.1995.

Diagnosis. – Somatic features of the female C. deciduas , new species resemble that of C. pristina , new species but can be easily distinguished from the latter species by its smaller size and an epigyne with large genital orifices ( Fig. 23 ), the internal structure of the epigyne with strongly convoluted entrance ducts and the kidney-shaped spermathecae ( Fig. 24 ).

Etymology. – The species name is a Latin adjective meaning “fallen” and refers to the semi-deciduous woodland the specimen was found in.

Description. – Female (holotype). Total length 6.05. Carapace 2.46 long, 1.51 wide. Abdomen 3.14 long.

Prosoma longly oval, widest between coxae II and III, strongly narrowed in front. Profile with raised cephalic area and slightly dip near fovea; highest point half way between PME and deep fovea. Tegument smooth. Carapace orange in colour, with a few long hairs on ocular area. Legs yellow, anterior legs provided with a few weak spines, posterior legs with numerous short ones.

Eyes small, in three rows (2–2–4); AER strongly procurved, ALE located just in front of AME; PER slightly recurved, much wider than anterior one, PER clearly separated from AER; all eyes circular; AME dark, remainder pale; AME the smallest, hardly larger than other six, which are subequal; AME their diameter apart, about their diameter from ALE; PME more than their diameter apart, at about 3 times that distance from PLE. MOQ longer than wide and always much wider behind than in front. Eye sizes and interdistances: AME 0.06, ALE 0.08, PME 0.06, PLE 0.06; AME–AME 0.04, AME–ALE 0.08, PME–PME 0.08, PME–PLE 0.20, ALE– PLE 0.30; MOQ 0.30 long, front width 0.14, back width 0.20. Clypeus 0.26 high, convex, strongly retreating.

Chilum indistinct. Chelicerae strong, rather broad; anterior surface densely clothed with a patch of very thick hairs; fangs relatively long with thick base, no teeth present on cheliceral groove. Maxillae slightly swollen at base; rather broad, with anteromesal scopulae. Labium roughly triangular, with narrowed base. Sternum roughly triangular, almost straight anterior margin with small indentation on either side of center; slightly longer than wide. Precoxal sclerite absent.

Leg formula 4123 (5.60, 4.84, 3.84, 3.73). Leg measurements: femora: I 1.42, II 1.21, III 1.02, IV 1.56; patellae: I 0.56, II 0.56, III 0.48, IV 0.56; tibiae: I 1.50, II 0.83, III 0.75, IV 1.05; metatarsi: I 0.65, II 0.65, III 0.90, IV 1.52; tarsi: I 0.71, II 0.62, III 0.58, IV 0.91.Spination: Spines usually few and thin on legs I and II, more numerous short, stout spines on legs III and IV. Metatarsal preening bush present on leg III absent. Scopulae absent. Pair tarsal claws with tiny teeth, generally more than 10.

Spination: femora I d1–1 II d1–1 III d1 IV d1; patellae III pl1–1–1 d1 rl 1 ap 2 IV pl1–1–1 d1 rl1 ap 2; tibiae I v1 II pl1 v1–1–1 III pl1–1–1 d3 rl 2 v2 IV pl1–1–1 d3 rl2 v1–1–1; metatarsi I v2–1 II v4–2–1 III pl1–1–1 d1 rl2 v4–1–1 IV pl1– 1–1–1 d1 rl3 v4–1–1–1.

Abdomen oval. Dorsum gray, provided with a simple pattern consisting of two pairs of spots, anterior one largest, followed by a pale folium. Six spinnerets. Anterior pair relatively long, cylindrical or slightly conical, bisegmented; posterior spinnerets much shorter than AS. Colulus represented by two groups of hairs.

Epigyne ( Figs. 23, 24 ): Simple sclerotized plate with two large posterior genital orifices ( Fig. 23 ) connected to a pair of receptacles ( Fig. 24 ) then forming thick copulatory ducts which arise posteriorly; spermathecae kidney-shaped ( Fig. 24 ).

Natural history. – The female holotype was collected from a 2–3 cm long burrow with a flap-shaped door (not a real trap door) that closed the entrance of the burrow. The burrow was located on a vertical road bank of a main road in a dry deciduous forest. Hewitt (1914) first observed that an African species, C. friedlanderae Hewitt, 1914 , live in burrows with trap doors but the species was believed to be a member of Capheris instead of Cydrela ( Jocqué, 1991) . Several members of the genus Psammorygma Jocqué , another genus of the Cydrelinae , have been recorded (unpublished) to live in burrows with trap doors. We document here the evidence of burrow construction of the genus Cydrela .

Distribution. – Known only from the type locality.

Figures

Figs. 11-13. Cydrela pristina, new species: 11, male holotype, habitus, dorsal view; 12, female paratype, dorsal view of abdomen.Cydrela deciduas, new species. 13, female holotype, habitus, dorsal view. Scale bar = 1.0 mm.

Figs. 23, 24. Cydrela decidua, new species. Female holotype (23, 24). Epigyne (23), and its internal structure (24). Scale bars = 0.5 mm.