Eukoenenia berlesei (Silvestri, 1903)

Mayoral, Jaime & Hernández-Borroto, Samuel, 2023, Palpigrades from Cuba (Arachnida: Palpigradi: Eukoeneniidae), Zootaxa 5296 (3), pp. 475-487 : 476

Eukoenenia berlesei (Silvestri, 1903)

Material Examined: 2 females, Reparto Alamar , Municipio Habana del Este, Provincia La Habana, Cuba. 28– Nov–2020. S. Hernández-Borroto leg.

Remarks

The two females captured in La Habana, Cuba carry one blade in the lateral organ, 12 deuto-tritosternal setae, 9 teeth in the chelicerae, 4–4–2 thick setae on coxae II–IV and bta IV with 7 setae (2 esd, 2 esd, r, grt and gla). There are five (2+1+2) thick and long glandular setae on sternite IV, and four long and thick setae on the mid-range of sternite VI; in addition, sternites IV to VI carry two a and two s setae on each side of the opisthosoma. These characters are consistent with the species of the complex mirabilis - berlesei , and with E. berlesei in particular after the number of setae on sternites IV and VI. An examination of the female genitalia also revealed a resemblance to E. berlesei in that they bear cylindrical and thickened a 1 and a 2 setae, which are considerably shorter than a 3 and a 4. This morphology contrasts with the setulose a 1 and a 2 setae described by Condé (1984) for E. berlesei virginea Condé, 1984 from relatively nearby St. John in the Virgin Islands. There are also several tiny spines distally on the first genital lobe, only visible at 1000X (oil), however this lobe lacks the median lobe projection depicted by Condé (1984) in Fig 2A for E. berlesei . Morphometric data for the females of this species captured from Cuba are included in Table 1 .

Figures

FIGURES 1–7. E. glandulosa sp. nov. Paratype. 1, frontal organ; 2, lateral organ; 3, metapeltidial setae (t1–t3); 4, deutotritosternal setae; 5, proximal setae (p1–p6) on basal segment of chelicera; 6, distal setae (d1–d3) on basal segment of chelicera; 7, chelicera, ventral view. Scale bars 20μm.