Aprusia vankhedei, Ranasinghe & Benjamin, 2018

Ranasinghe, U. G. S. L. & Benjamin, Suresh P., 2018, Three new species of Aprusia (Araneae: Oonopidae) from Sri Lanka with a phylogenetic analysis of the genus, Journal of Natural History 52 (11 - 12), pp. 713-738 : 723-727

Aprusia vankhedei n. sp.

( Figures 5–7 )

Type material

Holotype. 1 ♂ ( IFS _Oon_100): Sri Lanka: Kandy District , Udawattakele FR, 07°17ʹ57ʺN 80°38ʹ29ʺE, 580 m, 21 August 2012, leg. S. P. Benjamin, litter. Deposited in ZFMK.

Paratypes. 1 ♂ ( IFS _Oon_101) and 6 ♀ ( IFS _Oon_102–107): same locality and data as holotype . Deposited in ZFMK.

Other material examined. 1 ♂ ( IFS _ Oon _ 276) and 16 ♀ (169–181, 278–279, 301), 29 December 2011, 24 April 2015, N . Athukorala et al.; 8 June 2015, Ranasinghe et al . All same locality as holotype . 1♀ ( IFS _ Oon _024): Sri Lanka, Dunumadalawa FR, 07°17ʹ00ʺN 80°37ʹ49ʺE, 600 m, 22 April 2010, S . P. Benjamin and S. Batuwita. Deposited in ZFMK .

Diagnosis

Males resemble A. kerala in having a pale-coloured, stout bulb, a tiny conical projection and a sinuous embolus but differ in lacking a conductor, and having a membranous connection just below the embolus ( Figure 7 (b)). Females can be recognized by having a thick, sclerotized, procurved anterior margin of the postepigastric scutum and two semicircular sclerotized ridges lying close to the lateral apodemes ( Figures 6 (b), 7(d)).

Description

Male. Body length: 1.92. Cephalothorax as in Figure 5 (a), pars cephalica only slightly elevated ( Figure 5 (c)), surface of elevated portion of pars cephalica smooth, sides reticulate. Eyes; all eyes circular; ALE largest, PME subequal, ALE separated by less than their radius, ALE-PLE separated by less than ALE radius, PME touching throughout most of their length, PLE-PME separate less than PME radius. Sternum longer than wide ( Figure 5 (b)), without radial furrows between coxae I–II, II–III, III–IV, surface smooth, with small hairs, continuous margin (see arrow in Figure 5 (b)), anterior margin concave, posterior margin extending posteriorly of coxae IV, distance between coxae I–II, II–III approximately equal, but distance between coxae III–IV greater than them.

Abdomen as in Figure 5 (e). Dorsal scutum sclerotized, pale orange, without colour pattern, covering about 3/4 of abdomen, more than 1/2 to most of abdomen width ( Figure 5 (e)), not fused to epigastric scutum. Postepigastric scutum sclerotized, pale orange, almost rectangular, covering about 3/4 of abdominal length, fused to epigastric scutum ( Figure 5 (f)). Two light brown patches located above the spinnerets ( Figure 5 (f)). Legs; strong spines on leg I and II present, leg I: femur, pv0–0–1–1–1–1; tibia, v2–2–2–2– 0; metatarsus v2–2–0; leg II: femur, pv0–0–0–1–1; tibia v2–2–2–2–0; metatarsus, v2–2–0 claw like setae present on legs III and IV.

Genitalia. Sperm pore large, circular, situated at level of anterior spiracles ( Figure 5 (f)). Palp not strongly sclerotized femur two times as patella. Cymbium pale orange, completely fused with bulb, no seam visible, with distal patch of setae, distal part with a tiny conical projection ( Figure 7 (a)). Bulb stout, slightly tapering apically with small ventral concavity ( Figure 7 (a)), Embolus pale, slightly sinuous with membranous connection just below the embolus ( Figure 7 (b)). Conductor absent.

Female. Body length: 2.10. As in male except as noted. Palp claws and spines absent, tarsus smooth. Posterior spiracles connected by groove. Dorsal scutum covering 1/4 of abdomen ( Figure 6 (a)). Postepigastric scutum only around epigastric furrow, not fused to epigastric scutum ( Figure 6 (b)).

Genitalia. Ventral view: anterior margin of postepigastric scutum with a thick, procurved, sclerotized ridge (see arrow in Figure 6 (b)); a bracket-shaped, sclerotized, semicircular ridge on either side of the procurved ridge. Dorsal view: long anterior receptaculum, with a narrow lumen and a slightly widened tip, bracket-shaped, semicircular sclerotized ridge on either side of the procurved ridge, posteriorly directed lateral apodemes; apparently without posterior receptaculum ( Figure 7 (c), 7(d)).

Etymology

Named for Dr Ganesh Vankhede (17 August 1951 to 1 July 2016), friend, professor of zoology and former president of the Indian Society of Arachnology.

Distribution

Udawattakele FR, Dunumadalawa FR ( Figure 11 )

Figures

Figure 5. Aprusia vankhedei n. sp. male from Udawattakele FR. (a) carapace, dorsal view; (b) sternum, ventral view; (c) carapace, lateral view; (d) carapace, posterior view; (e) abdomen dorsal view; (f) abdomen, ventral view. Scale bars = 0.2 mm.

Figure 6. Aprusia vankhedei n. sp. female from Udawattakele FR. (a) habitus, dorsal view; (b) same, ventral view. The arrow in (b) points to the thick, procurved, sclerotized ridge of the postepigastric scutum. Scale bar = 0.5 mm (a, b).

Figure 7. Aprusia vankhedei n. sp. from Udawattakele FR. Male: (a) left palp, prolateral view; (b) details of the distal part of the bulb. Female: (c) epigastric region, ventral view; (d) epigastric region, dorsal view. Abbreviations: ar, anterior receptaculum; cp, conical projection; em, embolus; lap, lateral apodemes; ss, semicircular ridges. Scale bars = 0.2 mm (a), 0.05 mm (b), 0.1 mm (c, d).

Figure 11. Map of Sri Lanka showing the known distribution of Aprusia. See text for details. A. vestigator, A. kataragama, A. strenuus, A. vankhedei, A. koslandensis, A. rawanaellensis, A. veddah.