Savarna miser ( Bristowe, 1952 ) Huber & Petcharad & Bumrungsri, 2015

Huber, Bernhard A., Petcharad, Booppa & Bumrungsri, Sara, 2015, Revision of the enigmatic Southeast Asian spider genus Savarna (Araneae, Pholcidae), European Journal of Taxonomy 160, pp. 1-23 : 18-22

Savarna miser ( Bristowe, 1952) , comb. nov.

Figs 34–35 , 38–39 , 74–85

Spermophora miser Bristowe, 1952: 704 , Fgs 11–13 (♀).

Spermophora baso Roewer, 1963: 229 , pl. 18, Fgs 17–18 (Ƌ). New synonymy.

Spermophora miser – Huber 2005: 85 (considered as incertae sedis).

Savarna baso – Huber 2005: 78, Fgs 127–128, 135–137 (Ƌ).

JustiFcation of synonymy

The holotype of S. baso was compared directly with fresh specimens of S. miser originating from the type locality. The males were found to be identical in all relevant genital structures (cf. Figs 77–80 ).

Diagnosis

Easily distinguished from known congeners by morphology of male palp (strongly curved ventral trochanter apophysis; shapes of procursus and bulbal process; Figs 81–82 ), and by female external and internal genitalia (posterior margin of epigynal plate with pair of semicircular extensions; without median process as in S. kraburiensis ; pore plates contiguous; Figs 34–35 , 38–39 , 84–85 ). From most species (except S. tessellata ) also distinguihsed by absence of black marks laterally on carapace ( Figs 74, 75 ); from S. tessellata also by paired male clypeus apophyses (unpaired in S. tessellata ) and less elongated male palpal tibia.

Type material

Spermophora miser . MALAYSIA: Unknown number of female syntypes and two juveniles, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Batu Caves [3°14.3’ N, 101°41.0’ E], “ in Fimsy webs in wall crevices ”, Nov. 1930 – Jan. 1931, W.S. Bristowe leg., possibly lost (apparently not in the Natural History Museum, London), not examined .

Spermophora baso . INDONESIA: Ƌ, holotype (left palp mounted on slide) ; 1 ♀, paratype, prosoma; Sumatra, Sumatera Barat (West Sumatra), cave near Baso [0°14.9’ S, 100°29.0’ E], Oct. 1913, E. Jacobson leg., but see Addendum; SMF ( RII/13853/122 ), examined (in 2004 and again for the present study) .

Other material examined

MALAYSIA: 3 ƋƋ, 3 ♀♀, in pure ethanol, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Batu Caves (3°14.34’ N, 101°40.97’ E), 90 m a.s.l., cave , at day, by hand, 23 Feb. 2015, P. Jäger & T. Laufs leg. ( SMF) .

Redescription

Male (Batu Caves, type locality)

MEASUREMENTS. Total body length 2.2, carapace width 1.1. Leg 1: 22.2 (5.5 + 0.4 + 5.4 + 8.8 + 2.1), all other legs detached; tibia 1 L/d: 47. Distance PME-PME 185 µm, diameter PME 105 µm, distance PME-ALE 35 µm; AME absent.

COLOR. Carapace pale ochre; ocular area and clypeus dark brown; sternum black; legs light brown, with darker rings on femora (subdistally) and tibiae (proximally and subdistally); abdomen pale gray, with dark subcuticular marks lying above deeper white marks, with distinct ventral pattern consisting of three interconnected black marks.

BODY. Habitus as in Fig. 74 ; ocular area elevated, each triad on short hump directed toward lateral; carapace with deep median furrow; clypeus with pair of rounded processes at rim, similar to S. kaeo sp. nov. but smaller (cf. Fig. 20 ); sternum wider than long (0.78/0.54), unmodiFed. Chelicerae as in Fig. 83 , with pair of lateral processes, directed slightly toward posterior; without stridulatory ridges.

PALPS. As in Figs 81–82 ; coxa unmodiFed; trochanter with small retrolateral and ventral processes and distinctive long ventral apophysis, proximally attached to femur, distally strongly curved; procursus distally complex, with distinctive membranous and sclerotized elements; bulb with large proximal sclerite, with single complex process ( Fig. 79 ) apparently containing sperm duct.

LEGS. Without spines; with vertical hairs in higher than usual density on all tibiae; without curved hairs; retrolateral trichobothrium on tibia 1 at 9%; prolateral trichobothrium absent on tibia 1, present on other tibiae; tarsal pseudosegments indistinct, about 15 visible distally on tarsus 1.

Male (variation)

The holotype of S. baso is strongly bleached (cf. Fgs 127–128 in Huber 2005), but the distinctive male genital structures are indistinguishable from those of males from the type locality ( Figs 77–80 ). In the fresh material from the type locality, all bulbs are rotated away from their natural position, which explains the differences between the palps of S. baso illustrated in Huber (2005) and the palps illustrated herein.

Female

In general similar to male; eye triads closer together (PME-PME distance: 150 µm); clypeus unmodiFed; leg tibiae with usual low density of vertical hairs. Tibia 1: 5.4 (missing or detached in other specimens). Epigynum slightly protruding ( Fig. 35 ), with wide transversal sclerotized plate with pair of semicircular posterior extensions ( Figs 34 , 38 , 84 ); internal genitalia as in Figs 39 and 85 , pore plates contiguous (whether the sclerotized bars extending toward posterior are also provided with pores is not clear).

Distribution

Known from two localities in mainland Malaysia and Sumatra ( Fig. 1 ); but see Addendum.

Figures

Fig 1. Known distribution of the genus Savarna; but see Addendum.

Figs 28 – 35. Epigyna, ventral and lateral views. — 28 – 29. Savarna kaeo sp. nov. — 30 – 31. S. thaleban Huber, 2005. — 32 – 33. S. tessellata (Simon, 1901). — 34 – 35. S. miser (Bristowe, 1952). At varying scales.

Figs 36 – 43. Cleared and stained female genitalia, ventral and dorsal views. — 36 – 37. Savarna kaeo sp. nov. — 38 – 39. S. miser (Bristowe, 1952). — 40 – 41. S. tessellata (Simon, 1901). — 42 – 43. S. thaleban Huber, 2005. At varying scales.

Figs 74 – 80. Savarna miser (Bristowe, 1952). 74. Ƌ from Batu Caves, dorsal view. 75 – 76. ♀ from Batu Caves, prosoma in dorsal and lateral views. 77 – 78. Right procursi, retrolateral views, ƋƋ from Batu Caves (77) and from cave near Baso (holotype of Spermophora baso Roewer, 1963; 78). 79 – 80. Right bulbal processes, ƋƋ from Batu Caves (79) and from cave near Baso (holotype of Spermophora baso Roewer, 1963; 80). At varying scales.

Figs 81 – 85. Savarna miser (Bristowe, 1952). 81 – 82. Left male palp, prolateral and retrolateral views (b = genital bulb; bp = bulbal process; pr = procursus; tr = trochanter; asterisks = broken tibia). 83. Male chelicerae, frontal view. 84 – 85. Cleared female genitalia, ventral and dorsal views. Scale bars: 83 = 0.3 mm; 81 – 82, 84 – 85 = 0.5 mm.

Figs 19 – 27. Savarna kaeo sp. nov. 19 – 20. Male prosoma, frontal and oblique frontal views. 21. Right male palpal trochanter (tr) and femur, retrolateral view. 22. Left procursus (pr) and bulbal process (bp), prolatero-distal view (b = bulb). 23. Right procursus (pr) and bulbal process (bp), retrolatero-distal view (b = bulb). 24. Female ALS. 25. Male palpal tarsal organ. 26. Male gonopore. 27. Epigynum, ventrolateral view. Scale bars: 24 – 25 = 10 µm; 26 = 80 µm; 21 – 23 = 100 µm; 19 – 20, 27 = 200 µm.