Micropholcus bukidnon Huber, 2024

Huber, Bernhard A. & Meng, Guanliang, 2024, Old World Micropholcus spiders, with first records of acrocerid parasitoids in Pholcidae (Araneae), ZooKeys 1213, pp. 95-182 : 95-182

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.3897/zookeys.1213.133178
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:B8E6EE1A-023D-4B64-8D3A-C1843F0D8376
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13844673
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/F99122C7-C6F3-40B3-81BB-1DED94C7718E
taxon LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:act:F99122C7-C6F3-40B3-81BB-1DED94C7718E
treatment provided by	ZooKeys by Pensoft
scientific name	Micropholcus bukidnon Huber
status	sp. nov.

Treatment

Micropholcus bukidnon Huber sp. nov.

Figs 4 H View Figure 4 , 5 E, F View Figure 5 , 6 H View Figure 6 , 8 G, H View Figure 8 , 9 E, J View Figure 9 , 10 G, H View Figure 10 , 11 J View Figure 11 , 12 H View Figure 12 , 72 View Figure 72 , 73 View Figure 73 , 74 View Figure 74 , 75 View Figure 75

Micropholcus Phi 114 – Eberle et al. 2018 (molecular data). Huber et al. 2018: fig. 11.

Micropholcus sp. n. Phi 114 – Huber and Eberle 2021, Suppl. material 1.

Type material.

Holotype. Philippines – Mindanao • ♂; Bukidnon Province, Central Mindanao University, Faculty Hill ; 7.852 ° N, 125.048 ° E; 330 m a. s. l.; on rocks in degraded forest; 10 Feb. 2014; B. A. Huber leg.; ZFMK Ar 24694 . GoogleMaps

Other material.

Philippines – Mindanao • 7 ♂♂, 10 ♀♀, 1 juv. (1 ♂, 1 ♀ used for SEM); same collection data as for holotype; ZFMK Ar 24695 to 24696 GoogleMaps • 2 ♂♂, 3 ♀♀, in pure ethanol; same collection data as for holotype; ZFMK Phi 273 GoogleMaps • 3 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀; Barangay San Jose , Blue Water Cave; 7.705 ° N, 125.035 ° E; 230 m a. s. l.; at rocks at cave entrance; 16 Feb. 2014; B. A. Huber leg.; ZFMK Ar 24697 GoogleMaps • 2 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀, 1 juv., in pure ethanol; same collection data as for preceding; ZFMK Phi 250 GoogleMaps • 7 ♀♀; Barangay San Jose , Kabyaw Cave; ~ 7.704 ° N, 125.038 ° E; ~ 260 m a. s. l.; at rocks at cave entrance; 16 Feb. 2014; B. A. Huber leg.; ZFMK Ar 24698 GoogleMaps .

Diagnosis.

Easily distinguished from known congeners by unusually long proximal frontal apophyses on male chelicerae (Fig. 74 B View Figure 74 ); by long ventral process of palpal femur (Fig. 72 C View Figure 72 ); by long rod-shaped putative appendix (Fig. 73 D, E View Figure 73 ), and by distinctive shapes of processes on procursus (Fig. 73 A – C View Figure 73 ; in particular large flat dorsal process). Female genitalia very simple externally (Fig. 75 A View Figure 75 ), distinguished from congeners by absence of external knob (Fig. 10 H View Figure 10 ) and by distinctive internal structures (round pore plates; m-shaped dorsal arch; concentric ventral arches; distinctive median membranous structures posteriorly).

Description.

Male (holotype). Measurements. Total body length 2.8, carapace width 1.1. Leg 1: 28.1 (6.7 + 0.5 + 7.1 + 12.4 + 1.4), tibia 2: 4.5, tibia 3: 2.9, tibia 4: 3.8; tibia 1 L / d: 77. Distance PME - PME 190 µm, diameter PME 100 µm, distance PME - ALE ~ 30 µm; distance AME - AME 30 µm, diameter AME 15 µm.

Colour (in ethanol). Carapace pale ochre with dark median band widening posteriorly, ocular area and clypeus only slightly darkened; sternum pale ochre with narrow dark margins; legs ochre to light brown, with dark brown patellae and tibia-metatarsus joints; abdomen monochromous pale grey.

Body. Habitus as in Fig. 4 H View Figure 4 ; ocular area slightly raised (Fig. 5 E View Figure 5 ); carapace without median furrow; clypeus unmodified; sternum wider than long (0.65 / 0.55), unmodified. Gonopore of scanned male with five epiandrous spigots (Fig. 10 G View Figure 10 ). Anterior lateral spinnerets with one strongly widened, one pointed, and six cylindrically shaped spigots (Fig. 9 J View Figure 9 ).

Chelicerae. As in Fig. 74 A, B View Figure 74 ; proximally with pair of long frontal apophyses and pair of short lateral processes directed towards proximal, distally with pair of dark apophyses near laminae, each provided with five modified (globular) hairs (Fig. 6 H View Figure 6 ).

Palps. As in Fig. 72 View Figure 72 ; coxa unmodified; trochanter with retrolateral apophysis, tip of apophysis without modified hair (Fig. 9 E View Figure 9 ); femur with low retrolateral hump proximally and with distinctive ventral process; procursus (Figs 8 G View Figure 8 , 73 A – C View Figure 73 ) very complex distally, with apparently hinged ventral structures and large dorsal flap; genital bulb (Figs 8 H View Figure 8 , 73 D, E View Figure 73 ) with strong proximal sclerite, with long weakly sclerotised embolus and heavily sclerotised cylindrical putative appendix with proximal round protrusion and short subdistal branch.

Legs. Without spines and curved hairs; without sexually dimorphic short vertical hairs; retrolateral trichobothrium on tibia 1 at 10 %; prolateral trichobothrium absent on tibia 1, present on other tibiae; tarsus 1 with ~ 15 pseudosegments, only distally distinct. Tarsus 4 comb-hairs as in Fig. 12 H View Figure 12 .

Variation (male). Tibia 1 in nine other males: 5.4–7.3 (mean 6.5); specimens from Barangay San Jose have consistently shorter legs than specimens from Faculty Hill (5.4–5.7 versus 6.6–7.3).

Female. In general similar to male; eye triads at almost same distance (PME - PME: 170 µm; Fig. 5 F View Figure 5 ). Dark band on carapace in some females posteriorly not widened. Tibia 1 in 19 females: 4.3–6.0 (mean: 5.2). As in males, specimens from Barangay San Jose have consistently shorter legs than specimens from Faculty Hill (4.3–5.2 versus 5.4–6.0). Epigynum very simple (Figs 10 H View Figure 10 , 75 A – C View Figure 75 ), weakly sclerotised, without external ‘ knob’; internal genitalia (Figs 74 C, D View Figure 74 , 75 D, E View Figure 75 ) with round pore plates, m-shaped dorsal arch, concentric ventral arches, and distinctive median membranous structures posteriorly.

Etymology.

The species name is derived from the type locality; noun in apposition.

Distribution.

Known from three localities (two of them very close to each other) in central Mindanao, Philippines (Fig. 13 B View Figure 13 ).

Natural history.

The spiders were found on rocks, either on the undersides of large rocks with sufficient space to the ground, or in small depressions of near-vertical rock-surfaces (Fig. 14 H View Figure 14 ). Two egg sacs contained 11 and 25 eggs, respectively, with an egg diameter of 0.54–0.57 mm ( Huber and Eberle 2021).