Araniella robusta, Lee & Kim, 2021

Lee, Sue Yeon & Kim, Jung Sun Yoo and Seung Tae, 2021, Two new records of orb-weaving spiders with a new species (Araneae: Araneidae) from Korea, Journal of Species Research 10 (4), pp. 387-391 : 389-390

Araniella robusta sp. nov. ( Fig. 2)

굵êfiỵÿHḍ (ṳḋ)

Type material. Holotype: male, 2 June 2019, Mt. Juwangsan National Park, Sangui-ri, Budong-myeon , Cheongsong-gun , Gyeongsangbuk-do (36°23′48.4″N, 129°08′ 55.7″E, alt. 296 m), leg. S. T. Kim.

Etymology. The species name is derived from the Latin adjective ‘ robusta ’ meaning robust referring to the strongly developed legs.

Diagnosis. The new species is most similar to Araniella cucurbitina (Clerck, 1757) in the body appearance, but can be easily distinguished from the latter by a branched conductor with two blunt tips, and the tip of embolus and terminal apophysis conjugated ( Fig. 2E, F), versus undivided conductor with a bent tip, and the tip of embolus and terminal apophysis separated in A. cucurvitina ( Levi, 1974: 298, figs. 30, 31; Blanke, 1982: 289, fig. 6b).

Description. Holotype male. Total length 4.57 (habitus). Carapace: 2.65 long/2.04 wide, dusky reddish brown, round, longer than wide, thoracic region dark with a pair of dark brownish lateral bands, cervical and radial furrows distinct, dark longitudinal fovea needle shaped and deeply depressed ( Fig. 2A). Eyes: ALE 0.13, AME 0.16, PLE 0.12, PME 0.12, ALE- AME 0.28, AME- AME 0.21, PLE- PME 0.39, PME- PME 0.12, ALE- PLE conjugated, AME- PME 0.19, AER 0.91, PER 0.93, all eyes encircled with black, eight eyes in two rows, AER strongly recurved and PER slightly recurved from above, AER slightly shorter than PER ( Fig. 2B). Chelicera: 0.85 long/0.32 wide, yellowish brown, strongly developed chelicera teeth with four promarginal teeth and three retromarginal teeth, fang brown ( Fig. 2C). Endite: 0.35 long/0.32 wide, yellowish brown. Labium: 0.21 long/0.40 wide, brown. Sternum: 1.12 long/0.90 wide, yellowish brown, both margins brown, inverted triangular, longer than wide, sharply pointed and protrudent between the leg segments ( Fig. 2D). Legs: I 7.37 (2.40, 1.00, 1.70, 1.45, 0.82), II 7.18 (2.27, 1.00, 1.45, 1.60, 0.86), III 4.71 (1.60, 0.60, 1.00, 0.97, 0.54), IV 6.81 (2.17, 0.83, 1.50, 1.75, 0.56), reddish brown, stout and strongly developed, all leg segments except tarsus armed with spines, femur II dark brown, distal end of femur III with thick and pale brownish annulus ( Fig. 2A), leg formula I-II-IV-III. Abdomen: 2.54 long/2.40 wide, pale grayish brown with a faint folium, ovoid, longer than wide, posterior end wrinkled, 3 pairs of muscle impressions present, posterior part with 4 pairs of black speckles ( Fig. 2A). Palp: 1.97 (0.43, 0.29, 0.21, -, 0.48), paracymbium unmodified; tegulum round with a round ridge, tegular tip long with pointed tip, beak-shaped; embolus very long with a broad base and a pointed tip; conductor broad and large, branched with 2 blunt tips; median apophysis hook-shaped with a pointed tip, proturdent outward; terminal apophysis long with a pointed tip, conjugated with an embolic tip ( Fig. 2E, F).

Female. Unknown.

Distribution. Korea (Mt. Juwangsan National Park, Gyeongsangbuk-do).

Remarks. The species was collected with a sweep net between shrubs in mixed forests of mountainous terrain near a stream.

390 JOURNAL OF SPECIES RESEARCH Vol. 10, No. 4