Escaphiella tonila, Platnick & Dupérré, 2009

Platnick, Norman I. & Dupérré, Nadine, 2009, The American Goblin Spiders Of The New Genus Escaphiella (Araneae, Oonopidae), Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2009 (328), pp. 1-151 : 49-56

Escaphiella tonila , new species Figures 269–290 ; map 5

TYPES: Male holotype and female allotype taken 2 miles S of Tonila, Colima, Mexico (Aug. 28, 1965; W. Gertsch, R. Hastings), deposited in AMNH (PBI_OON 36863) .

ETYMOLOGY: The specific name is a noun in apposition taken from the type locality.

DIAGNOSIS: Whether males of this species show palpal asymmetry is unknown; the only available specimen is missing the left palp, but has a distinctively rebordered posterior margin on the endite excavation (figs. 270, 276), a club-shaped palpal femur (fig. 277), and an extremely long, thin embolus (fig. 280). Females have a distinctively widened anterior epigynal sclerite containing an S-shaped darkening (fig. 290), and both sexes seem to have slightly reduced eyes (figs. 272, 288).

MALE (PBI_OON 36863): Total length 1.17 (figs. 269, 270, 273). Carapace pale orange, surface of elevated portion of pars cephalica smooth, sides granulate; lateral margins without denticles (figs. 271, 274). Eyes: ALE circular, PME squared; ALE separated by less than their radius, ALE-PLE touching, PME touching throughout most of their length, PLE-PME touching (fig. 272). Sternum pale orange, without radial furrows between coxae I–II, II–III, III–IV, surface smooth, microsculpture absent (fig. 276). Chelicerae, endites, and labium pale orange. Posterior margin of endite excavation rebordered (fig. 276). Abdomen ovoid; book lung covers large, ovoid; pedicel tube medium (fig. 275), scutum extending far dorsal of pedicel; dorsal scutum pale orange, covering full length of abdomen, no soft tissue visible from above, middle surface smooth, sides smooth; postepigastric scutum pale orange, sides smooth. PMS not observed. Legs pale orange. Palp with proximal segments pale orange; embolus dark, greatly elongated (figs. 278–281); femur enlarged, club shaped (fig. 277); cymbium and bulb pale orange, subdistal row of six long, stiff setae marking edge of cymbial area on prolateral side (fig. 279).

FEMALE (PBI_OON 36863): Total length 1.28 (figs. 284–286, 289). Abdomen with soft portions of dorsum white (figs. 282, 288); pedicel tube ribbed, scutopedicel region unmodified. PMS present as single median projection (light microscope). Anterior epigynal sclerite containing S-shaped darkening (figs. 283, 287, 290).

OTHER MATERIAL EXAMINED: One female taken with the types (AMNH PBI_OON 36863).

DISTRIBUTION: Known only from the type locality in Colima, Mexico (map 5).

Figures

Figs. 269–275. Escaphiella tonila, new species, male. 269. Habitus, dorsal view. 270. Same, ventral view. 271. Carapace, dorsal view. 272. Habitus, anterior view. 273. Same, lateral view. 274. Carapace, lateral view. 275. Epigastric region, ventral view.

Figs. 276–281. Escaphiella tonila, new species, male. 276. Cephalothorax, ventral view. 277. Right palpal femur, retrolateral view. 278. Right palp, dorsal view. 279. Same, prolateral view. 280. Same, ventral view. 281. Same, retrolateral view.

Figs. 282–290. Escaphiella tonila, new species, female. 282. Habitus, dorsal view. 283. Same, ventral view. 284. Cephalothorax, ventral view. 285. Habitus, lateral view. 286. Carapace, lateral view. 287. Abdomen, ventral view. 288. Habitus, anterior view. 289. Carapace, dorsal view. 290. Epigynum, ventral view.