Pholcus mengla Song & Zhu, 1999

Zhang, Feng & Zhu, Ming-Sheng, 2009, A review of the genus Pholcus (Araneae: Pholcidae) from China, Zootaxa 2037 (1), pp. 1-114 : 56

Pholcus mengla Song & Zhu, 1999

( Fig. 28 )

Pholcus mengla Song & Zhu, 1999 in Song, Zhu & Chen 1999: 58, f. 24K–N.

Redescription. Female (holotype), total length 4.4: cephalothorax 1.0 long, 0.9 wide; abdomen 3.5 long, 0.7 wide. Leg I: 33.2 (8.0+0.7+7.8+14.3+2.4), tibia II: 4.6, tibia III: 3.1, tibia IV: 4.5; tibia I L/D: 52. Prosoma shape as in Fig. 28A . Carapace short, broad and almost circular, ochre, with brown central stripe broadly connecting to ocular area. Cephalic region raised, with pair of light, yellowish brown, longitudinal bars behind PME, ocular area dark yellow. Clypeus 0.46, slightly ochre, without marks. Distance AME–AME 0.03. Diameter AME 0.07, ALE 0.13, PME 0.12, PLE 0.13. Labium and endites yellowish brown. Sternum slightly ochre. Femora, patellae and tibiae ochre, with dark rings, metatarsi and tarsi brown. Abdomen cylindrical, slightly fawn, dorsum with indistinct light, yellowish brown markings as in Fig. 28B . Venter pale, with a distinct, brown, longitudinal stripe. Epigynum roughly triangular as in Fig. 28C , light brown, with a distinctive, curving, finger-like apophysis on the top. Dorsal view as in Fig. 28D , with a unusual sclerotized arch anteriorly and a pair of oval pore plates.

Distribution. Known from type locality only.

Material examined. CHINA: Yunnan, Mengla County , August 1, 1981, leg. J. F. Wang, female holotype ( MHBU) .

Remark. Because of only a single described female of this species, it is difficult to compare it with other species of Pholcus in China. However, the epigynum in dorsal view ( Fig. 28D ) has some special characters and the carapace a special pattern ( Fig. 28A ).

Figures

FIGURE 28. Pholcus mengla Song & Zhu, 1999 (illustrations modified from Song et al. 1999). A. female prosoma, dorsal view. B. female opisthosoma, lateral view. C. epigynum, ventral view. D. same, dorsal view. Scale lines: 1.0mm (A, B), 0.5mm (C, D).