Pholcus zhangae, Zhang & Zhu, 2009

Zhang, Feng & Zhu, Ming-Sheng, 2009, A review of the genus Pholcus (Araneae: Pholcidae) from China, Zootaxa 2037 (1), pp. 1-114 : 108

Pholcus zhangae sp. nov.

( Fig. 63 )

Types. Male holotype, 4♀ paratypes, CHINA: Sichuan Province, Wenchuan County [31°24’N, 103°36’E], Wolong Natural Reserve , July 19, 2003, leg. J. X. Zhang ( MHBU) .

Diagnosis. Among its close Pholcus relatives (see the remark of P. clavatus ), this species is very similar to P. kangding sp. nov. in the shape of the palpal bulb, both with a branched appendix ( Figs. 20H and 63I ). It can be distinguished from P. kangding sp. nov. by the shape of the procursus ( Figs. 63G–I ), by the larger teatshaped epigynal apophysis ( Fig. 63A ), and by the cephalic region with brown slender central marks ( Fig. 63C ).

Etymology. The specific name is a patronym in honor of the collector Junxia Zhang.

Description. Male (holotype): total body length 4.7: cephalothorax 1.4 long, 1.5 wide; abdomen 3.3 long, 1.5 wide. Leg I: 38.6 (9.3+0.9+9.6+16.2+2.5), tibia II: 6.9, tibia III: 4.9, tibia IV: 7.2; tibia I L/D: 60. Prosoma shape as in Fig. 63C . Carapace short, broad and almost circular, ochre, with brown butterfly-shaped marks broadly connecting to ocular area. Cephalic region raised, with brown longitudinal mark centrally, ocular area dark yellow. Clypeus 0.50, dark ochre, without marks. Distance AME–AME 0.06. Diameter AME 0.07, ALE 0.15, PME 0.13, PLE 0.14. Chelicerae as in Figs. 63D–E , with pair of black apophyses distally, pair of unsclerotized thumb-shaped apophyses proximolaterally and pair of unsclerotized rounded apophyses proximocentrally. Labium light yellow. Endites gray. Sternum almost slightly yellow, with irregular brown patches as in Fig. 63G . Femora, patellae and tibiae ochre, with dark rings, metatarsi and tarsi light brown. Abdomen cylindrical, pale ochre, dorsum with many small brown patterns as in Fig. 63C . Venter pale brown. Palps as in Figs. 63I–J , bulb with a large uncus, appendix with a hook-shaped tip. Procursus as in Fig. 63H . Palpal tarsal organ capsulate.

Female: in general very similar to male. Total length of bodies 4.1–5.0. A specimen measured (Wolong Natural Reserve), total length 4.7: cephalothorax 1.4 long, 1.4 wide; abdomen 3.3 long, 1.4 wide. Tibia I: 7.8. Distance AME–AME 0.05. Diameter AME 0.07, ALE 0.14, PME 0.13, PLE 0.13. Epigynum roughly triangular as in Fig. 63A , with a large funnel-shaped apophysis on the top. Dorsal view as in Fig. 63B , with a rainbow-shaped sclerotized arch anteriorly and a pair of oval pore plates.

Distribution. Known from type locality only.

Figures

FIGURE 20. Pholcus kangding sp. nov. A. epigynum, ventral view. B. same, dorsal view. C. male body, dorsal view. D. trochanter of male left palp, dorsal view. E. male left chelicera, frontal view. F. male sternum, ventral view. G. left procursus, dorsal view. H. left palp, prolateral view. I. same, retrolateral view. Scale lines: 1.0mm (C), 0.5mm (A, B, E–I), 0.2mm (D).

FIGURE 63. Pholcus zhangae sp. nov. A. epigynum, ventral view. B. same, dorsal view. C. male body, dorsal view. D. male left chelicera, frontal view. E. male left chelicera, lateral view. F. trochanter of male left palp, dorsal view. G. male sternum, ventral view. H. left procursus, dorsal view. I. left palp, prolateral view. J. same, retrolateral view. Scale lines: 1.0mm (C), 0.5mm (A, B, D, E, G–J), 0.2mm (F).