Medionops claudiae new species

Figures 9, 10

Types. Male holotype from Estação Ecológica Pau Brasil (16°28'S 39°14'W), Porto Seguro, Bahia, Brazil, 18.iv.1998, A.D. Brescovit, deposited in IBSP 17717 . Paratypes: 1 ♂, 1 immature ♀ from Parque Nacional de Monte Pascoal (16°52'S 39°15'W), Porto Seguro, Bahia, Brazil, 21–23.iv.1998, A.D. Brescovit, deposited in IBSP 19458 .

Etymology. The specific name is a patronym honoring Claudia Maria Sanchez Leon, the oldest daughter of the first author.

Additional material examined. BRAZIL: Bahia: Porto Seguro, Caraíva (16°47'S 39°9'W), 16–22.vi.2002, F.S . Cunha, 1♂ (legs and palp for SEM) (IBSP 36569) .

Diagnosis. Males and females resemble those of M. simla (Chickering) n. comb. in having the dorsal abdominal pattern with five pairs of irregular dark gray spots in two rows, but in M. claudiae n. sp. these irregular spots never touch (Figs 10 A–B). Can be further distinguished by their small size (less than 0.7 cm of total length); the absence of crista on the anterior metatarsi (Figs 9 J–K); and males with tip of embolus slightly curved, acuminate, with beveled opening (Figs 9 A–D).

Description. Male (holotype): Total length 2.9. Carapace 1.4 long, 1.3 wide. Sternum 1.3 long, 1.2 wide. Leg measurements: I: 2.3; II: 2.2; III: 2.1; IV: 2.4. Carapace, chelicerae, palps and legs orange; coxae and trochanters lighter. Endites, labium and sternum light orange. Abdomen whitish gray with a dorsal pattern formed by five small pairs of irregular dark gray spots in two rows, not touching (Fig. 10 A). Crista absent and gladius with the common shape among nopine (Figs 9 J–K). Palp with a spherical oval bulb and embolus longer than cymbium (Figs 9 A, 10D–E), tip of embolus slightly curved, acuminate, with beveled opening (Figs 9 B–D).

Female: Unknown

Distribution. Known only from the Brazilian State of Bahia (Fig. 21).