Ninetis, SIMON, 1890

HUBER, BERNHARD A., 2000, New World Pholcid Spiders (Araneae: Pholcidae): A Revision At Generic Level, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2000 (254), pp. 1-348 : 80-83

NINETIS SIMON, 1890

Ninetis Simon, 1890: 95 96 (type species by original designation Ninetis subtilissima Simon, 1890 ; examined).

Myrmidonella Berland, 1919: 349 (type species by original designation Myrmidonella minuta

Berland, 1919; examined). NEW SYNONYMY

JUSTIFICATION OF SYNONYMY: The type material of N. subtilissima is in very bad shape (see redescription below), but Simon s (1890, 1893b) figures and descriptions leave little doubt that the two additional species treated herein are closely related to N. subtilissima . Simon s (1893b) fig. 488 clearly shows the characteristic ventral spine on the bulb, and fig. 489 shows the long cheliceral apophyses. In the original description, Simon (1890) describes these apophyses as slightly diverging and curved at the tips, a description that perfectly fits the two other species treated herein. Also, the pair of sclerotized arches in the female internal genitalia of N. subtilissima (arrow in fig. 314) are strikingly similar to those in N. minuta (arrow in fig. 330). More- over, I have seen specimens recently collect- ed by A. van Harten in Yemen close to the type locality of N. subtilissima (one male, two females) that are very probably conspecific with Simon s specimens. They are clearly conspecific with the two additional species treated below.

However, the description of the East-African material below under the name Ninetis minuta (Berland) raises two questions: first, is the material really conspecific with Myrmidonella minuta Berland ? And second, is Myrmidonella Berland really a synonym of Ninetis Simon ? Both questions are difficult to answer, as M. minuta was only described from the female, and the single female specimen cannot be found in the MNHN in Paris. The original description would fit almost any ninetine, and the only possibly distinctive feature, the protruding female genitalia, may simply result from a mass of sperm inside (it is common in pholcids that sperm-filled female genitalia are protruding). This may also account for the ventral views given by Berland (1919: fig. 9; 1920: fig. 149). Thus, only two rather weak arguments favor conspecificity: the absence of evidence to the contrary; and the fact that all the material has been collected within a radius of just about 230 km.

Assuming that the material is in fact conspecific, the synonymy of Myrmidonella and Ninetis follows logically from what is stated above. But even if the assumption were wrong, analogous arguments to those presented above also apply here: first, there is no evidence to the contrary; second, geographically, Ninetis has a known range from Yemen to Namibia, with Nairobi (the type locality of Myrmidonella ) right in-between. More intense collecting in Tanzania and Kenya should easily solve this problem more satisfactorily.

DIAGNOSIS: Tiny (total length ~ 1 1.25 mm), eight-eyed pholcids with globular opisthosoma, relatively short legs, simple procursus, a pair of pointed apophyses on male chelicerae; distinguished from other shortlegged genera by long ventral spine on the bulb (figs. 321, 324; a similar structure occurs in Nerudia , a short-legged New World genus, which differs by the presence of stridulatory files on the male chelicerae).

DESCRIPTION: Total length ~ 1 1.25 mm. Carapace without thoracic groove (fig. 317), eight eyes on hardly elevated ocular area, AME almost as large as other eyes (fig. 317; smaller in type species, though not as small as illustrated by Simon, 1893b: fig. 487). Distance PME-ALE small (~ 30% of PME diameter). Male clypeus unmodified. Male sternum with small anterior humps (figs. 317 318). Male chelicerae frontally with pair of pointed apophyses, without stridulatory ridges. Male palpal coxa without retrolateral apophysis, femur without apophysis, tibia enlarged, procursus variable, but simple (figs. 322 323); bulb with dorsal embolar division and ventral spine (figs. 321, 324). Tarsal organ capsulate (figs. 73 74). Legs short (leg 1 about 2 3 × body length; tibia 1 l/d: 12 13), leg formula 4123; legs monochromous; without spines, without curved and vertical hairs; retrolateral trichobothrium of tibia 1 very distal (at 60 66%); tarsus with ~ 3 4 pseudosegments. Opisthosoma globular. Male gonopore with four epiandrous spigots (examined: N. namibiae , n. sp.: fig. 125), ALS with piriform gland spigots (examined: N. namibiae : fig. 152), other spinnerets typical for family.

Female very similar to male. Epigynum simple, of variable shape (figs. 329, 331); I could not find pore plates.

MONOPHYLY: The three species included share the spine ventrally on the bulb.

GENERIC RELATIONSHIPS: The genus may be close to some New World genera of shortlegged pholcids with globular opisthosoma, without thoracic groove, and with capsulate tarsal organ with small opening (particularly Nerudia , which shares the bulbal spine; also Gertschiola and Kambiwa have ventral bulb apophyses that might be homologs to the spine in Ninetis ). The genitalia in most of these genera, however, are quite distinct (except in Nerudia ), and it is possible that the overall similarity (and the characters uniting these genera in the cladistic analysis) are adaptations to a similar environment (leaf litter and interstices in the soil structure). The close relationship of Ninetis with Tolteca suggested in the cladogram in appendix 2 is probably an artifact due to the poor resolution within ninetines as a result of insufficient data.

DISTRIBUTION/COMPOSITION: Three species described, from Yemen and Africa ( Kenya, Tanzania, Namibia) (map 2).

Ninetis subtilissima Simon, 1890 Figures 310 314

Ninetis subtilissima Simon, 1890: 96 . Simon, 1893b: 486 487, figs. 487 489. Bristowe, 1938: 310, figs. 2, 7.

TYPES: Eight syntypes (about four to five adult females, others juvenile), from Al Adan (Aden), Yemen ; no date (E. Simon), in MNHN (10788) ; with Simon s handwritten label 10788 Ninet. subtilissima E.S. Aden!, examined. Simon s male specimen(s) could not be found in the MNHN .

DIAGNOSIS: Distinguished from N. minuta by the curved ventral spine on the bulb (in N. minuta it is straight) and the wider epigynum (compare figs. 313, 329); from N. namibiae by the thinner cheliceral apophyses (compare fig. 489 in Simon, 1893b, with fig. 325 herein); from both also by the short pointed procursus (fig. 488 in Simon, 1893b).

MALE (data from Simon, 1890, 1893b): Total length ~ 1 1.5, carapace without thoracic groove; chelicerae with pair of long, slightly diverging and distally hooked frontal apophyses; procursus very simple, pointed; bulb with curved ventral spine and simple embolar division. Opisthosoma globular.

The recently collected male confirms Simon s (1893b) drawings of chelicerae and procursus, but the bulbal spine is curved in the opposite direction, like in N. namibiae (cf. fig. 327).

FEMALE (syntype): Total length 1.0, carapace width 0.37, leg 1: 2.36 (0.67+0.13 +0.64+0.61+0.31), tibia 2: 0.56, tibia 3: 0.44, tibia 4: 0.72; tibia 1 l/d: 14. Entire animal pale ochre. Habitus similar to N. minuta (cf. fig. 315); the distinct dorsal hump shown in figs. 310 312 is an artifact (it is absent in the two recently collected females, and was not mentioned by Simon, 1890, 1893b). Eight eyes on hardly elevated ocular area, AME the smallest, but larger than illustrated by Simon (1893b: fig. 487) (fig. 310). Legs monochromous, most hairs missing; tarsus 1 with ~ 3 pseudosegments. Epigynum very simple externally, with distinct sclerotized arch on frontal plate (fig. 313); internally with roundish structure anteriorly and more complex folds posteriorly (fig. 314; I could not find pore plates.)

DISTRIBUTION: Known from two localities in Yemen (represented by a single dot in map 2).

MATERIAL EXAMINED: YEMEN: Al Adan (Aden): types above ; Ja ar, July 11, 1999 (A. van Harten), 13 2♀ (deposition site not yet determined; a more detailed manuscript on this material is in preparation).

Ninetis minuta (Berland, 1919) , new combination Figures 315 322, 329 330

Myrmidonella minuta Berland, 1919: 349 350, figs. 8 9. Berland, 1920: 126 128, figs. 146 149.

Ninetis sp. 2 : Huber, 1998d: fig. 3k.

TYPE: Female holotype from Nairobi , Kenya ; 1660 m elev., Nov. 19 22, 1911 (C. Al- laud & R. Jeannel), not examined (apparently lost).

DIAGNOSIS: Distinguished from N. subtilissima by the straight ventral spine on the bulb (fig. 321), and the narrower epigynum (fig. 329); from N. namibiae by the ribbonshaped procursus (compare figs. 322 323), and the longer apophyses on the male chelicerae (compare figs. 315, 325).

MALE (Kilifi, Kenya): Total length 0.99, carapace width 0.47; leg 1: 2.74 (0.81 +0.19+0.71+0.71+0.32), tibia 2: 0.61, tibia 3: 0.48, tibia 4: 0.74; tibia 1 l/d: 12. Habitus as in fig. 315; entire prosoma orange-ochre; carapace without thoracic groove (fig. 317); distance PME-ALE about 30% of PME diameter. Sternum with pair of small frontal humps (arrows in figs. 317 318); chelicerae with pair of long, slightly diverging and distally hooked frontal apophyses (figs. 317 318), without stridulatory ridges. Palps as in figs. 319 320, coxa without retrolateral apophysis, femur almost cylindrical, widened distally, tibia enlarged, procursus very simple, ribbon-shaped (figs. 319, 322), bulb as in figs. 319 321, with distinctive, almost translucent ventral spine and embolar division. Legs monochromous orange-ochre; without spines, without curved and vertical hairs; retrolateral trichobothrium of tibia 1 at 66%; tarsus 1 with ~ 3 pseudosegments. Opisthosoma globular, ochre-gray, without spots.

VARIATION: Tibia 1 in three males (Kilifi and Mkomazi): 0.74 0.82.

FEMALE (Kilifi, Kenya, and Mkomazi, Tanzania): Total length (N = 4) 1.31 1.40, tibia 1 (N = 5) 0.56 0.61. In general very similar to male, but sternum without humps. Epigynum simple flat plate (fig. 329); dorsal view as in fig. 330 (I could not find pore plates.)

DISTRIBUTION: Known from three localities in Kenya and Tanzania (all localities are within a radius of about 230 km) (map 2).

MATERIAL EXAMINED: KENYA: Kilifi: Kil- ifi shore, leaf litter, Sept. 6, 1977 (J. A. Murphy), 23 2♀ in AMNH ; same data, 13 2♀ in author s collection. TANZANIA: Tanga: Mkomazi Game Reserve , Ibaya, hillside E of gulley, degraded bushland, 25 pitfall traps, Aug. 12 13, 1993 (M. Ritchie & R. Makusi), 13 in coll. A. Russell-Smith ; same locality, gulley on hill behind Ibeya Camp , Nov. 15, 1994 (no collector given), 13 2♀ 1 juvenile in coll. A. Russell-Smith.

Figures

Figs. 310 314. Ninetis subtilissima Simon, female syntype. 310 312. Prosoma, frontal, lateral, and dorsal views. 313. Epigynum, ventral view. 314. Epigynum, dorsal view (arrow points to internal sclerotized arch; cf. fig. 330). Scale lines: 0.2 mm.

Figs. 315 320. Ninetis minuta (Berland), male. 315. Habitus, lateral view. 316 318. Prosoma, dorsal, frontal, and ventral views (arrows point to humps on sternum). 319. Right palp, retrolateral view. 320. Right palp, prolateral view. Scale lines: 0.5 mm (315), 0.2 mm (316 320).