Pholcus wuyiensis, Zhu & Gong, 1991

Zhang, Feng & Zhu, Ming-Sheng, 2009, A review of the genus Pholcus (Araneae: Pholcidae) from China, Zootaxa 2037 (1), pp. 1-114 : 94

Pholcu s wuyiensis Zhu & Gong, 1991

( Fig. 55 )

Pholcu s wuyiensis Zhu & Gong 1991: 23 , f. 5A–G. Song, Zhu & Chen, 1999: 63, f. 25T–W.

Diagnosis. This species resembles P. clavatus in the shape of the palpal bulb, but can be distinguished from it by the procursus with a brush-shaped apophysis prolaterally ( Fig. 55F ), by the chelicerae without a pair of round apophyses proximocentrally ( Fig. 55E ), and by the relatively large pore plates of the epigynum ( Fig. 55C ).

Redescription. Male (holotype), total length 5.1: cephalothorax 1.3 long, 1.3 wide; abdomen 3.8 long, 1.3 wide. Leg I: 42.3 (10.6+0.9+10.0+18.2+2.6), tibia II: 7.2, tibia III: 5.5, tibia IV: 6.8; tibia I L/D: 62. Carapace short, broad and almost circular, ochre, with brown marks broadly connecting to ocular area. Cephalic region raised, with brown longitudinal stripes centrally, ocular area dark yellow. Clypeus 0.54, slightly ochre, with a pair of brown marks centrally. Distance AME–AME 0.05. Chelicerae as in Fig. 55E , with pair of black serrated apophyses distally and pair of unsclerotized thumb-shaped apophyses proximolaterally. Labium and endites yellowish brown. Sternum blackish brown, without pattern on it. Femora, patellae and tibiae ochre, with dark rings, metatarsi and tarsi dark brown. Abdomen cylindrical, fawn, dorsum with numerous small blackish brown spots. Venter pale brown, without markings. Palps as in Figs. 55F–G , bulb with a tile-shaped uncus, appendix split into two parts, procursus with a brush-shaped apophysis prolaterally.

Variation. Tibia I in five male paratypes: 9.5–10.1 (mean 9.9). Body length in five male paratypes: 4.6–5.1.

Female: in general very similar to male. Total length of bodies 4.7–5.5. A specimen measured (‘allotype’), total length 5.5: cephalothorax 1.3 long, 1.5 wide; abdomen 4.2 long, 1.3 wide. Tibia I: 9.3. Prosoma shape as in Fig. 55A . Distance AME–AME 0.06. Abdomen cylindrical, fawn, dorsum with numerous small blackish brown spots as in Fig. 55A . Epigynum roughly triangular as in Fig. 55B , with a small knob-shaped apophysis on the top. Dorsal view as in Fig. 55C , with a rainbow-shaped sclerotized arch anteriorly and a pair of oval pore plates posteriorly.

Distribution. Known from type locality only.

Material examined. CHINA: Fujian, Chong’an County, Mt. Wuyi , July 19, 1986, leg. M. S. Zhu and L. S. Gong, male holotype, female ‘allotype’ , 6♂, 5♀ paratypes ( MHBU); Mt. Wuyi , May 18, 2004, leg. F. Zhang , 1♂, 4♀ ( MHBU) .

Figures

FIGURE 55. Pholcus wuyiensis Zhu & Gong, 1991 (illustrations modified from Zhu & Gong 1991). A. female body, dorsal view. B. epigynum, ventral view. C. same, dorsal view. D. trochanter of male left palp, retrolaterodorsal view. E. male left chelicera, frontal view. F. left palp, prolateral view. G. same, retrolateral view. Scale lines: 1.0mm (A), 0.5mm (B, C, E–G), 0.2mm (D).