Pholcus taibaiensis Wang & Zhu, 1992

Zhang, Feng & Zhu, Ming-Sheng, 2009, A review of the genus Pholcus (Araneae: Pholcidae) from China, Zootaxa 2037 (1), pp. 1-114 : 90

Pholcus taibaiensis Wang & Zhu, 1992

( Fig. 52 )

Pholcus taibaiensis Wang & Zhu 1992: 20 , f. 1–6. Song, Zhu & Chen 1999: 63, f. 25I–K.

Diagnosis. Among its close Pholcus relatives (see the remark of P. clavatus ), this species is very similar to P. songi sp. nov. in the shape of the palpal bulb and epigynum, both with a branched appendix ( Figs. 45H and 52H ) and teat-shaped epigynal apophyses ( Figs. 45A and 52A ). It can be distinguished from this species by the shape of the procursus ( Figs. 52G–I ), by the shape of appendix, with a short branch near the tip ( Figs. 52H–I ), and by a shorter knob-shaped epigynal apophysis ( Fig. 52A ).

Redescription. Male (paratype) total length 3.6: cephalothorax 1.5 long, 1.4 wide; abdomen 2.1 long, 0.9 wide. Leg I: 31.9 (8.8+0.9+8.2+12.0+2.0), tibia II: 7.0, tibia III: 4.5, tibia IV: 6.4; tibia I L/D: 55. Prosoma shape as in Fig. 52C . Carapace short, broad and almost circular, ochre, with brown marks broadly connecting to ocular area. Cephalic region raised, with two slender brown longitudinal stripes centrally, ocular area dark yellow. Clypeus 0.55, slightly ochre, with small yellow mark centrally. Distance AME–AME 0.06. Chelicerae as in Fig. 52E , with pair of black serrated apophyses distally, pair of unsclerotized thumb-shaped apophyses proximolaterally and pair of small unsclerotized round apophyses proximocentrally. Labium and endites yellowish brown. Sternum yellow, with one yellow mark centrally and four pairs of yellow marks along the margin as in Fig. 52F . Femora, patellae and tibiae brown, with dark rings, metatarsi and tarsi light brown. Abdomen cylindrical, fawn, dorsum with numerous blackish brown spots as in Fig. 52C . Venter pale brown, with longitudinal stripe centrally. Palps as in Figs. 52H–I , bulb with a tile-shaped uncus, tip of appendix with a small branch. Procursus as in Fig. 52G .

Variation. Two males from Wolong Natural Reserve: Tibia I 7.8, 8.1; body length: 3.5. 3.5; color ligher than the specimen from type location.

Female (paratype): in general very similar to male. Total length 3.6, cephalothorax 1.1 long, 1.0 wide; abdomen 2.5 long, 1.2 wide. Tibia I: 5.3. Distance AME–AME 0.05. Epigynum roughly hill-shaped as in Fig. 52A , with a small knob-shaped apophysis on the top. Dorsal view as in Fig. 52B , with M-shaped sclerotized arch anteriorly and a pair of distant oval pore plates.

Distribution. Shaanxi, Sichuan.

Material. Types. Male holotype, female ‘allotype’, 1♂, 3♀ paratypes, CHINA: Shaanxi, Mei County, Mt. Taibai, Temple Haoping , August 7, 1989, leg. X. P. Wang ( XTC and MHBU respectively, examined 1♂, 1♀ paratypes deposited in MHBU) .

Material examined. CHINA: Sichuan: Wolong Natural Reserve , September 15, 1993, collector unknown, 2♂, 1♀ ( MHBU) .

Figures

FIGURE 45. Pholcus songi 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 52. Pholcus taibaiensis Wang & Zhu, 1992. 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).