Pholcus beijingensis Zhu & Song, 1999

Zhang, Feng & Zhu, Ming-Sheng, 2009, A review of the genus Pholcus (Araneae: Pholcidae) from China, Zootaxa 2037 (1), pp. 1-114 : 13-15

Pholcus beijingensis Zhu & Song, 1999

( Fig. 2 )

Pholcus beijingensis Zhu & Song , in Song, Zhu & Chen 1999: 52, f. 22Z, A'–C', 23A–C. Song, Zhu & Chen 2001: 73, f. 30A–H.

Diagnosis. Among its near Pholcus relatives referred above (see the remark of P. alloctospilus ), this species is very similar to P. clavimaculatus and P. triangulatus in the shapes of the palpal bulb and epigynum, all without appendices of the palpal bulb ( Fig. 2G ) and with a knob-shaped epigynal apophysis ( Fig. 2C ). It can be distinguished from these two species by the triangular uncus, the relatively simple tip of the procursus ( Fig. 2H ) and by the longer ventral apophysis of the trochanter ( Figs. 2F and 2G ), from P. triangulatus also by the pair of proximocentral cheliceral apophyses.

Redescription. Male (holotype), total length 5.4: cephalothorax 1.5 long, 1.8 wide; abdomen 3.9 long, 1.4 wide. Leg I: 38.3 (9.7+0.7+9.8+15.6+2.5), tibia II: missing, tibia III: missing, tibia IV: 5.9; Tibia I L/D: 63. Carapace short, broad and almost circular, ochre, with brown marks broadly connecting to ocular area. Cephalic region raised, with two slender brown central marks, ocular area dark yellow. Clypeus 0.48, unmodified, slightly ochre, without marks. Distance AME–AME 0.05. Diameter AME 0.09, ALE 0.15, PME 0.14, PLE 0.14. Chelicerae as in Fig. 2E , with pair of black apophyses distally and pair of unsclerotized thumb-shaped apophyses proximolaterally. Labium and endites light yellow. Sternum ochre, with some irregular yellow marks. Femora, patellae and tibiae ochre, with dark rings, metatarsi and tarsi brown. Abdomen cylindrical, pale ochre, dorsum with numerous brown spots. Venter pale brown. Palps as in Figs. 2G and 2H , bulb with triangular uncus, without appendix; tip of procursus simple and broad; trochanter with long ventral apophysis and short retrolateral apophysis.

Variation. Total body length 5.0–5.4. Tibia I in four other males: 10.4, 10.8, 9.9, 10.0.

Female: in general very similar to male. Total length 4.2–4.7. One paratype total length 4.6: cephalothorax 1.3 long, 1.4 wide; abdomen 3.3 long, 1.8 wide. Tibia I in four females: 8.0, 6.8, 7.3, 6.8. Prosoma shape as in Fig 2A . Distance AME–AME 0.05. Abdomen cylindrical, pale ochre, dorsum with numerous brown patterns as in Fig. 2B . Epigynum roughly rectangular as in Fig. 2C , with a small T-shaped apophysis on the top. Dorsal view as in Fig. 2D , with a trapeziform sclerotized arch anteriorly and a pair of small oval pore plates.

Distribution. Known from type locality and two neighboring localities in Yi County and Zhuolu County , Hebei Province, China.

Material examined. CHINA: Beijing: May 30, 1980, leg. M. S. Zhu, male holotype, 4♀ paratypes ( MHBU) . Hebei: Zhuolu County, Yangjiaping Village , July 4, 2004, leg. F. Zhang, 2♀, 4♂ ( MHBU) ; Yi County, Mt. Langya , June 12, 1999, leg. F. Zhang, 3♀ assigned tentatively ( MHBU) .

Figures

FIGURE 2. Pholcus beijingensis Zhu & Song, 1999 (illustrations modified from Song et al. 1999). A. female prosoma, dorsal view. B. female opisthosoma, lateral view. C. epigynum, ventral view. D. same, dorsal view. E. male left chelicera, frontal view. F. trochanter of male left palp, retrolaterodorsal view. G. left palp, prolateral view. H. same, retrolateral view. Scale lines: 1.0mm (A, B), 0.5mm (C–E, G–H), 0.2mm (F).