Pelecopsis subflava Russell-Smith & Jocqué, 1986

Tanasevitch, Andrei V., 2020, Linyphiid spiders collected by V. Mahnert in Kenya, with the description of a new genus and two new species (Arachnida: Araneae), Revue suisse de Zoologie 127 (2), pp. 349-360 : 358

Pelecopsis subflava Russell-Smith & Jocqué, 1986

Figs 32-35 , 45-48

Material examined: MHNG; male [sample KENYA- 74/06]; KENYA, Lake Naivasha , 10 km from Fisherman’s Camp, under bark and stones; 5.XI.1974; leg. V. Mahnert .

Re-description: Male. Total length 1.28 ( Fig. 32 ). Carapace 0.75 long, 0.60 wide, brown, with a grey margin. Cephalic part of carapace slightly elevated ( Figs 33-35 ). Chelicerae 0.28 long, unmodified. Legs pale brown to brown. Leg I 1.66 long (0.45 + 0.18 + 0.38 + 0.35 + 0.30), IV 1.91 long (0.53 + 0.20 + 0.48 + 0.40 + 0.30). Chaetotaxy unclear: 0.0.0.0, or spines lost. Metatarsus IV without trichobothrium. TmI 0.54. Palp ( Figs 45-48 ): tibia with a dorsal, elephant-trunkshaped process; paracymbium narrow, long, forming a loop; tegulum with a knob ventrally; median membrane developed as a swollen, shapeless mass; embolic division large; radix fusiform, its tailpiece relatively long, slightly expanded in the middle; embolus flat, long, helical. Abdomen ( Fig. 32 ) 1.00 long, 0.65 wide, dark grey, sparsely covered with long hairs.

Taxonomic remarks: This specimen slightly differs from the types described by Russell-Smith & Jocqué (1986) by its smaller size (1.28 versus 1.64), as well as by the curved tailpiece and its tapering proximal end.

Distribution: Known only from Nairobi and Lake Naivasha, Kenya ( Russell-Smith & Jocqué, 1986 and present paper).

Figures

Figs 27-35. Photographs of Lepthyphantes (s. str.) buensis Bosmans & Jocqué, 1983 (27-28), Machadocara gongylioides Miller, 1970 (29-31) and Pelecopsis subflava Russell-Smith & Jocqué, 1986 (32-35). (27-29, 32) Habitus, dorsal view. (30-31, 33-35) Prosoma, frontal (30), lateral (31, 34), dorsal (33) and fronto-lateral view (35).

Figs 45-48. Details of male palp structure of Pelecopsis subflava Russell-Smith & Jocqué, 1986. (45-46) Right palp, retrolateral and ventro-prolateral view, respectively. (47) Tibia and paracymbium, retrolateral and slightly proximal view. (48) Tibia, dorsal view.