Nopsma rioja, Villarreal-Blanco & Martínez & Eyes-Escalante, 2025

Villarreal-Blanco, Eduardo, Martínez, Leonel & Eyes-Escalante, Melisa, 2025, Four new species of Nopsma Sánchez-Ruiz, Brescovit & Bonaldo, 2020 (Arachnida: Caponiidae) from Peru, European Journal of Taxonomy 981, pp. 21-37 : 32-34

Nopsma rioja sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:FC949F61-94C6-446B-A0EA-70C6A5C5493A

Figs 7–8 , 9G–H , 10

Diagnosis

Nopsma rioja sp. nov. is similar to N. florencia , by having the tegulum spherical, very small, up to 1 /5 the cymbium length, and embolus clearly longer than the palpal tibia, but can be distinguished by the dorsal carapace pattern form by large spots instead of small black dots, and the palpal embolus anteriorly directed ( Sánchez-Ruiz et al. 2020: 483, fig.18c–d; Figs 7E–G , 8A–B ).

Etymology

The specific epithet is a noun in apposition taken from the type locality.

Type material

Holotype

PERU • ♂; San Martín Department, Rioja, Bajo Naranjillo ; 5°48′43.41″ S, 77°20′24.43″ W; 839 m a.s.l.; 27 Sep. 2009; W. Paredes and C. Albujar leg.; MUSM-ENT 0515822 .

Description

Male (holotype (MUSM-ENT 0515822))

COLORATION ( Fig. 7A–D ). Carapace orange-brownish with a darker dorsal pattern. Chelicerae, endites and labium light orange, sternum orange-brownish. Legs orange. Abdomen dorsally gray, without noticeable pattern ( Fig. 7A ). Ventrally beige. Spinnerets beige.

MEASUREMENTS. Total length 4.13, carapace length 1.89, width 1.53, height 0.50. Clypeus height 0.39. Eye diameters and interdistances: PME 0.17, PME–PME 0.44. Chelicerae length 0.66. Sternum length 1.24, width 1.07. Legs: I: 6.51; II: 6.06; III: 5.22; IV: 7.72. Abdomen length 2.31.

PALP. Very small spherical tegulum, embolus longer than palpal tibia, membranous keel inconspicuous, restricted to final third ( Figs 7E–G , 8 , 9G–H ).

Distribution

Known only for the type locality in San Martín, Peru ( Fig. 10 ).

Remarks

The genus Nopsma , with the new species described here, now comprises 11 species, distributed from Nicaragua to southern Peru. Peru harbors the highest diversity, with five species, followed by Colombia with four species, while Nicaragua and Ecuador each have one species.

The distribution of the genus currently falls into three main groups, separated by the Andean Mountain range: species distributed along the Pacific margin of South America ( N. florencia and N. juchuy ), species with an Amazonian distribution (the remaining species), and a Central American species, N. armandoi , which occurs in Nicaragua. The genus has always been recorded in lowland areas below 1000 m a.s.l. The highest record is N. rioja sp. nov., found in San Martín, Peru, at 839 m a.s.l., although the greatest diversity is observed at elevations ranging from 69 to 320 m a.s.l.

Figures

Fig. 7. Nopsma rioja sp. nov., ♂, holotype (MUSM-ENT 0515822). A–B. Habitus. A. Dorsal view. B. Ventral view. C–D. Prosoma. C. Dorsal view. D. Ventral view. E. Left palp, prolateral view. F. Copulatory bulb, retrolateral view. G. Left palp, retrolateral view.

Fig. 8. Nopsma rioja sp. nov., ♂, holotype (MUSM-ENT 0515822). A. Left palp, prolateral view.B. Left palp, retrolateral view with embolus tip highlighted.

Fig. 9. Male copulatory bulbs of species of Nopsma. A–B. Nopsma miraflores sp. nov., holotype (MUSM-ENT 0507358).C–D. Nopsma nauta sp. nov., holotype (MUSM-ENT 0506879). E–F. Nopsma putuime sp. nov., holotype (MUSM-ENT 0507101). G–H. Nopsma rioja sp. nov., holotype (MUSM- ENT 0515822). A, C, E, G. Retrolateral view. B, D, F, H. Prolateral view. Scale bars: 0.25 mm.

Fig. 10. Distribution of the species of Nopsma Sánchez-Ruiz, Brescovit & Bonaldo, 2020.