Merizocera thenna Li, 2020

Chang, Wan-Jin, Yao, Zhiyuan & Li, Shuqiang, 2020, Twenty-eight new species of the spider genus Merizocera Fage, 1912 (Araneae, Psilodercidae) from South and Southeast Asia, ZooKeys 961, pp. 41-118 : 41

publication ID

https://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.961.53058

publication LSID

lsid:zoobank.org:pub:B5627BFE-56A2-42B3-B3A5-96BAE07724F4

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/17D2C8DC-6F36-43AC-A45D-0E464F936B96

taxon LSID

lsid:zoobank.org:act:17D2C8DC-6F36-43AC-A45D-0E464F936B96

treatment provided by

ZooKeys by Pensoft

scientific name

Merizocera thenna Li
status

sp. nov.

Merizocera thenna Li sp. nov. Figures 42 View Figure 42 , 43 View Figure 43 , 52 View Figure 52

Type material.

Holotype: male (IZCAS), near the Suwargeya Cave of Archeaology place of Kuragala (6°37.45'N, 80°52.21'E, elevation 439 m), Thenna Village, Kaldoda Town, Balangoda, Ratnapura District, Sabaragamuwa, Sri Lanka, 1 October 2014, S. Kosala leg. Paratypes: 2 females (IZCAS), same data as holotype.

Etymology.

The specific name refers to the type locality; noun in apposition.

Diagnosis.

Males can be recognised from all other congeners by the twisted widened embolus and a trifurcate conductor (Fig. 42B View Figure 42 ). Females can be distinguished by a pair of horizontal, slender, stalked spermathecae, both ends bearing globose distal parts (Fig. 43A View Figure 43 ).

Description.

Male (holotype). Total length 1.31; carapace 0.61 long, 0.50 wide; abdomen 0.65 long, 0.42 wide. Carapace circular, brownish, with dark brown marks laterally and dark brown median stripe on anterior half (Fig. 43C View Figure 43 ). Fovea shallow. Thoracic region distinctly elevated medially. Clypeus brownish, with dark brown marks medially. Labium dark brown. Sternum dark brown but brownish medially, with distinct dark radiating lines. Abdomen slightly elongated, brownish, with dark brown marks dorsally and ventrally. Legs light brown; measurements: I 5.33 (1.36, 0.19, 1.64, 1.41, 0.73), II 3.85 (1.00, 0.20, 1.11, 0.97, 0.57), III 3.13 (0.84, 0.17, 0.88, 0.79, 0.45), IV missing. Palp (Fig. 42A-D View Figure 42 ): femur slender, four times longer than patella; patella not swollen; tibia swollen proximally; cymbium with distal protrusion, length ratio of dorsal elongation and cymbium 0.46; bulb brown, pyriform with embolus and conductor arising distally; embolus twisted and dark at the tip, approx. half the width and length of bulb; conductor arising laterally, trifurcate, two hooked, one twice as long as the other but with pointed tip.

Female (paratype). Similar to male in colouration and general features but slightly larger (Fig. 43D, E View Figure 43 ). Measurements: total length 1.31; carapace 0.56 long, 0.48 wide; abdomen 0.67 long, 0.57 wide. Leg measurements: I and II missing, III 2.26 (0.58, 0.16, 0.62, 0.54, 0.36), IV 3.35 (0.82, 0.18, 1.00, 0.84, 0.51). Epigastric area (Fig. 43B View Figure 43 ): light brown elongated patch. Endogyne (Fig. 43A View Figure 43 ) with a pair of horizontally stalked spermathecae, both ends bearing globose distal ends, ratio of the width of spermatheca to the interdistance of spermathecae 1:3.5.

Distribution.

Known only from the type locality (Sri Lanka; Fig. 52 View Figure 52 ).

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Arthropoda

Class

Arachnida

Order

Araneae

Family

Psilodercidae

Genus

Merizocera