Pholcus changli Yao, 2024

Li, Jinglin, Zhang, Xiaoqing & Yao, Zhiyuan, 2024, A new spider species of the Pholcus yichengicus species group (Araneae, Pholcidae) from Hebei Province, northern China, Biodiversity Data Journal 12, pp. e 141640-e 141640 : e141640-

Pholcus changli Yao sp. nov.

Materials

Type status: Holotype. Occurrence: recordedBy: Zhiyuan Yao, Jinglin Li and Meichen Yan; individualCount: 1; sex: male; lifeStage: adult; occurrenceID: D9CE08FE-6B45-5A66-B374-0D7C19672401; Taxon: order: Araneae ; family: Pholcidae ; genus: Pholcus ; Location: country: China; stateProvince: Hebei; municipality: Qinhuangdao; locality: Changli County ; verbatimLocality: Jieshishan Scenic Spot; verbatimElevation: 117 m a. s. l.; verbatimLatitude: 39°44.72'N; verbatimLongitude: 119°8.61'E; Event: samplingProtocol: by hand; year: 2024; month: 7; day: 20; Record Level: institutionCode: SYNU-Ar 00443

Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: recordedBy: Zhiyuan Yao, Jinglin Li and Meichen Yan; individualCount: 1; sex: female; lifeStage: adult; occurrenceID: B3E810DE-1AC9-5713-9992-6BDF9C89511D; Taxon: order: Araneae ; family: Pholcidae ; genus: Pholcus ; Location: country: China; stateProvince: Hebei; municipality: Qinhuangdao; locality: Changli County ; verbatimLocality: Jieshishan Scenic Spot; verbatimElevation: 117 m a. s. l.; verbatimLatitude: 39°44.72'N; verbatimLongitude: 119°8.61'E; Event: samplingProtocol: by hand; year: 2024; month: 7; day: 20; Record Level: institutionCode: SYNU-Ar 00444

Description

Male (holotype): Total length 6.00 (6.28 with clypeus), carapace 1.70 long, 2.13 wide, opisthosoma 4.30 long, 1.72 wide. Leg I: 52.33 (12.82, 0.86, 13.14, 22.37, 3.14), leg II: 32.63 (9.20, 0.79, 8.08, 12.76, 1.80), leg III: 23.44 (6.79, 0.75, 5.51, 9.04, 1.35), leg IV: 31.66 (9.17, 0.75, 7.90, 12.18, 1.66); tibia I L / d: 69. Eye interdistances and diameters: PME – PME 0.30, PME 0.15, PME – ALE 0.05, AME – AME 0.05, AME 0.11. Sternum width / length: 1.27 / 1.09. Habitus as in Fig. 3 E and F. Carapace yellowish, with brown radiating marks and marginal brown bands; ocular area yellowish, with median and lateral brown bands; clypeus yellowish, with brown marks; sternum brown. Legs yellowish, but dark brown on patellae and whitish on distal parts of femora and tibiae, with darker rings on subdistal parts of femora and proximal and subdistal parts of tibiae. Opisthosoma yellowish, with dorsal and lateral brown spots. Chelicerae with pair of proximo-lateral apophyses (pa in Fig. 3 D), pair of distal apophyses (da in Fig. 3 D) without teeth, pair of frontal apophyses (fa in Fig. 3 D) and several small median cones (arrow in Fig. 3 D). Palps as in Fig. 2 A and B; trochanter with retrolaterally strongly bulged ventral apophysis; femur with retrolatero-proximal protrusion (arrow in Fig. 2 B) and indistinct ventral protrusion; tibia with prolatero-ventral protrusion; procursus simple proximally, but complex distally, with prolatero-subdistal apophysis (arrow 1 in Fig. 2 C) bearing proximally membranous part, curved dorso-distal apophysis (arrow 2 in Fig. 2 C), ventro-subdistal membranous process (arrow 3 in Fig. 2 C) and three dorsal spines (arrows in Fig. 2 D); uncus with scales and latero-median protrusion (arrow in Fig. 3 C); appendix hooked, with swollen subdistal branch (a in Fig. 3 C); embolus slightly sclerotised, with transparent distal projections (e in Fig. 3 C). Retrolateral trichobothrium on tibia I at 5 % proximally; legs with short vertical setae on tibiae, metatarsi and tarsi; tarsus I with 33 distinct pseudosegments.

Female (paratype, SYNU-Ar 00444): Similar to male, habitus as in Fig. 3 G and H. Total length 5.66 (5.85 with clypeus), carapace 1.66 long, 2.00 wide, opisthosoma 4.00 long, 1.60 wide; tibia I: 9.25; tibia I L / d: 46. Eye interdistances and diameters: PME – PME 0.26, PME 0.16, PME – ALE 0.05, AME – AME 0.06, AME 0.08. Sternum width / length: 1.16 / 0.80. Clypeus brown. Epigyne strongly sclerotised, anchor-shaped, with wedge-shaped knob (kn in Fig. 3 A). Vulva with curved, dorsally sclerotised and ventrally membranous anterior arch (aa in Fig. 3 B) and pair of nearly elliptic pore plates (3 × longer than wide, pp in Fig. 3 B).

Diagnosis

The species resembles P. bajia Lu, Yao & He, 2022 ( Lu et al. 2022 a: 4, figs. 2 A – D and 3 A – H) by having similar male chelicerae (Fig. 3 D), but can be distinguished by dorso-distal apophysis of procursus distally curved (arrow 2 in Fig. 2 C vs. distally straight), by uncus latero-medially protruding (arrow in Fig. 3 C vs. prolatero-medially protruding), by appendix with sclerotised subdistal branch (a in Fig. 3 C vs. membranous subdistal branch), by epigynal knob approximately 4 / 5 length of epigynal plate (kn in Fig. 3 A vs. 1 / 2) and by vulval pore plates 3 × longer than wide (pp in Fig. 3 B vs. 1.5 ×).

Etymology

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

Distribution

China (Hebei, type locality; Fig. 1 ).

Biology

Underside of overhang on rocky cliffs in the mountain area (Fig. 1 ).

Figures

Figure 1. Distribution record of Pholcus changli sp. nov. in Hebei Province, China. Arrow in the insert points at habitat.

Figure 2. Pholcus changli sp. nov., holotype male. A, B Palp (A Prolateral view; B Retrolateral view, arrow points at retrolatero-proximal protrusion); C, D Distal part of procursus (C Prolateral view, arrow 1 points at prolatero-subdistal apophysis, arrow 2 points at dorso-distal apophysis, arrow 3 points at ventro-subdistal membranous process; D Dorsal view, arrows point at dorsal spines). Abbreviations: a = appendix, b = bulb, e = embolus, pr = procursus, u = uncus. Scale bars: 0.20 mm (A, B); 0.10 mm (C, D).

Figure 3. Pholcus changli sp. nov., holotype male (C – F) and paratype female (A, B, G, H). A Epigyne, ventral view; B Vulva, dorsal view; C Bulbal apophyses, prolateral view, arrow points at latero-median protrusion; D Chelicerae, frontal view, arrow points at median cones; E – H Habitus (E, G Dorsal view; F Lateral view; H Ventral view). Abbreviations: a = appendix, aa = anterior arch, da = distal apophysis, e = embolus, fa = frontal apophysis, kn = knob, pa = proximo-lateral apophysis, pp = pore plate, u = uncus. Scale bars: 0.20 mm (A – D); 1.00 mm (E – H).