Ixchela furcula (F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1902)

Valdez-Mondragón, Alejandro, 2013, Taxonomic revision of the spider genus Ixchela Huber, 2000 (Araneae: Pholcidae), with description of ten new species from Mexico and Central America, Zootaxa 3608 (5), pp. 285-327 : 295-297

Ixchela furcula (F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1902)

Figures 31–46

Coryssocnemis furcula F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1902: 371 , pl. 35, fig. 8 (description Ƥ). Coryssocnemis furcula Kraus, 1955: 14 , figs 22–23 (description 3).

Coryssocnemis furcula Huber, 1998a: 63 , figs 41–51 (description Ƥ).

Ixchela furcula Huber, 2000: 153 , fig. 92 (Ƥ transfer from Coryssocnemis ).

Type data: GUATEMALA: Dept. Chimaltenango: 1 Ƥ holotype (BMNH) (not examined) [about 2300 m, no date (Stoll)] from “Tecpam in the Los Altos region” (Tecpan, Guatemala) (lat 14.761460°, lon -90.993791°; 2290 m).

Material examined. GUATEMALA: Dept. Escuintla: 2 3, 3 ƤƤ (AMNH) [6 February 1980; V. Roth] from San Vicente Picaya, near Amatitlán (lat 14.4144°, lon -90.6369°; 1530 m). Dept. Sacatepequez: 1 3, 5 ƤƤ, 8 immatures (INBio) [Date?, Colls?] fom Cerro Alux (lat 14.6164°, lon -90.6332°; 2254 m). HONDURAS: Dept. Francisco Morazán: 1 3, 1 Ƥ (AMNH) [2 October 1996; B. Huber] from Parque Nacional La Tigra, about 10 km NE Tegucigalpa (lat 14.2121°, lon -87.0950°, 1800–1900 m). 1 Ƥ (INBio) [28 September 2008; C. Víquez] (same locality). 1 Ƥ (INBio) [24 September 2008; C. Víquez] from Oyuca. Dept.?: 1 Ƥ (INBio) [30 September 2003; C. Víquez] from Celapre?, road nucleus and waterfall. 1 3, 1 Ƥ, 1 juvenile (INBio) [4 October 2003; C. Víquez] from Parque Nacional La Muralla, road Pizote. EL SALVADOR: Dept. Santa Ana: 1 Ƥ (AMNH) [25 April 1951; O. Kraus] from Finca San Jorge near Santa Ana (lat 13.993950°, lon -89.551878°; 1000 m).

Diagnosis. Resembles to I. santibanezi and I. mixe , distinguished from I. santibanezi by FAC larger, clawshaped distally ( Figs 31–35 ); by the pale region below of FAC ( Fig. 33, 34 ); by PAB larger, rounded and small, with a distinct medial contriction ( Fig. 38 ); from I. mixe by the VAE anterior and paired, conical, close together ( Figs 39, 41, 43–46 ).

Description. Male. ( San Vicente Picaya). Prosoma: Carapace light orange, with three irregular brown spots each side ( Fig. 32 ). Ocular region dark brown; irregular and wide brown region around the fovea from posterior part of ocular region to posterior margin of carapace ( Fig. 32 ). Clypeus orange without lines or spots ( Fig. 33 ). Chelicerae without SAC, with long and curved FAC ( Figs 33–35 ). Chelicerae reddish in retrolateral part, pale region below FAC, dark orange above FAC ( Figs 33, 34 ). Sternum orange, without lines or spots; labium brown. Endites dark brown, paler distally. Legs: Coxae orange, brown distally in prolateral and retrolateral part. Trochanters brown. Femora reddish, paler basally; distally with a wide ring, dark, inconspicuous. Tibiae reddish, subapically with a wide dark ring, inconspicuous. Metatarsi brown. Tarsi missing. Opisthosoma: Globular, green, slightly larger than high ( Fig. 31 ). Plate of genital gonopore orange, wider than long. Palp: Femur conical, with small VAF ( Figs 37, 38 ). Procursus conical and long, spine small and distally straight; VPP with long setae ( Fig. 37 ). Embolus wide and long, dorsally with apical small spine ( Figs 36–38 ); with sclerotized spine small and sub-distal (arrow Fig. 38 ); ventrally with apical projection curved and thin ( Figs 37, 38 ). Measurements: Total length 7.80. Carapace 3.30 long, 3.20 wide. Clypeus 1.15 long. Diameter AME 0.16, ALE 0.28, PME 0.22, PLE 0.25. Distance ALE-PME 0.19, PME- PME 0.33. Leg I:? (11.87+1.40+12.06+missing+missing), tibia II: missing, tibia III: 6.95, tibia IV: missing; tibia I l/d 20.10.

Female. (Same data as male). Similar to the male, differences: Prosoma: Carapace orange, paler than the male. Clypeus brown. Chelicerae orange, darker retrolaterally. Sternum orange lighter than the male. Legs: Coxae orange paler than male. Femora, tibiae, metatarsi and tarsi orange. Femora with wide ring subapically. Tibiae with brown basal ring, and wide brown ring subapically. Epigynum: Slightly wider than long ( Fig. 39 ). PP triangular laterally; MSE slender distally, ending in tip ( Fig 40 ). VAE paired, conical, long and wide ( Figs 39, 43, 45 ). Measurements: Total length 8.00. Carapace 3.00 long, 2.80 wide. Clypeus 1.00 long. Diameter AME 0.13, ALE 0.27, PME 0.20, PLE 0.25. Distance ALE-PME 0.20. PME-PME 0.32. Leg I:? (9.50+missing+missing+missing+missing), tibia II: 7.00, tibia III: 5.55, tibia IV: 7.60; tibia I l/d?.

Variation. Males from San Vicente Picaya, Guatemala have the darkest legs of all the males. Males from Cerro Alux, Guatemala and La Muralla, Honduras have several brown spots around the legs, specifically at the insertion pont of each setae, more conspicuous in males from Cerro Alux than males from La Muralla. There is discontinuous variation in the epigyna, the criterion to assign the females into the same species is that the males from the different localities had the same morphological characters without variation in sexual structures (chelicerae and palps). Females from San Vicente Picaya and Cerro Alux (the nearest locality from type locality), have long and wide VAE ( Figs 39, 43, 45 ; see fig. 51 in Huber, 1998 from Pinajachel, Guatemala); females from Parque Nacional La Tigra and Parque Nacional La Muralla have small VAE, and epigynum larger than females from San Vicente de Picaya ( Figs 41, 44, 46 ; see fig. 48, 49 in Huber, 1998). There is variation internally in epigyna; females from San Vicente Picaya have MSE larger and PP larger than females from Parque Nacional La Tigra ( Figs 40, 42 ). Males: San Vicente Picaya (N= 2), tibia I: missing. Parque Nacional La Tigra (N= 1), tibia I: missing. Cerro Alux (N= 1), tibia I: 10.00. Parque Nacional La Muralla (N= 1), tibia I: missing. Females: San Vicente Picaya (N= 2), tibia I: missing. Parque Nacional La Tigra (N= 1), tibia I: missing. Cerro Alux (N= 2), tibia I: 9.50, 9.00. Parque Nacional La Muralla (N= 1), tibia I: missing.

Natural History: From Huber (1998): “The spiders were found in sheet webs close to the ground, mostly in dark sheltered places, along creeks (Panajachel, Zunil) or footpaths (Parque Nacional La Tigra). When disturbed the spiders fled into a funnel that led into the substrate, much like agelenids, but with the difference that the funnel was the continuation of the underside of the sheetweb”.

Distribution. GUATEMALA (F. O. Pickard-Cambridge 1902, Huber 1998), HONDURAS (Huber 1998), EL SALVADOR (Huber 1998) ( Fig. 85 ).

Figures

FIGURE 85. Known distribution of Ixchela abernathyi (Gertsch, 1971), Ixchela furcula (F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1902), Ixchela pecki (Gertsch, 1971), Ixchela placida (Gertsch, 1971) and Ixchela simoni (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1898).

FIGURES 31 – 46. Ixchela furcula (F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1902). Male: 31, Habitus, lateral view. 32, Carapace, dorsal view. 33, Carapace, frontal view. 34, Chelicerae, frontal view. 35, Chelicera, lateral view. 36, Bulb and procursus, dorsal view (arrows indicate the two basal apophyses on dorsal part of procursus). 37 – 38, Left palp, retrolateral and prolateral views respectively (arrow indicates the sclerotized spine small and sub-distal on the embolus). Females: San Vicente de Picaya: 39 – 40, Epigynum, ventral and dorsal view respectively. 43, 45, Epigynum, frontal and lateral view respectively. Parque Nacional La Tigra: 41 – 42, Epigynum, ventral and dorsal view respectively. 44, 46, Epigynum, frontal and lateral view respectively. Scales: 1 mm (Figs 31 – 34, 37 – 42), 0.5 mm (Figs 35, 36, 43 – 46).