Clubiona brachyptera Zhu & Chen

Zhu, Biran, Ren, Haiqing & Chen, Jian, 2012, A new species of the genus Clubiona Latreille (Araneae, Clubionidae) from Hainan Island, China, Zootaxa 3167, pp. 53-56 : 53-56

Clubiona brachyptera Zhu & Chen sp. n.

Figs 1–12

Type material. Holotype male, China: Hainan Island: Qiongzhong County, Mt. Limu [19.27°N, 109.78°E], 28 August 2010, leg. Jie Liu and Haiqing Ren.

Paratypes: 3 males and 4 females, same data as holotype; 2 males, from the same locality, 25 to 26 October 2005, leg. Hao Yu and Zhengyu Jin.

Etymology. The species epithet is a combination of the Greek words ‘ brachy ’ and ‘ ptera ’ means ‘short wing’, referring to the wing-shaped femoral apophysis.

Diagnosis. Males of this species can be readily identified by the conspicuous femoral apophysis, the blunt tibial apophysis, the very short embolus and the small round shaped sclerotized conductor. Females can be identified by the spermathecae situated anterior to the enlarged bursae ( Figs 7 , 12 ).

Description. Male (holotype). Total length 2.75, prosoma length 1.60, width 1.07. Abdomen length 1.58, width 0.86. Prosoma oval ( Fig. 1 ), pars cephalica slightly narrowed, in profile highest just behind longitudinal fovea, gradually slopping posteriorly; integument smooth. Carapace pale yellow with some radial pattern on the carapace and diffused darker on the abdomen.

Eyes with black rings and surrounded by purplish markings. Eye measurements: AME 0.08; ALE 0.10; PME 0.11; PLE 0.10; AME–AME 0.13; AME–ALE 0.13; PME–PME 0.25; PME–PLE 0.15. MOQ: 0.20 long, 0.19 anterior width, 0.32 posterior width.

Legs yellow, femora with dark brown ventral band; tibiae with dark distal and proximal annuli; anterior metatarsi with distal dark band; tarsi brown. Leg formula: IV, II, I, III; leg measurements: I: 2.80 (0.85, 1.00, 0.65, 0.30); II: 3.00 (1.00, 1.15, 0.50, 0.35); III: 2.70 (0.75, 1.00, 0.60, 0.35); IV: 3.95 (1.10, 1.35, 1.00, 0.50).

Male palp ( Figs 2–4 , 8–10 ) with a wing-shaped femoral retrolateral apophysis, patella with blunt prolateral apophysis ( Fig.3 ); palpal tibia with a cup-shaped retrolateral tibial apophysis; sperm duct distinctive, S-shaped; apex of embolus short and blunt, originating from apico-prolateral side of tegulum ( Figs 3 , 9 ); conductor sclerotized, short, elliptical, slightly curved around the embolus.

Female (paratype): Total length 2.82, Carapace length 1.39, width 1.02. Abdomen length 1.43, width 0.88. Slightly larger than males ( Fig. 5 ); prosoma narrowed in pars cephalica; carapace with indistinct color marking.

Eyes with black rings and surrounded by purplish markings. Eye measurements: AME 0.07; ALE 0.09; PME 0.07; PLE 0.08; AME–AME 0.10; AME–ALE 0.12; PME–PME 0.25; PME–PLE 0.14.MOQ: 0.20 long, 0.17 anterior width, 0.31 posterior width.

Legs pale yellow. Leg formula IV, II, I, III; leg measurements: I: 2.39 (0.71, 0.94, 0.47, 0.27); II: 2.70 (0.76, 1.08, 0.59, 0.27); III: 2.39 (0.75, 0.78, 0.59, 0.27); IV: 3.57 (1.07, 1.14, 0.74, 0.62).

Female genitalia with a plate shorter than wide, margin not rebordered ( Figs 6 , 11 ); two copulatory opening are located at the lateral border of the epigynal window. Bursae situated laterally to the copulatory openings, large, sacshaped; spermatheca bases elongated tubular, encircling small fertilization ducts ( Figs 7 , 12 ).

Distribution. Only known from the type locality, Mt. Limu, Hainan, China.

Remarks. Clubiona brachyptera is temporarily placed in the corticalis -group (sensu Ono 2009 [= Paraclubiona (Lohmander. 1945), but see also in Mikhailov 1995 (p35, fig. 4)], because of the resemblance of its simple male palp ( Figs. 2–4 , 8–10 ) to many members of that group: C. deletrix O. P.-Cambridge, 1885 ( Ono 2009: figs 32–33), C.

kurosawai ( Ono 2009: figs 20–22) and C. yaginumai Hayashi, 1989 ( Ono 2009: figs 17–18) and striking resemblance of the female vulva to that of C. kayashimai Ono, 1994 ( Ono 1994: figs 4–5), which also belongs to this group. However the species does not have all the diagnostic characters of this group given by Mikhailov (1995), moreover the male of C. brachyptera also resembles to Clubiona jucunda (Karsch, 1879) as depicted in Ono 1999 (p536, figs 35–36) and Mikhailov 1995 (p35, fig. 5), due the round sclerotized conductor, which belongs to the jucunda -group [= Bicluona Mikhailov 1994] providing with an alternative placement.

All in all we see more resemblance to the corticalis -group, than to the jucunda -group.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 7. Clubiona brachyptera sp. n. 1 Male holotype, habitus, dorsal view; 2 – 4 Left pedipalpus (2 prolateral, 3 ventral, 4 retrolateral view). 6 – 7 Female genitalia (6 epigyne, ventral; 7 vulva ,, dorsal). Scales: 1.0 mm for habitus 0.2 mm for copulatory organs.

FIGURES 8 – 12. Clubiona brachyptera sp. nov. 2 – 4 Left palp (8 prolateral, ventral, retrolateral view). 11 – 12 Female genitalia (11 epigyne, 12 vulva, dorsal view). Scale bars: 0.2 mm. BU—bursa; C—conductor; CO—copulatory opening; E—embolus; FD—fertilization duct; FA—femoral apophysis; PA—patellar apophysis; SP—spermatheca; SD—sperm duct; ST—subtegulum; T—tegulum.