Platnickina xianfengensis ( Zhu & Song, 1992 ), 2025

Dhiya’ulhaq, Naufal Urfi, Buchori, Damayanti, Hidayat, Purnama, Scheu, Stefan & Drescher, Jochen, 2025, Two new species and three new records of the cobweb spider Platnickina (Araneae, Theridiidae) from Sumatra, Evolutionary Systematics 9 (2), pp. 203-220 : 203-220

Platnickina xianfengensis ( Zhu & Song, 1992)

Figs 13 , 14

Theridion xianfengensis : Zhu & Song, 1992: 5, figs I, J ( ♂); Song and Li 1997: 403, fig. 5 A, B ( ♂); Zhu 1998: 154, fig. 95 ( ♂ ♀); Yoshida, Tso and Severinghaus 2000: 127, figs 19, 20 ( ♂).

Theridion xianfengense : Song, Zhu & Chen, 1999: 148, fig. 82 A, B, K, O ( ♂ ♀); Yin et al. 2012: 419, fig. 187 ( ♂ ♀); Zhang, Peng and Zhang 2022: 48, fig. 27 ( ♂ ♀).

Platnickina xianfengense : Huang et al. 2025: 145 , figs 7, 8 ( ♂ ♀).

Materials examined.

INDONESIA – Jambi Province • 1 ♂; Batang Hari, Bajubang, Sungkai ; 01°51'36.5"S, 103°18'00.6"E; elev. 41 m; 2 Jun. 2013; J. Drescher leg.; canopy fogging in rubber plantation; GOET 2013_HR 3.2_AraTrid 109 N_001 (to be transferred to MZB) . • 1 ♂; Sarolangun, Pauh, Semaran ; 02°05'30.5"S, 102°48'08.4"E; elev. 75 m; 21 Jun. 2013; J. Drescher leg.; canopy fogging in rubber plantation; GOET 2013_BR 1.2_AraTrid 109 N_001 (to be transferred to ZMH) .

Diagnosis.

Among the maculata - group, males of P. xianfengensis are most similar to P. qionghaiensis by the spoon-shaped conductor but can be distinguished by the light curvature of the embolus (Figs 13 D , 14 B ) (vs strongly C-shaped embolus in P. qionghaiensis ) ( Zhu 1998, fig. 102 D), medially constricted conductor (Fig. 13 D , 14 D ) (vs. not constricted in P. qionghaiensis ) ( Zhu 1998, fig. 102 D) and obtuse tip of TTA (Fig. 14 B ) (vs. acute in P. qionghaiensis ) ( Zhu 1998, fig. 102 D). Females are most similar to P. debu sp. Nov. by the slightly bent copulatory ducts, but can be distinguished by the atrium slightly larger than spermathecae ( Zhu 1998, fig. 95 B, C) (vs distinctly smaller atrium in comparison to the spermathecae in P. debu Dhiya’ulhaq , sp. nov.) (Figs 5 C, D , 6 C, D ).

Description.

Male ( 2013_HR 3.2_AraTrid 109 N_001 ; Figs 13 , 14 ). Total length 1.91. Prosoma length 0.81; width 0.71. Opisthosoma length 1.10; width 0.77. Diameter of eyes: AME 0.11; ALE 0.06; PLE 0.06; PME 0.08. Interdistances between eyes: AME – AME 0.06; AME – ALE 0.02; ALE – ALE 0.28; PME – PME 0.07; PME – PLE 0.05; ALE – PLE 0.00; AME – PME 0.08; PLE – PLE 0.31. Leg measurements: leg I 6.55 (2.08, 0.25, 2.20, 1.53, 0.49); leg II 4.99 (1.61, 0.26, 1.55, 1.14, 0.43); leg III 2.87 (0.96, 0.19, 0.62, 0.73, 0.37); leg IV 2.97 (0.94, 0.20, 0.65, 0.82, 0.36). Prosoma pear shaped, yellow; dorsally with a triangular black mark (Fig. 13 A ). Eyes ringed in red; AME larger than the other eyes; AER strongly recurved; PER straight (Fig. 13 A ). Chelicerae brown. Maxillae brown (Fig. 13 B ). Labium fused with sternum, brown (Fig. 13 B ). Sternum triangular, yellow with faint black markings in the middle (Fig. 13 B ). Opisthosoma oval, inconspicuously tuberculate, yellow with mottled black and white spots; dorsally covered by a large black patch in the anterior half; ventrally covered by a large black patch (Fig. 13 A ). Legs yellow, with numerous distinct black patches (Fig. 13 A ). Spinnerets yellow (Fig. 13 B ).

Palp (Figs 13 C – E , 14 ): Cymbium oval, yellow. Conductor membranous, roughly S-shaped, medially constricted with spatulate tip. TTA claw-shaped with obtuse and slightly curved tip. Embolus curved, claw-shaped, approximately three-quarters the length of bulb with filiform tip; and a membranous mid-part with sclerotized margins.

Distribution.

China; Taiwan; Indonesia ( Sumatra: Jambi [new record, Fig. 15 ]).

Figures

Figure 5. Platnickina debu Dhiya’ulhaq, sp. nov., female paratype (2013 _ HJ 3.2 _ AraTrid 185 N _ 001). A, B. Habitus; A. Dorsal view; B. Ventral view; C, D. Epigynum, cleared; C. Ventral view; D. Dorsal view. Scale bars: 0.5 mm (A, B); 0.1 mm (C, D).

Figure 6. Platnickina debu Dhiya’ulhaq, sp. nov. A, B. Male holotype (2013 _ HR 2.1 _ AraTrid 185 N _ 001), left palp; A. Prolateral view; B. Ventral view; C, D. Female paratype (2013 _ HJ 3.2 _ AraTrid 185 N _ 001), epigynum; C. Ventral view; D. Dorsal view. Abbreviations: c = conductor; cd = copulatory duct; co = copulatory opening; e = embolus; fd = fertilization duct; ma = median apophysis; tta = theridiid tegular apophysis; s = spermatheca. Scale bars: 0.1 mm.

Figure 13. Platnickina xianfengensis (Zhu & Song, 1992), comb. nov., male (2013 _ HR 3.2 _ AraTrid 109 N _ 001). A, B. Habitus; A. Dorsal view; B. Ventral view; C – E. Right palp, mirrored; C. Prolateral view; D. Ventral view; E. Retrolateral view. Scale bars: 0.5 mm (A, B); 0.1 mm (C – E).

Figure 14. Platnickina xianfengensis (Zhu & Song, 1992), comb. nov., male (2013 _ HR 3.2 _ AraTrid 109 N _ 001), right palp, mirrored. A. Prolateral view; B. Ventral view. Abbreviations: c = conductor; e = embolus; ma = median apophysis; tta = theridiid tegular apophysis. Scale bars: 0.1 mm.

Figure 15. Distribution of five species of Platnickina Koçak & Kemal, 2008 in Jambi Province, Sumatra, Indonesia. Spiders presented in this study were collected by canopy fogging in 32 permanent research plots of the EFForTS project (Drescher et al. 2016). Green areas on the globe belong to Indonesia, and Jambi Province in Sumatra, respectively.