Carrhotus piperus, Caleb & Sampathkumar, 2024

Caleb, John T. D. & Sampathkumar, Muthusamy, 2024, A new species of Carrhotus Thorell, 1891 (Araneae: Salticidae) from India, Journal of Insect Biodiversity and Systematics 10 (4), pp. 747-754 : 748-751

Carrhotus piperus sp. nov. ( Figs 1–9)

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Type material. Holotype ♂ (NIM/ NBAIR /SAL/ CARR /H–240724), India, Tamil Nadu, Dindigul, Thadiyankudisai ( 10°17'33.7"N, 77°42'31.8"E) 1098 m a.s.l., 27.12.2016, coll. M. Sampathkumar.

Etymology. The specific epithet is derived from the generic name of the plant ( Piper nigrum L.) on which the holotype was collected.

Diagnosis. The new species is similar to both Carrhotus andhra Caleb, 2020 and Carrhotus spiridonovi Logunov, 2021 in having a prolateral tegular protrusion. It can be distinguished from both species by the protrusion arising from an 8 o’clock position and directed dorsad ( vs. arising at a 10 o’clock position and directed distad in both C. andhra and C. spiridonovi ), and the embolus beak-shaped and directed retrolaterally in ventral view ( vs. directed distad in C. andhra and C. spiridonovi ) (cf. Figs 4, 5, 7, 9 with figs 6, 7, 9 in Caleb et al., 2020 and fig. 8 in Logunov, 2021).

Description. Male. Body length 5.10. Carapace 2.49 long; 1.33 wide. Abdomen 2.34 long; 1.57 wide. Carapace brown; light brown triangular portion from fovea and anterior thoracic region covered with sparse white scales; ocular area dark brown covered with yellow-brown scales ( Fig. 1). Anterior eyes surrounded by yellow-brown orbital setae ( Fig. 3). Ocular area length 2.81, width 1.76. Eye diameters and inter-distances: AME 0.55, ALE 0.33, PME 0.07, PLE 0.24. AME–ALE 0.08, PME–PME 1.47, ALE– ALE 1.18, PME–PLE 0.26, PLE–PLE 1.40, ALE–PME 0.40. Clypeus brown. Clypeus 0.10 high. Chelicerae brown, each with two promarginal and one retromarginal teeth. Length of chelicera 0.91. Sternum oval, pale brown. Maxillae dark brown with pale white margin. Labium brown. Legs yellow; femora I and II dark brown; tibia I with brown distal half ( Figs 1–3). Measurement of palp and legs: palp 1.53 [0.37, 0.17, 0.3, 0.69]; leg I 4.99 [1.50, 0.73, 1.22, 0.90, 0.64]; II 4.40 [1.50, 0.76, 1.03, 0.58, 0.53]; III 2.79 [0.96, 0.26, 0.65, 0.56, 0.36]; IV 3.43 [1.19, 0.25, 0.82, 0.68, 0.49]. Leg formula: 1243. Abdomen oval, brown with light brown spots; anterior region with few white hairs; chevron-shaped marking present mid-dorsally in posterior region; mid-lateral sides with few white hairs; venter light brown. Spinnerets brown ( Figs 1, 2).

Palp as in Figs 4–9; yellow-brown, proximal half of femur brown; RTA conical with tip directed apically, ventral margin with ridge sub-apically; cymbium simple; bulb with posterior lobe; tegulum with dagger-shaped prolateral process arising from prolateral base and directed dorsally in prolateral view; embolus broad, bent and directed retrolaterally.

Female. Unknown

Distribution. Known only from the type locality in Tamil Nadu, India.

Natural history. The holotype was collected from lower Palani hills while beating Piper nigrum plants at a height of about 2 meters.

Updated key to the Indian Carrhotus species (modified after Caleb et al., 2020)

1 Male. ..................................................................................................................................................................... 2

— Female. ................................................................................................................................................................ 11

2 Tegulum with a prolateral protrusion. ............................................................................................................ 3

— Tegulum without a prolateral protrusion. ....................................................................................................... 5

3 Protrusion cone-shaped. .................................................................................. C. spiridonovi Logunov, 2021

— Protrusion blade-shaped. .................................................................................................................................... 4

4 Protrusion directed distad, embolus directed distad. ................................................ C. andhra Caleb, 2020

— Protrusion directed dorsad, embolus pointing retrolaterad. .......................................... C. piperus sp. nov.

5 Embolus filiform, longer than cymbium. ................................................................... C. tristis Thorell, 1895

— Embolus otherwise. ............................................................................................................................................. 6

6 Embolus directed prolaterally. .......................................................................................................................... 7

— Embolus directed distad or retrolaterally. ....................................................................................................... 8

7 Embolus conical apically, narrow tip. ....... C. tholpettyensis Sudhin, Nafin, Caleb & Sudhikumar, 2021

— Embolus beak-shaped, broad, tip distinctly bent. ................................................... C. erus Jastrzębski, 1999

8 Embolus hook-shaped; RTA straight, directed distad. ................................................................................... 9

— Embolus straight and thick, conical apically; RTA hook-shaped or bent ventrad. .................................. 10 9 Dorsum brownish, without a white colour pattern. ................................................... C. assam Caleb, 2020

— Dorsum dark brown, with two pairs of white spots. ............................................. C. sannio ( Thorell, 1877)

10 RTA markedly hook-shaped, bent ventrad. .............................................................. C. silanthi Caleb, 2020

— RTA only slightly bent ventro-distad. .................................................................. C. viduus (C.L. Koch, 1846)

11 Copulatory openings placed anteriorly. ........................................................................................................ 12

— Copulatory openings placed posteriorly. ....................................................................................................... 13

12 Insemination ducts comparatively shorter, subparallel. .................................. C. viduus (C.L. Koch, 1846)

— Insemination ducts comparatively long, aligned laterally. ............................................................................. ........................................................................... C. tholpettyensis Sudhin, Nafin, Caleb & Sudhikumar, 2021

13 Insemination ducts comparatively long and loop anteriorly. ............................. C. sannio ( Thorell, 1877)

— Insemination ducts comparatively short and diverge laterally. .............................. C. silanthi Caleb, 2020

Note. Females of C. andhra , C. assam , C. erus , C. piperus sp. nov., C. spiridonovi , and C. tristis are unknown.