On Old World ninetine spiders (Araneae: Pholcidae), with a new genus and species and the first record for Madagascar Author Huber, Bernhard A. Author El-Hennawy, Hisham K. text Zootaxa 2007 1635 45 53 journal article 10.5281/zenodo.179508 595c52e4-913c-45be-a3d6-d50ac8a18c8f 1175-5326 179508 Nita elsaff n. gen. , n. sp. ( Figs. 1–16 ) Type material. Male holotype from El Saff ( 29°57’N , 31°28’E ), Giza, Egypt ; March 1, 2003 (M. Mohafez), in ZFMK (Ar 005). Etymology. The species name refers to the type locality and is used as a noun in apposition. Diagnosis. This species is very easily distinguished from all species of Ninetis , the only other African ninetine genus known. Unlike Ninetis species, which have either very simple and small procursi or ( N. russellsmithi ) no procursus at all, the present species has a complex and large procursus ( Figs. 3, 4 ). All Ninetis species have a very distinctive bulb, with a long ventral apophysis and a dorsal projection that presumably contains the sperm duct (see Fig. 18 ). In contrast, Nita elsaff has a single cylindrical projection on the bulb ( Figs. 3, 4 ). Moreover, Nita elsaff has a uniquely modified male clypeus ( Figs. 2 , 7 ), while the clypeus of all known Ninetis species (and of all other known ninetines) is unmodified. Finally, Nita elsaff females have very distinct pore plates ( Fig. 6 ), while pore plates are either absent, invisible, or extremely indistinct in Ninetis females. From other potentially close relatives ( Aucana , Chisosa ), Nita is easily distinguished by the modified male clypeus. FIGURE 1. Nita elsaff n. sp. , male dorsal view. Male ( holotype ). Total length 1.7, carapace width 0.76. Leg 1: 6.5 (1.73 + 0.30 + 1.80 + 2.03 + 0.63), tibia 2: 1.33, tibia 3: 1.07, tibia 4: 1.50. Tibia 1 length/diameter (L/d): 23. Habitus as Fig. 1 ; coloration mostly pale ochre-yellow, carapace with narrow median light brown stripe widening frontally to cover ocular area, abdomen monochromous grey. Ocular area slightly elevated; thoracic furrow present, indistinct and shallow; distance PME–PME 115 Μm; diameter PME 55 Μm; distance PME–ALE 20 Μm; distance AME–AME 25 Μm, diameter AME 40 Μm. Sternum wider than long (0.54/0.48), without frontal humps. Clypeus distinctively modified, with strong hairs situated on a median protrusion ( Figs. 2 , 7 ); chelicerae with pair of distinctive frontal apophyses ( Figs. 2 , 8 ), with stridulatory ridges ( Fig. 12 ). Palps as in Figures 3 and 4 ; trochanter projecting ventrally but without distinct apophysis; femur, patella, and tibia widened but otherwise unmodified; procursus distinctive, strongly sclerotized, with small sclerotized flap proximally, long spine and further partly membranous flap ( Fig. 11 ) distally; bulb with one cylindrical projection (presumably the embolus) ending in curved spine ( Figs. 3 , 10 ); palpal tarsal organ exposed ( Fig. 9 ). Legs without spines and curved hairs, few vertical hairs; retrolateral trichobothrium of tibia 1 at 57%, prolateral trichobothrium present on all legs; tarsus 1 with about 8 very indistinct pseudosegments. Male gonopore without epiandrous spigots ( Fig. 14 ). Variation. Tibia 1 in other males from Egypt : 1.57, 1.60; from Uzbekistan : 1.67. Female. In general similar to male, clypeus unmodified ( Fig. 13 ). Tibia 1: 1.23, 1.50 (Cairo), 1.67 (El Saff). Epigynum large relative to abdomen, with distinctive pair of pockets and internal structures visible through cuticle ( Figs. 5, 6 , 15, 16 ). Distribution. Known from two localities in the Cairo-Giza area, Egypt , and from Uzbekistan . Material examined. EGYPT : El Saff, Giza: type above, together with 1Ψ (used for SEM), same data, in ZFMK . Cairo: Heliopolis ( 30°06.7’N , 31°17.8’E ), in a house, January 19, 2004 , March 22 & 26, 2005 (H. El- Hennawy), 2ɗ1Ψ (1ɗ used for SEM) in ZFMK (Ar 006–8). Same locality, February 10, 2004 (H. El-Hennawy), 1Ψ in pure ethanol, in ZFMK . UZBEKISTAN : Kaskadariya (Qashqadaryo) Region, Guzary Distr., 11 km SE Guzar [ 38°33.1’N , 66°21.4’E ], clayey waste ground, Oct. 18, 1992 (A. A. Zyuzin), 1ɗ in ZMMU .