Two new species of the ant-eating spider genus Tropizodium Jocqué & Churchill, 2005 (Araneae, Zodariidae, Zodariinae) from India
Author
Prajapati, Dhruv A.
Author
Murthappa, Prashanthakumara S.
Author
Sankaran, Pradeep M.
Author
Sebastian, Pothalil A.
text
Zootaxa
2016
4061
5
575
584
journal article
51202
10.11646/zootaxa.4061.5.7
0d189ab3-cb80-4ddc-833c-45cf2dce36e5
1175-5326
256907
8CBB6D13-5F64-44DF-A154-CC65127EF91F
Tropizodium viridurbium
sp. n.
(
Figs. 4A
,
5A–C
,
8A–G
)
Type
material.
Holotype
:
Female (
ADSH
112762
A),
INDIA
:
Gujarat
:
Gandhinagar, Aranya Park near Palaj,
23°11'42.30"N
,
72°40'25.67"E
,
77 m
alt.,
17 June 2015
, D. A. Prajapati leg., from ground, by hand.
FIGURE 4A.
Tropizodium viridurbium
sp. nov.
A Female (holotype) habitus, dorsal view. Scale bar: A, 0.30 mm.
FIGURE 5A–C.
Tropizodium viridurbium
sp. nov.
A Epigyne, ventral view; B Same, dorsal view; C Right spermatheca enlarged showing internal details. Abbreviations: CD copulatory duct, SP sclerotized plate. Scale bars: A–B 0.05 mm; C, 0.03 mm.
Diagnosis.
T. viridurbium
sp. n.
is closely related to
Tropizodium murphyorum
Dankittipakul, Jocqué & Singtripop, 2012
, but can be easily differentiated by a median ‘crescent shaped’ sclerotized plate adjacent to the posterior epigynal margin (compare fig. 5B with
Dankittipakul
et al.
2012a
, figs. 7, 12).
Description.
Female
(
holotype
,
Figs 4A
,
8A–E
): Prosoma, clypeus, chelicerae, fangs, maxillae, labium, leg segments brownish. Cephalic region square shaped, dark brown with reticulation; thoracic region broad. Clypeal margin provided with long, thick bristles. Chilum absent. Chelicerae with stout dorsal setae; cheliceral margins without teeth; inter-cheliceral triangle small. Sternum pale yellowish, heart shaped, with triangular extensions fitting in coxal concavities. Opisthosoma oval; dorsum and lateral sides black, dorsum with creamy-white striae; venter pale yellowish. Leg segments with thick covering of incised hairs; femora I–III provided with single dorsal spine; tibiae I–IV with single pair of ventral spines; metatarsus I with single pair of ventral spines, II–IV possess several irregularly placed ventral spines (
II–6
,
III–10 and IV–9
). Palpal segments brownish; patellae with one prolateral spine, tibiae with two prolateral spines, cymbium/tarsi with four prolateral and one ventral spines. Posterior ventral spines (PVS) present, arranged in single row (
Fig. 8D
). Body length 4.65. Prosoma length 2.14, width (in the middle) 1.67, height (in the middle) 1.27. Opisthosoma length 2.51, width (in the middle) 2.02, height (in the middle) 2.1. Eye diameter: ALE 0.08. AME 1.59. PLE 0.06. PME 0.08. Eye interdistances: AME–AME 0.11. AME–ALE 0.04. AME–PME 0.06. ALE–PME 0.05. ALE–ALE 0.5. PLE–PLE 0.3. PME–PME 0.48. PME– PLE 0.09. Clypeus height at ALE 0.37, at AME 0.57. Chelicera length 0.59. Measurements of palp and legs. Palp 1.62 [0.57, 0.31, 0.35, 0.39], I 7.19 [1.79, 0.45, 1.49, 2.21, 1.25], II 6.46 [1.7, 0.46, 1.32, 1.96, 1.02], III 6.43 [1.69, 0.47, 1.27, 2.06, 0.94], IV 8.61 [2.38, 0.47, 2.0, 2.66, 1.10]. Leg formula: 4123.
Epigyne
(
Figs. 5A–C
,
8F–G
): Epigyne simple. Spermathecae nearly globular. Copulatory ducts short, originate posterior to spermathecae (
Fig. 5B
). Epigynal orifice absent, instead a median ‘crescent shaped’ sclerotized plate closely adhered to the posterior epigynal margin (
Figs. 5B
,
8G
).
FIGURE 6A–H.
Tropizodium kalami
sp. nov.
A Male (holotype) habitus, dorsal view; B Same, ventral view; C Same, retrolateral view; G Same, frontal view; H Posterior ventral spines; D–F Male left palp, D ventral view, E retrolateral view, F dorsal view. Scale bars: A–C, 0.5 mm; D–H, 0.2 mm.
Etymology.
The specific epithet is an adjective and is derived from the combination of two Latin words:
viridis
(green) +
urbs
(city), referring to the nickname of the
type
locality (Gandhinagar) ‘Green city’.
Distribution.
Only known from
type
locality (
Fig. 9
).