On Venezuelan pholcid spiders (Araneae, Pholcidae) Author Huber, Bernhard A. 33607F65-19BF-4DC9-94FD-4BB88CED455F Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig, Bonn, Germany. b.huber@leibniz-zfmk.de Author Villarreal, Osvaldo 679C385E-B068-4351-9D2F-97753E534C26 Museo del Instituto de Zoología Agrícola, Universidad Central de Venezuela, Maracay, Venezuela. & Museu Nacional / UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. osvaldovillarreal@gmail.com text European Journal of Taxonomy 2020 2020-10-01 718 1 317 journal article 10.5852/ejt.2020.718.1101 4069574 F9E9A91E-488C-4DB1-9361-E788E9AC5BC1 Pisaboa fombonai Huber sp. nov. urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 7E9E992E-D750-4245-B04F-39A628AF1F15 Figs 742–744 , 750–757 , 764–766 , 1063 Diagnosis Distinguished from known congeners by shape of procursus ( Figs 750–752 ; wide in lateral view, narrow and bent in dorsal view; with distinctive distal elements; straight in lateral view rather than S-shaped as in very similar P. lionzae Huber sp. nov. ), by shape of genital bulb ( Figs 754–756 ; large retrolateral whitish process; very similar to P. lionzae Huber sp. nov. ), and by shape of epigynal plate ( Fig. 764 ; anterior plate roundish with pair of deep pockets close to posterior margin; with pair of whitish processes in front of epigynum), and by internal female genitalia ( Figs 753 , 765–766 ; evenly curved elongated pore plates; shape of anterior putative receptacle). From very similar P. lionzae Huber sp. nov. also by more distal position of male cheliceral apophyses ( Fig. 757 ). Etymology This species is named for Rufino Blanco Fombona ( 1874–1944 ), Venezuela-born writer, nominated six times for the Nobel Prize in Literature between 1928 and 1935 . Type material VENEZUELA – Mérida • ♂ holotype , ZFMK (Ar 22072), forest above Caño Azul ( 8.8543° N , 71.3651° W ), 280 m a.s.l. , 13 Feb. 2020 ( B.A. Huber , O. Villarreal M., Q. Arias C. ) . Other material examined VENEZUELA – Mérida • 1 ♂ , 5 ♀♀ , ZFMK (Ar 22073), and 4 ♀♀ in pure ethanol, ZFMK (Ven20- 136), same collection data as for holotype . Description Male ( holotype ) MEASUREMENTS. Total body length 1.9, carapace width 0.85. Distance PME–PME 65 µm ; diameter PME 90 µm ; distance PME–ALE 60 µm ; distance AME–AME 20 µm ; diameter AME 25 µm . Leg 1: 19.1 (4.3 +0.4 +4.5+8.4 +1.5), tibia 2: 2.7, tibia 3: 2.2, tibia 4: 2.6; tibia 1 L/d: 64; femora 1–4 approximately same maximum diameter (0.16–0.17). COLOR (in ethanol). Carapace pale ochre-yellow to orange, with dark ochre median V-mark and three pairs of dark ochre lateral marks; ocular area light; clypeus ochre-yellow with dark mark below ocular area; sternum ochre-yellow, slightly darker medially; legs ochre-yellow, with indistinct dark rings on femora (subdistally) and tibiae (proximally, subdistally); abdomen pale gray, with indistinct dark and whitish internal marks, ventrally with light brown plate in front of gonopore. BODY. Habitus as in Fig. 742 . Ocular area moderately raised. Carapace with shallow but distinct thoracic groove. Clypeus unmodified. Sternum wider than long (0.58/0.40), with pair of very low whitish and elongate humps anteriorly. Abdomen slightly elongated, pointed at spinnerets. CHELICERAE. As in Fig. 757 , with pair of articulated apophyses distally. Figs 742–749. Pisaboa Huber, 2000 ; live specimens. 742–744 . P. fombonai Huber sp. nov. ; male and females with egg sacs from Mérida, Caño Azul. 745–746 . P. lionzae Huber sp. nov. ; male and female with egg sac from Mérida, Mesa Bolívar. 747–749 . P. laldea Huber, 2000 ; male and females from Táchira, La Trampa. PALPS. In general very similar to P. silvae Huber, 2000 and P. mapiri Huber, 2000 (cf. Huber 2000 : figs 1137, 1143, 1146); coxa with large retrolateral-ventral apophysis, trochanter barely modified, femur proximally with retrolateral process, distally widening, with short finger-shaped ventral process; tarsus with two short rounded processes dorsally; procursus ( Figs 750–752 ) wide and straight in lateral view, narrow and bent in dorsal view, with distinctive distal elements; genital bulb ( Figs 754–756 ) distally tapering, with large retrolateral whitish process. Figs 750–757. Pisaboa fombonai Huber sp. nov. ; from Mérida, Caño Azul (type locality; ZFMK Ar 22072–73). 750–752 . Left palpal tarsus and procursus, prolateral, dorsal, and retrolateral views (arrow: ventral femur apophysis). 753 . Cleared female genitalia, dorsal view. 754–756 . Left genital bulb, prolateral, dorsal, and retrolateral views. 757 . Male chelicerae, frontal view. Scale lines: 0.3 mm. LEGS. Without spines and curved hairs; with vertical hairs in high density on all tibiae; retrolateral trichobothrium of tibia 1 at 7%; prolateral trichobothrium absent on tibia 1; tarsus 1 with ~20 pseudosegments, distally fairly distinct. Male (variation) Other male paler but otherwise identical; tibia 1: 5.2. Female In general similar to male ( Figs 743–744 ) but general coloration ochre rather than orange, sternum medially dark brown, dark rings on legs more distinct, abdomen with more distinct brown marks; sternum without humps but with longer hairs than in male, especially posteriorly; vertical hairs on tibiae in usual low density. Tibia 1 in nine females: 3.5–4.1 (mean 3.9). Epigynum ( Fig. 764 ) roundish light brown plate, posteriorly weakly protruding, with pair of deep pockets close to posterior margin; internal structures partly visible in uncleared specimens; with short but wide posterior plate and pair of whitish processes in front of epigynum. Internal genitalia ( Figs 753 , 765–766 ) with evenly curved elongated pore plates, anterior putative receptacle V-shaped. Distribution Known from type locality only, in Venezuela , Mérida (Fig. 1063). Natural history The spiders were collected in a forest remnant along a small stream where they built their small domed webs (diameter ~ 10 cm ) close to the ground, mostly hidden under dead leaves. No specimen was found higher in the vegetation (as was the case in P. lionzae Huber sp. nov. ; P. laldea Huber, 2000 ; and P. retracta Huber sp. nov. ).