Hortipes, A Huge Genus Of Tiny Afrotropical Spiders (Araneae, Liocranidae)
Author
BOSSELAERS, JAN
Author
JOCQUÉ, RUDY
text
Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History
2000
2000-10-19
2000
256
4
4
http://www.bioone.org/perlserv/?request=get-abstract&doi=10.1206%2F0003-0090(2000)256%3C0004%3AHAHGOT%3E2.0.CO%3B2
journal article
10.1206/0003-0090(2000)256<0004:HAHGOT>2.0.CO;2
0003-0090
5351417
Hortipes aurora
,
new species
Figures 12h–j
,
13e
;
Map 3
TYPES:
Male
holotype
: in elephant dung,
Ruindi plains
, elev.
1000 m
,
Kivu
,
Congo
S00°48'
,
E29°18'
(9
July
, 1972;
M. Lejeune
) (
MRAC 144.393
).
Paratypes
:
1♀
together with
holotype
(
MRAC
; now in
AMNH
)
;
1♀
:
Butembo
,
Musosa valley
, elev.
1745 m
,
Kivu
,
Congo
N00°09'
,
E29°17'
(
April 1968
;
M. Lejeune
) (
MRAC
)
;
16 in
superficial litter in forest, elev.
2200 m
,
Musyenene region
,
Kyondo
,
Congo
N00°00'
,
E29°24'
(
April 1976
;
M. Lejeune
) (
MRAC
)
.
ETYMOLOGY: The specific name is a noun in apposition meaning dawn. It refers to the fact that this was the very first species described in the course of the present work.
DIAGNOSIS: Males of
H. aurora
are easily recognized by the simple palp: the RTA is an almost cylindrical prong with slightly indented tip, the MA is evenly curved and gradually tapered from base to end. Females are close to those of
H. echo
but can be distinguished from the latter species through the smaller reniform cavities and a simpler structure of the vulva, with ID turning 540° before entering ST1.
MALE:
Measurements.
Total length 1.73; carapace 0.95 long, 0.73 wide; length of fe: I 0.70, II 0.76, III 0.62, IV 0.89.
Leg spination.
Fe: I rv 2; IV plt 0 rlt 0–1; ti: I, II vsp 5; mt: III plt 0–1 vt 0 rlt 0; IV plt 1 vt 1 rlt 1.
Coloration.
Carapace and chelicerae ochraceous yellow. Sternum yellow, with yellow brown border. Abdomen pale yellow. Legs yellow.
Palp.
Tibia with simple, roughly cylindrical, RTA with tip slightly indented dorsally; cymbium elongate, with shallow lateral concavity with a few long hairs along its rim; sperm duct with wide basal part, hardly narrowed in distal part, with Sshaped turn just before embolus; MA simple, evenly curved and gradually tapered from base to tip; embolus originating on posterior part of tegulum, with fairly broad, triangular base, fairly short, whiplike, looped over 270–360° (fig. 12h, i).
2000 BOSSELAERS AND JOCQUÉ:
HORTIPES
47
of fe: I 0.86, II 0.92, III 0.73, IV 1.08.
Leg spination.
Fe: I rv 2; IV plt 0 rlt 0; ti: I, II vsp 6; mt: III plt 1 vt 0 rlt 0; IV plt 1 vt 1 rlt 1.
Coloration.
Carapace ochraceous yellow. Chelicerae yellow. Sternum pale yellow, with yellow brown border. Abdomen pale yellow. Legs I and II ochraceous yellow, III and IV yellow.
Genitalia.
Vulva: ID coiled over 540° and widened halfway into reniform cavity about as large as ST1 (figs. 12j; 13e).
OTHER MATERIAL EXAMINED:
Congo
: 16,
Lubero mountain range
, N slope of
Mt. Lubwe
,
Kivu
, elev.
2200 m
,
N00°02'
,
E29°18'
(
2 August 1963
;
M. Celis
) (
MRAC
)
;
1♀
from humus in montane forest with
Hagenia
, fen at the
Kahalolo
spring,
Itombwe
,
Uvira region
,
Kivu
, elev.
2800 m
,
S03°15'
,
E28°50'
(
January 1960
;
N. Leleup
) (
MRAC
)
;
1♀
in moss on humus layer,
LuberoButembo
road,
Lukanga region
,
Vukengete Forest
, elev.
2180 m
(
December 1974
–
January 1975
;
M. Lejeune
) (
MRAC
)
;
1♀
in litter under grasses,
LuberoButembo
road,
Lukanga region
,
Vukengete Forest
, elev.
2200 m
(
December 1974
–
January 1975
;
M. Lejeune
) (
MRAC
)
.
VARIABILITY: The number of mt III plt spines (0 or 1) and fe IV rlt spines (0 or 1) in males as well as the transparency of the vulva in females are variable.
DISTRIBUTION: Mountain region, from Bujumbura in the south to Butembo in the north,
Kivu
,
Congo
.