Seven new species of Psechrus and additional taxonomic contributions to the knowledge of the spider family Psechridae (Araneae)
Author
Bayer, Steffen
text
Zootaxa
2014
2014-05-16
3826
1
1
54
journal article
http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3826.1.1
e7c519fb-b07e-452b-91a5-efdec51eb764
1175-5326
286429
B6414C18-599A-44CE-9FCA-F20C845DE79D
Psechrus huberi
sp. nov.
Figs 21
,
30
B,
33
D,
36
Type material.
Holotype
♀
(
SB
1194
):
PHILIPPINES
:
Luzon
:
Laguna Prov
.:
Los Baños
,
Makiling Forest Reserve
, rain forest, ca.
170 m
,
14
°08'
56.2
''N
,
121
°
13
'
56.8
''E
,
S. Huber
leg.
23
.XI.
2011
,
SMF
.
Additional material
(
2
juveniles
): All material with the same data as for holotype,
2
juvs (
SB
1195–1196
),
SMF
.
Etymology.
The specific name is a patronym in honour of Siegfried Huber, who collected the
holotype
of this new species and who has provided many
Psechridae
specimens for examination, collected during his many field excursions in SE Asia; term (name) in genitive case.
Diagnosis.
Females distinguished from those of all other
Psechrus
species by the following combination of characters: (
1
) median septum laterally with characteristic flat, pointed extensions (extending “corners”) in posterior half (
Figs
21
A,
30
B); (
2
) median septum anteriorly for the most part bordered by concave transverse ridges leading from antero-medial to the antero-lateral copulatory openings (
Figs
21
A,
30
B); (
3
) Copulatory duct initially with very sharp “hairpin”-turn (
Figs
21
B–C), this more clearly recognisable in dorsal view (
Fig.
21
D).
Description.
Male
:
unknown.
Female
(both legs IV missing): Body and eye measurements: Carapace length
8.5
, maximal carapace width
5.9
, anterior width of carapace
3.7
, opisthosoma length
12.1
, opisthosoma width
4.9
. Eyes: AME
0.42
, ALE
0.45
, PME
0.45
, PLE
0.45
, AME–AME
0.26
, AME–ALE
0.10
, PME–PME
0.27
, PME–PLE
0.35
, AME–PME
0.58
, ALE–PLE
0.56
, clypeus height at AME
1.53
, clypeus height at ALE
1.33
.
Cheliceral furrow with three promarginal and four retromarginal teeth. Palpal claw with
13
teeth.
Spination: Palp:
131, 110
, 1101, 1014. Legs: femur I
667
, II
667
{
669
}, III
799
{
767
}, IV –; patella I–III 0 0 0, IV: –; tibia I
3036
, II
3036
{
4037
}, III
3136
{
3135
}, IV –; metatarsus
I
2025
, II
3035
{
3036
}, III
3035
, IV – both legs missing.
Measurements of palp and legs: Palp
9.9
[
3.4
,
1.4
,
1.9
,
3.2
], I
57.8
[
15.9
,
3.8
,
16.4
,
15.8
,
5.9
], II
43.5
[
12.2
,
3.2
,
11.6
,
11.8
,
4.7
], III
29.6
[
8.8
,
2.5
,
7.5
,
7.5
,
3.3
], IV –.
Leg formula: -. FEM-I+MTT-I/CL=
3.72
, thus legs medium sized in relation to females of other
Psechrus
species.
FIGURE 21.
Psechrus huberi
sp. nov.
, female holotype (SB 1194, SMF) from Los Baños, Laguna Prov., Luzon, Philippines: copulatory organ. A. Epigyne, ventral view. B–D. Vulva, dorsal (B) and frontal (D) view. C. Schematic course of internal duct system.
Copulatory organ (see also diagnosis above): Copulatory openings located beneath arc-like swellings of lateral lobes; swellings located antero-laterally of antero-lateral sections of median septum (
Figs
21
A,
30
B); median septum clearly broader than long; muscle sigilla anterior to epigyne ca.
1.5
x longer than broad and of irregular shape; two slit sense organs proximal to the right muscle sigillum and one proximal to the left; referring from the situation in other
Psechrus
species the number of slit sense organs presumably varying from two to four epigynal field relatively inconspicuous, especially anteriorly, and clearly broader than long (
Figs
21
A,
30
B). Spermathecal bases spherical, but not exactly round; spermathecal heads longer than broad, located postero-medially between spermathecal bases and final section of copulatory duct (
Figs
21
B,
33
D).
Colouration of female (see also description for
Psechrus
in
Bayer
2012
): Median bands on carapace hardly serrated, lateral bands rather narrow (ca. diameter of PME). Sternum with dark tapered patch centrally, this occupying anterior ¾ of sternum. Sternum with light yellowish median line within that tapered patch. Light median line ventrally on opisthosoma present, relatively narrow and subdistally broken. Short distal section as broad as pre-subdistal section. If measured centrally on opisthosoma, the width of the light median line ventrally on opisthosoma is ca.
0.4
x the width of one half of the cribellum.
Taxonomic remarks.
Two more species, only known as males, are reported from Luzon:
Psechrus schwendingeri
Bayer,
2012
and
P. w a de
sp. nov.
(species description see below). Conspecificity of
P. huberi
sp. nov.
with one or other of them can be excluded as follows:
(
1
)
P. schwendingeri
: Even
though adult females of this species are unknown, a characterisation of the preepigyne and pre-vulva of subadult females was possible (
Bayer
2012
). The pre-vulva shows extremely flat prespermathecal heads that occupy most of the dorsal surface of the pre-receptacula (
Bayer
2012
, fig.
78
e
). It is most unlikely that the final developmental step of the female copulatory organ of
P. schwendingeri
leads to a vulva structure like present in
P. huberi
sp. nov.
. Moreover, the embolus of the male of
P. schwendingeri
is relatively short and stout. The copulatory duct of
P. huberi
sp. nov.
, however, is not particularly short. Consequently, I expect the male of
P. huberi
sp. nov.
to possess an embolus that is longer than in
P. schwendingeri
.
(
2
)
P. wade
sp. nov.
: The palp of the male of
P. cebu
Murphy,
1986
is very similar to that of
P. wade
sp. nov.
(see species description and discussion below), consequently, a close relationship of these two species is highly likely. Accordingly, I expect the female of
P. wade
sp. nov.
to have a longer median septum and less conspicuous spermathecal heads than in
P. huberi
sp. nov.
. Moreover, molecular data of
P. huberi
sp. nov.
and
P. wade
sp. nov.
provides evidence that these two species are not conspecific. The
COI
sequences of both species were examined and a sequence distance of
9
% was found. Additionally, the respective lineages were recovered at different positions within a certain subtree of a preliminary tree of the genus
Psechrus
, thus even a sister-group relationship is highly unlikely (Bayer, unpublished data).
Distribution.
Philippines
(Luzon) (
Fig.
36
).