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 Mecolaesthus cachapa Huber sp. nov. urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: D71C641C-65D5-4019-9FF0-F8167340859A Figs 508–509 , 523–531 , 548–550 , 1046 Diagnosis Distinguished from known congeners by details of male pedipalp ( Figs 523–528 ; procursus slender and simple, with widened transparent tip; embolar division of genital bulb distally with large flat sclerite and three small ventral processes), by armature of male chelicerae ( Figs 529–530 ; pair of small frontal apophyses), by epigynum ( Fig. 548 ; anterior plate small, narrowing posteriorly with strong lateral margins; posterior plate wide but short), and by internal female genitalia ( Figs 531 , 550 ): pore plates on distinctively shaped sclerite with pair of rounded anterior sclerites (similar M. trampa Huber sp. nov. ); lateral wing-shaped structures. Etymology The species name refers to cachapa , a Venezuelan dish made from maize flour, traditionally eaten with a soft, mozzarella-like cheese; noun in apposition. Type material VENEZUELA – Aragua • ♂ holotype , ZFMK (Ar 21945), Henri Pittier National Park , forest near La Cumbre ( 10.3575° N , 67.5771° W ), 1450 m a.s.l. , 20 Feb. 2020 ( B.A. Huber , O. Villarreal M.) . Other material examined VENEZUELA – Aragua • 2 ♀♀ , together with holotype , ZFMK (Ar 21945), same collection data as for holotype • 1 ♀ , ZFMK (Ar 21946), Henri Pittier National Park , NW of Rancho Grande ( 10.358° N , 67.695° W ), ~ 1100 m a.s.l. , 11 Dec. 2002 ( B.A. Huber ) . Description Male ( holotype ) MEASUREMENTS. Total body length 3.6, carapace width 1.6. Distance PME–PME 140 µm ; diameter PME 140 µm ; distance PME–ALE 130 µm ; distance AME–AME 20 µm ; diameter AME 30 µm . Leg 1: 45.7 (10.7 +0.5+10.7 + 19.7 +4.1), tibia 2: 6.2, tibia 3: 4.7, tibia 4: 6.1; tibia 1 L/d: 82. COLOR (in ethanol). Carapace mostly dark ochre to black, with pair of pale bands from behind ocular area to posterior margin; sternum light, with dark brown lateral marginal bands widening and connected posteriorly; legs brown, with darker rings on femora (subdistally) and tibiae (proximally, subdistally), tips of femora and tibiae light; abdomen gray, dorsally and laterally with dark bluish marks, ventrally Figs 510–513. Mecolaesthus graphorn Huber sp. nov. ; from Aragua, Henri Pittier National Park, near La Cumbre (type locality; ZFMK Ar 21943–44). 510–511 . Prosomata of large and small males (at same scale). 512–513 . Left male pedipalp, prolateral and retrolateral views. Scale lines: 510–511=1 mm; 512–513= 0.5 mm. Figs 514–522. Mecolaesthus graphorn Huber sp. nov. ; from Aragua, Henri Pittier National Park, near La Cumbre (type locality; ZFMK Ar 21943–44). 514–516. Left palpal tarsus and procursus, prolateral, dorsal, and retrolateral views. 517–519. Left genital bulb, prolateral, dorsal, and retrolateral views (arrow: prolateral-ventral process). 520–521. Male chelicerae, frontal and lateral views. 522 . Cleared female genitalia, dorsal view. Scale lines: 0.3 mm. Figs 523–531. Mecolaesthus cachapa Huber sp. nov. ; from Henri Pittier National Park, near La Cumbre (type locality; ZFMK Ar 21945). 523–525 . Left palpal tarsus and procursus, prolateral, dorsal, and retrolateral views. 526–528 . Left genital bulb, prolateral, dorsal, and retrolateral views. 529–530 . Male chelicerae, frontal and lateral views. 531 . Cleared female genitalia, dorsal view. Scale lines: 0.3 mm. with dark mark in gonopore area and dark bluish median mark behind gonopore widening posteriorly; book lung covers not darkened; abdomen without ventral and dorsal anterior modifications. BODY. Habitus as in Figs 508–509 . Ocular area moderately raised. Carapace strongly inflated, only anteriorly with deep thoracic groove. Clypeus unmodified. Sternum wider than long (1.1/0.75), unmodified. Abdomen slightly elongated, pointed at spinnerets. CHELICERAE. As in Figs 529–530 , with pair of small frontal apophyses. PALPS. In general similar to M. longipes Huber sp. nov. (cf. Figs 399–400 ); coxa apophysis slightly less prominent; small ventral projection on trochanter slightly wider; distal ventral process of femur slightly more slender; retrolateral trichobothrium on tibia not in very distal position; tarsal dorsal process bifid, proximal part indistinct; procursus ( Figs 523–525 ) slender and simple, with widened transparent tip; embolar division of genital bulb complex, distally with large flat sclerite and three small ventral processes ( Figs 526–528 ). LEGS. Without spines and curved hairs; with short vertical hairs in higher than usual density on all femora and tibiae; coxa 4 unmodified; retrolateral trichobothrium of tibia 1 at 3%; prolateral trichobothrium present on all leg tibiae; tarsus 1 with ~60 pseudosegments, mostly distinct. Female In general similar to male but carapace not inflated, leg femora and tibiae with low density of short vertical hairs, sternum lateral dark margins less distinct; tibia 1 in three females: 7.1, 7.6, 8.5. Epigynum ( Fig. 548 ) anterior plate relatively small, narrowing posteriorly, with strong lateral margins; posterior plate wide but short. Internal genitalia ( Figs 531 , 549–550 ) with pore plates on distinctively shaped sclerite, pair of rounded anterior sclerites, and lateral wing-shaped structures. Distribution Known from two localities in Henri Pittier National Park, Venezuela , Aragua (Fig. 1046). Natural history At La Cumbre, this species could not be distinguished in the field from the more abundant M. graphorn Huber sp. nov. ; the observations described there may thus also apply to this species.