Modisimus vittatus Bryant 1948
Creators: name: Huber, Bernhard A.
name: Fischer, Nadine
name: Astrin, Jonas J.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2010
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Araneae
Pholcidae
Modisimus
Modisimus vittatus

description: MODISIMUS VITTATUS BRYANT, 1948   
(Figs 5, 13, 30–34, 43, 66, 136–138, 197)  
 Modisimus vittatus Bryant, 1948: 370–371, figures 40, 43, 44.   
 Types: Male holotype (together with one juvenile) from Port-au-Prince, Dept Ouest, Haiti; with labels ‘ Haiti; Port-au-Prince, 5 Sept. 1934 Darlington’ and ‘ Modisimus vittatus Bryant, ♂ holotype B.0021’, in MCZ, examined. Female ‘allotype’, with labels ‘ Haiti; hills near Port-au-Prince – 2000 ft., 2 Oct. 1934, P. J. Darlington’ and ‘ Modisimus vittatus Bryant, ♀ allotype. B.0021’, in MCZ, examined.   
 Diagnosis: Medium-sized species with very high eye turret (Figs 30, 32, 33), male chelicerae with compact patches of modified hairs distally (Fig. 137), epigynum distinctive, with pair of small posterior sclerites (Fig. 43), and male clypeus with only one median dark line (Fig. 32); otherwise, similar to M. makandal sp. nov. Also very similar to M. elevatus from Cuba (same cheliceral armature), which differs mainly by shape of epigynum and short, paired marks on male clypeus.   
 Male (Port-au-Prince, Oloffson): Total length, 2.5; carapace width, 1.3. Leg 1: 28.4 (7.5 + 0.5 + 7.2 + 11.7 + 1.5); tibia 2, 4.7; tibia 3, 3.7; tibia 4, 4.2. Tibia 1 L/d: 54. Habitus as in Figures 30– 32, carapace pale ochre-white, ocular area posteriorly blackish, clypeus with median brown stripe (Fig. 32); sternum with two wide brown longitudinal bands, and whitish medially; legs light brown, tips of femora and tibiae whitish, darker rings on femora and tibiae subdistally, with patellae also darker; abdomen bluish grey, dorsally, laterally, and especially posteriorly, densely covered with black spots grouped by distinctive lines made of white spots (Fig. 34); with dark bluish mark ventrally, between genital area and spinnerets. Ocular area strongly elevated, with several stronger hairs on top; thoracic furrow distinct. PME– PME, 80 Mm; PME diameter, 90 Mm; PME–ALE, 115 Mm; AME very tiny, lenses not clearly visible in dissecting microscope, without pigment. Sternum wider than long (0.7/0.4), unmodified. Chelicerae with ~15 strong modified hairs in a pair of distal patches (Fig. 137). Palps as in Figure 136, coxa with light retrolateral apophysis, femur with rounded proximal and pointed distal ventral apophyses, with distinctive retrolateral ‘step’; procursus with dark dorsal spinelike process and membranous structures distally, bulb with large, weakly curved apophysis, and small black curved spine, proximally on apophysis. Legs with spines in two ventral rows on femora 1 and 2 (~15 and 35 spines on femur 1; 10 and 20 spines on femur 2), most spines on slightly elevated bases, with retrolateral trichobothrium on tibia 1 at 8%; all of the femora with higher than usual density of short vertical hairs, especially distally; curved hairs dorsally on tibiae and metatarsi 1–3; prolateral trichobothrium missing on tibia 1, present on all other tibiae. Tarsus 1 with ~25 pseudosegments.   
 Variation: Tibia 1 in 42 other males: 5.4–8.5 (mean 7.3). Median stripe on clypeus sometimes less distinct, and restricted to distal half, or even missing (near Fondo Negro); small males with fewer spines, sometimes only one row on femur 1; some large males even with a few spines on femur 3; some males with AME pigment. The type is in poor condition, with the left palp missing, legs detached and fragmented, abdomen detached, and coloration largely lost.   
 Female: In general similar to male, but clypeus with U-shaped mark (Fig. 33) or pair of marks. Tibia 1 in 35 females: 3.9–6.1 (mean 5.2). Epigynum, relatively small, simple trapezoidal plate (Fig. 43), barely elevated, with three or four strong hairs laterally, directed inwards; dorsal view as in Figures 66, 138.   
 Distribution and habitat: This species is widely distributed in south-eastern Haiti and the south-western Dominican Republic (Fig. 197). It was found in otherwise rather inhospitable habitats, among cacti and agaves near Fondo Negro, among vegetation in a relatively dry forest at Los Patos, among vegetation in the garden of the Hotel Oloffson in Port-au-Prince, and in cavities of exposed road embankments near Paraíso. It seems to be the only Modisimus species in the dry Plaine du Cul de Sac–Valle de Neiba fault, where mean annual precipitation may be as low as 700 mm, or less (Diaz, 1983).   
 Material examined: Haiti: Dept Ouest, Port-au- Prince, 1♂, holotype with one juvenile, above; Portau-Prince, garden of Hotel Oloffson (18°31.8 ′ N, 72°20.4 ′ W), 90 m a.s.l., among plants, 12 December 2007 (B.A. Huber), 4♂ and 4♀ (ZFMK, Haiti 72); same data, 4♂ and 5♀, in pure ethanol (ZFMK, Haiti 73); Port-au-Prince, 18–21 July 1955 (A. F. Archer), 1♂ and 1♀ (AMNH); hills near Port-au-Prince, 1♀, ‘allotype’ above. Petionville, 29 July 1958 (S. Lazell), 1♀ (AMNH). Carrefour, 23 July 1955 (A. F. Archer), 1♀ (AMNH). Dept Centre, near Pedro Santana (19°06.8 ′ N, 71°39.7 ′ W), degraded forest along brook, 340 m a.s.l., near ground and in low vegetation, 16 November 2005 (B.A. Huber), 4♀ and two juveniles (ZFMK, DR 58). Dominican Republic: Barahona Prov., between Cabral and Barahona (18°13.9 ′ N, 71°09.0 ′ W), degraded forest, 10 m a.s.l., 17 November 2005 (B.A. Huber), 4♂, 3♀ and one juvenile (ZFMK, DR 65); near Cabral (18°14.6 ′ N, 71°11.8 ′ W), degraded forest, 40 m a.s.l., near ground, mostly under dead leaves, 17 November 2005 (B.A. Huber), 12♂, 17♀ and three juveniles (ZFMK, DR 66 /67); same data, 4♀ in pure ethanol (ZFMK, DR 100-41); near Fondo Negro (18°25.2 ′ N, 71°06.5 ′ W), degraded bush, 190 m a.s.l., domed webs between agave leaves and cacti, 19 November 2005 (B.A. Huber), 5♂, 1♀ and one juvenile (ZFMK, DR 77); forest at Los Patos, 17°57.6 ′ N, 71°11.0 ′ W, 10–50 m a.s.l., domed webs among vegetation, 8 December 2007 (B.A. Huber), 18♂ and 11♀ (ZFMK, Haiti 56/57); same data, 2♀ and three juveniles, in pure ethanol (ZFMK, Haiti 94); near Paraíso at ~ 18°00 ′ N, 71°10 ′ W, ~ 100 m a.s.l., road escarpment, 7 December 2007 (B.A. Huber), 1♀ (ZFMK, Haiti 61). Pedernales Prov., 4 km north of Oviedo [~ 17°50.2 ′ N, 71°24.1 ′ W], 10 m a.s.l., arid thorn forest, 28 November–4 December 1991 (Masner & Peck), 1♂ (AMNH). ‘ Sierra Martín García, Trujillo Valdez’, 8 August 1958 (A. F. Archer), 1♂ and 1♀, in poor condition (AMNH).
description: Published as part of Huber, Bernhard A., Fischer, Nadine & Astrin, Jonas J., 2010, High level of endemism in Haiti's last remaining forests: a revision of Modisimus (Araneae: Pholcidae) on Hispaniola, using morphology and molecules, pp. 244-299 in Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 158 (2) on pages 269-270, DOI: 10.1111/j.1096-3642.2009.00559.x, http://zenodo.org/record/5438272