Vytfutia labalaba Griswold 2022, new species
Creators: name: Griswold, Charles E.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2022
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Araneae
Phyxelididae
Vytfutia
Vytfutia labalaba

description: Vytfutia labalaba Griswold, new species
Figures 1–13, 26–44, 58, 59, 62
Types: Holotype male and paratype female collected on the wall of a building at 1550 m elevation on Mt. Kinabalu, Sabah-Borneo, Malaysia, by P. Zbarowski, 2–8 April 1990, deposited in Naturalis, Leiden.
Etymology: From a Malay word for spider, labah-labah; a noun in apposition.
Diagnosis: Males with palpal tibia having a short subapical cuspule (Figs. 37, 38), embolus long, curved, arises at base of bulb (near 6 o’clock), median apophysis flattened, with spoonshaped apex (Figs. 36, 37); females with epigynum with copulatory opening rims oblique, converging anteriorly, posterior margin slightly concave (Figs. 39, 41), vulva simple, with paired lobes laterad of copulatory openings (Figs. 40, 42); thoracic fovea linear (Fig. 34).
Male (holotype): Total length 2.40. Markings as in Figs. 26–30; carapace orange-brown, darker on ocular area; chelicerae, labium and palpal coxae dark brown, sternum brown, coxae, trochanters, leg femora and palpal femur-tibia pale yellow, remainder of legs yellow-brown; palpal tibia and cymbium dark brown; abdomen pale grey with anterodorsal dark brown cardiac mark (Fig. 27), sides and venter speckled with brown, dark brown anterior to epigastric furrow and around spinnerets (Fig. 28). Carapace 1.26 long, 0.95 wide, 0.42 high; clypeus 0.07 high, height 1.20 times AM diameter; ocular area 0.18 long, 0.45 wide, PER strongly recurved, OAL equals OQL; ratio of eyes AM:AL: PM: PL, 1.00:1.33:1.33:1.42, diameter of PM 0.08; AM-AM 0.70 AM diameter, AM-AL 0.50 AM; PM-PM and PM-PL equal PM diameter; AL-PL 0.18 PL. Chelicerae 0.50 long; sternum 0.76 long, 0.54 wide; labium 0.20 long, 0.21 wide; palpal coxae 0.38 long, 0.20 wide. Legs with typical spination; femur I length 1.25 times carapace width; metatarsus I as in Figs. 58, 59, clasping spine extends beyond median spur, spur long, length greater than 1/3 segment width. Leg measurements: I: 1.19 + 0.47 + 1.12 + 1.06 + 0.59 = [4.43]; II: 1.09 + 0.44 + 0.87 + 0.87 + 0.53 = [3.80]; III: 1.00 + 0.44 + 0.69 + 0.81 + 0.47 = [3.41]; IV: 1.16 + 0.47 + 0.91 + 0.94 + 0.47 = [3.95]; palp: 0.69 + 0.16 + 0.34 + na + 0.50 = [1.69]. Palpal tibia length 2/3 cymbial length, RTA broad, apically concave, RTA length 1/4 tibia length, DTA length also 1/4 tibia length, narrow, with sharply pointed apex (Fig. 38); cymbium tapering with conical proximobasal paracymbium; tegulum with MA origin subbasal, distance to tegular base 0.19 tegular length, MA large, length 0.77 that of tegulum, oval, length five times width, margins smooth and apex expanded (Fig. 36), apex concave on bulb side (Fig. 37); base of conductor broad, fleshy, tapering to pointed apex; embolus convex, unmodified, gradually tapering to pointed apex. Female (paratype): Total length 3.25. Markings as in Figs. 1–13, 31–35, as in male except carapace and mouthparts darker (Figs. 33–35) and dorsal cardiac mark on abdomen broken into several parts, extending for whole length of abdomen (Fig. 31). Carapace 1.39 long, 1.03 wide, 0.55 high; clypeus 0.09 high, height 1.70 times AM diameter; ocular area 0.18 long, 0.52 wide, OAL equals OQL; ratio of eyes AM:AL: PM: PL, 1.00:1.10:1.60:1.40, diameter of PM 0.08; AM-AM 1.28 times AM diameter, AM-AL 1.365 times AM; PM-PM 0.73 PM, PM-PL 1.50 times PM; AL-PL 0.17 times PL. Chelicerae 0.59 long; sternum 0.82 long, 0.61 wide; labium 0.21 long, 0.24 wide; palpal coxae 0.41 long, 0.23 wide. Femur I length 1.48 times carapace width. Legs with typical spination. Leg measurements: I: 1.53 + 0.59 + 1.28 + 1.16 + 0.69 = [5.25]; II: 1.25 + 0.47 + 0.94 + 0.94 + 0.59 = [4.19]; III: 1.19 + 0.50 + 0.78 + 0.78 + 0.47 = [3.72]; IV: 1.16 + 0.56 + 0.97 + 0.94 + 0.56 = [4.19]; palp: 0.62 + 0.31 + 0.44 + na + 0.59 = [1.96]. Epigynum as in Figs. 39, 41, vulva as in Figs. 40, 42–44, with lateral double lobes that have proximal HS pores (Fig. 44) and a distal BG pore (Fig. 43).
Natural History: The holotype and paratype were collected on the wall of a building at Kinabalu Park headquarters, elevation 1550m. The collecting labels state “in ridges…outer wall bungalow” and “webbe als Amaurobius simiis ”. This suggests that this species builds a cribellate appressed sheet or funnel on objects that offer space for a retreat, as is typical of many Phyxelididae and Titanoecidae. The elevation of the type locality suggests that surrounding vegetation is lower montane rainforest.
Distribution: Known only from the type locality on Mt. Kinabalu, Borneo (Fig. 62).
Material Examined: Only the holotype male and paratype female from Mt. Kinabalu, Malaysia, in Naturalis, Leiden.
description: Published as part of Griswold, Charles E., 2022, The Lace Web Spider Genus Vytfutia Deeleman-Reinhold (Araneae, Phyxelididae) in the Indo-Pacific Region, pp. 329-355 in Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 67 (14) on pages 338-339, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.11513175