Spermophora mau Bernhard A. Huber & Charles M. Warui 2012, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Bernhard A. Huber
name: Charles M. Warui
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2012
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Araneae
Pholcidae
Spermophora
Spermophora mau

description: Spermophora mau sp. nov.
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:4717BA27-3070-47BB-A588-EB037A4F6294
Figs 9, 40-44, 87-91
Spermophora Ken 39: Dimitrov, Astrin & Huber 2012 (DNA sequence data).
Diagnosis
Distinguished from very similar S. maathaiae sp. nov. by shape of female epigynal scape (longer; tip pointed; Fig. 90) and by details of procursus tip (slightly different shapes of sclerites; Figs 87, 88). From other species by male cheliceral armature (shapes of frontal apophyses; Fig. 89) and by pointed tip of female epigynal scape.
Etymology
The species name is derived from the type locality; noun in apposition.
Type material
Holotype
♂, in ZFMK (Ar 8747).
Paratypes
3 ♂♂, 6 ♀♀, in ZFMK (2 ♂♂, 5 ♀♀: Ar 8748) and NMKE (1 ♂, 1 ♀).
Type locality
KENYA, Rift Valley, Mau Escarpment near Elburgon (0°25.3’S, 35°47.3’E), 2930 m a.s.l., 5 Feb. 2010 (B.A. Huber).
Other material examined
KENYA: Rift Valley: 2 ♀♀, 2 juvs. in pure ethanol, in ZFMK (Ken 145), Mau Escarpment near Elburgon, same data as types above.
Description
Male (holotype)
MEASUREMENTS. Total body length 3.6, carapace width 1.3. Leg 1: 20.4 (5.2 + 0.5 + 5.1 + 6.9 + 2.7), tibia 2: 3.3, tibia 3: 2.6, tibia 4: 3.4; tibia 1 L/d: 41. Distance PME-PME 175 µm, diameter PME 125 µm, distance PME-ALE 55 µm, no AME.
COLOR. Prosoma ochre-yellow with large lateral black marks and Y-mark behind ocular area, ocular area laterally darkened, clypeus with pair of darker smudges below eye triads, sternum monochromous black, legs ochre-yellow, with darker rings on femora (subdistally) and tibiae (proximally, subdistally), abdomen grey with distinctive black pattern dorsally and laterally, ventrally mostly black.
BODY. Habitus as in Figs 40 and 41; ocular area elevated, with pair of horns between triads (Fig. 44); carapace only anteriorly with shallow thoracic furrow; clypeus unmodified. Chelicerae as in Fig. 89, each frontal apophysis forming a cup-shaped depression, without modified hairs. Sternum wider than long (0.94/0.72), unmodified.
PALPS. As in Figs 87 and 88, coxa with retrolatero-ventral apophysis, trochanter with retrolateral apophysis, femur barely modified (except dorsal apophysis proximally), procursus with ventral flap and several complex distal elements that appear hinged to proximal part, distinctive spine-like process visible in retrolateral view, bulb with three cone-shaped projections and long embolus.
LEGS. Without spines and curved hairs, few vertical hairs; retrolateral trichobothrium on tibia 1 at 10%; prolateral trichobothrium absent on tibia 1, present on other tibiae; tarsus 1 with>30 pseudosegments, distinct distally.
VARIATION. Tibia 1 in 3 other males: 4.8, 4.9, 5.3.
Female
In general similar to male but triads closer together (distance PME-PME 135 µm), without horns. Tibia 1 in 6 females: 4.2-4.4. Epigynum a simple plate with long posterior scape ending in scorpion-tail-like tip (Fig. 90); internal genitalia as in Fig. 91.
Distribution
Known from type locality only (Fig. 27).
description: Published as part of Bernhard A. Huber & Charles M. Warui, 2012, East African pholcid spiders: an overview, with descriptions of eight new species (Araneae, Pholcidae), pp. 1-44 in European Journal of Taxonomy 29 (29) on pages 27-29, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2012.29, http://zenodo.org/record/1406636