Afroneta elgonensis Merrett 2004
Creators: name: Frick, Holger
name: Scharff, Nikolaj
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2018
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Araneae
Linyphiidae
Afroneta
Afroneta elgonensis

description: Afroneta elgonensis Merrett, 2004
Figs 6D–G, 7–8
Afroneta elgonensis Merrett, 2004: 4, figs 11–13.
Diagnosis
The male can be diagnosed by the very long palpal tibia. It is clearly longer than the cymbium. This is not the case in any other Afroneta with a short, robust and straight embolus.
Type material
Allotype
KENYA: 1 ♂, Mount Elgon, eastern side, 2900 m a.s.l., 13–15 Jan. 1965, Å. Holm leg., H. Frick det., collection Holm UZM No. 40 (UPSZMC 67572).
Other material examined (1 ♂, 4 ♀♀)
KENYA: 1 ♀, same data as for allotype; 2 ♀♀, Mount Elgon, E side, 3050 m a.s.l., 16 Jan. 1965, Å. Holm leg., H. Frick det., collection Holm UZM No. 80 (UPSZMC 67583); 1 ♂, Mount Elgon, eastern side, “sålln., lövförne i Hagenia skog i dal” (sifted litter in Hagenia forest, in valley), 3200 m a.s.l., 9 May 1948, Å. Holm leg., H. Frick det., (originally listed by Holm as Afroneta longipalpis MS in the unpublished report from Uppsala), Collection Holm UZM No. 130 (UPSZMC 67558); 1 ♀, Mount Elgon, East of Koitoboss, “sålln., lövförna mln grästuvor” (sifted litter between grass tussocs), 3300 m a.s.l., 28 Mar. 1938, Å. Holm leg., H. Frick det. (originally listed by Holm as Afroneta longipalpis MS in the unpublished report from Uppsala), collection Holm UZM No. 174 (UPSZMC 67559).
Description
Male (allotype, UPSZMC 67572)
SIZE. Total length 3.17. Cephalothorax 1.47 long, 1.06 wide. Sternum 0.86 long (0.79 without labium), 0.73 wide. Abdomen 1.68 long, 1.21 wide. AME diameter 0.04. Femur I 1.32 long, 1.11 times as long as cephalothorax.
COLOUR (preserved specimens, Figs 6D, 7A–H). Cephalothorax, chelicerae, pedipalps and legs yellowish brown. Abdomen light to dark grey with small white dots. Black rings around eyes (Fig. 6D).
BODY. Sternum shield–shaped with labium fused to sternum and long narrow extension of sternum between coxae IV (merged to carapace at the end). Cephalon with short setae. Fovea present, canoeshaped, faint/shallow. Ocular area with several short thin setae between eyes. Clypeus height 5.25 times AME diameter. Subocular sulci present below ALE, long and wide, not clearly demarcated (Fig. 6D). Chelicerae with 3 large widely spaced prolateral teeth (Fig. 6D) and three small closely spaced retrolateral denticles. Chelicerae with stridulating file.
LEGS. All femora with one short stout setae dorsally. Leg formula 1243 (legs 1,2 of 4 almost same length). Trichobothrium metatarsus I = 0.58. Tibial spine formula 2222. As seen in the females, the males also lack metatarsal macrosetae and retrolateral tibial macrosetae. This is diagnostic according to Merrett (2004). However, Afroneta flavescens sp. nov. also lacks these macrosetae.
PEDIPALP (Figs 7A–H, 8A–D). Patella with long strong distal dorsal spine (Fig. 8D). Tibia with two retrolateral and one prolateral trichobothrium (Figs 7E–F, 8D). Cymbium with two prolateral macrosetae. Paracymbium U-shaped with two basal hairs (Figs 7E, 8D). Suprategulum straight, finger-like, pointing retrolaterally (Fig. 8B). Tegular mynoglenine process weakly developed (Fig. 8C), Radix drop-like, embolus robust and straight (Figs 7D, 8A). This type of embolus is very rare in Afroneta and otherwise only known from Afroneta flavescens sp. nov. and Afroneta bamilekei. The embolic membrane is simple, as large as the embolus.
Female
The female of this species was described by Merrett (2004) based on 11 specimens from Mount Elgon at 3100 m a.s.l. Holm’s material was taken on Mount Elgon from 2900 to 3300 m a.s.l.; the epigyne and vulva (Figs 7I –K, 8E–F) match the drawings of Merrett (2004: figs 11, 13). Furthermore, Merrett (2004) mentions an unusual chaetotaxy that is diagnostic for the species. Afroneta elgonensis has no metatarsal spines or retrolateral tibial spines. This is also the case for the specimens in Holm’s collection. Moreover, the male and the female have a relatively long palpal tibia.
Distribution
Only known from Mount Elgon, Kenya, at altitudes from 2900–3300 m a.s.l.
Life history
Little is known about the biology of this species. The few specimens recorded have all been taken from litter in montane forest or grasslands.
description: Published as part of Frick, Holger & Scharff, Nikolaj, 2018, Description of one new genus and four new species of mynoglenine spiders from Africa (Araneae: Linyphiidae: Mynogleninae), pp. 1-27 in European Journal of Taxonomy 415 on pages 13-16, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2018.415, http://zenodo.org/record/1211253