Racata grata Millidge 1995
Creators: name: Tanasevitch, Andrei V.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2019
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Araneae
Linyphiidae
Racata
Racata grata

description: Racata grata Millidge, 1995
Figs 1-4, 14-15, 20, 23
Racata grata Millidge, 1995: 49, figs 62-63 (description of male).
Material examined: 1 female [Sar-87/11]; INDO- NESIA, Java, Bogor, Botanical Garden, soil sample between buttresses of large trees near two lakes, ca 260 m a.s.l.; 24.XI.1987; leg. B. Hauser. – 1 male [Sar- 87/30]; Botanical Garden of Bogor, in nursery part, under flower pots and especially under paving slabs of the trail between greenhouses, 260 m a.s.l.; 28.XI.1987; leg. B. Hauser. – 5 males, 15 females [AS-05/11]; Java, Mt Gede - Pangrango NP, near Cibodas, 6°47’0”S, 107°01’0”E, 1450-1600 m a.s.l.; 4.-11. V.2005; leg. A. Schulz. – 1 female [IND-08/02], Belitung Island, Mt Tajam, near Gurok Beraye Waterfall, 2°47’01”S 107°51’47”E, primary forest, 150 m a.s.l.; 20.IX.2008; leg. P. Schwendinger. All new localities.
Remarks: The male holotype of R. grata (not examined) was described by Millidge (1995). A re-description of the male and the first description of the female are given below.
Description: Male from near Cibodas. Total length 1.50. Carapace unmodified, as shown in Fig. 1, 0.65 long, 0.60 wide, pale reddish brown. Chelicerae 0.30 long, mastidion absent. Chaetotaxy: TiI: 2-1-1-0; II: 2-0-1-0, III-IV: 2-0-0-0; MtI-IV without spines. Length of spines 1.5-2 diameters of corresponding leg segment. TmI 0.29. Palp (Figs 14-15, 20): Tibia short, simple. Distal half of cymbium narrowed. Narrow distal part of paracymbium longer than shown in original description (see Millidge, 1995: fig. 62 cf. Fig. 14). Distal suprategular apophysis, called tegular apophysis by Millidge (1995), large, claw-shaped. Median membrane, not mentioned in original description, panicle-shaped. Convector (called radical part [of embolus] in op. cit.), massive, forming a hook anteriorly. Embolus developed as a narrow long stripe, forming a loop, abruptly narrowing apically. Radix small, rounded. Abdomen 0.80 long, 0.43 wide, uniformly grey (Fig. 1) or with a dorsal pattern similar to that in female (Fig. 2).
Female from near Cibodas. Total length 1.60. Carapace 0.63 long, 0.53 wide, unmodified, pale greyish yellow, with indistinct grey radial stripes and a narrow grey margin. Chelicerae 0.28 long. Legs yellow, its segments slightly darkened distally. Leg I 2.79 long (0.75+0.18+0.73+0.63+0.50), IV 2.51 long (0.70+0.15+0.63+0.60+0.43). TmI 0.34. Metatarsi IV without trichobothrium. Abdomen 0.95 long, 0.75 wide, dorsally grey, or cream-coloured with a grey pattern (Fig. 2). Epigyne (Figs 3-4, 23): Cavity slightly wider than long, with a rounded depression anterior to it. Copulatory ducts wide, helical; receptacles narrow, bent.
Taxonomic remarks: The male clearly differs from those of known congeners by the shape of its embolus: it is considerably thinner and longer than in R. brevis (Fig. 15 cf. Fig. 17); it is three times shorter than in R. sumatera (Fig. 15 cf. Fig. 19). The epigyne is similar to that of R. brevis, but differs by a larger depression anterior to the cavity (Figs 3-4 cf. Fig. 6), as well as by the shape of the helical copulatory ducts (Fig. 23 cf. Fig. 24).
Distribution: Known from the Indonesian islands of Krakatoa (type locality), Java and Belitung.
description: Published as part of Tanasevitch, Andrei V., 2019, On the spider genus Racata Millidge, 1995, with the description of three new species (Araneae, Linyphiidae), pp. 53-59 in Revue suisse de Zoologie 126 (1) on pages 54-56, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.2619518