Conothele cangshan Yang & Xu 2018, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Yang, Zizhong
name: Xu, Xin
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2018
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Araneae
Ctenizidae
Conothele
Conothele cangshan

description: Conothele cangshan sp. nov.
(Figs 2–16)
Type material. Holotype male (CS-002), Cangshan National Nature Reserves, Dali City, Yunnan Province, China, 25.5836°N, 100.1384°E, 2600 m, 15 October 2011, collected by pitfall traps by Guanxu Ma, Zizhong Yang, Jianchun Zhang; holotype specimen was deposited at the National Zoological Museum of China (NZMC), Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. Paratypes: 1 male (CS-001): with the same locality data as holotype; deposited at the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum (LKCNHM) at the National University of Singapore; 10 males, Yujufeng, Cangshan National Nature Reserves, Dali City, Yunnan Province, China, 25.7014°N, 100.1252°E, 2600 m, 10 December 2011, collected by pitfall traps by Guanxu Ma, Jianchun Zhang; deposited at Dali University, Dali, Yunnan, China.
Etymology. The species epithet, a noun in apposition, refers to the type locality.
Diagnosis. Males of C. cangshan sp. nov. differ from C. taiwanensis by cymbium without dagger-shaped spine at its top (Figs 14–16), from C. fragaria by embolus incurved in retrolateral view (Fig. 16), from C. deqin sp. nov. by lacking the fish-hook tooth at its tip and sperm duct more slender than that of latter (Fig. 13).
Description. Male (holotype) (Fig. 11). Total length, including chelicerae, 10.30; carapace 4.70 long, 5.00 wide; opisthosoma 5.30 long, 4.30 wide. Carapace black reddish brown, glabrous (Fig. 11). Caput arched. Fovea deep, strongly procurved and U-shaped (Fig. 11). Eye tubercle low and black on its margin. Eight eyes in two rows, with anterior eye row slightly procurved; posterior row straight from above (Fig. 2); eye group 0.50 long, 0.95 wide; ALE-AME 0.25, AME-AME 0.20, PLE-PME 0.05, PME-PME 0.40; MOA 0.40 long, front width 0.45, back width 0.65; ALE: AME: PLE: PME (0.20: 0.12: 0.15: 0.13). Clypeus width 0.20. Chelicerae reddish-brown, with 4 large and 1 small (hidden in Fig. 5) promarginal teeth, 6 large and one small retromarginal teeth (Fig. 5); rastellum inconspicuous in ventral view, consisting of 7 short thick spines (Figs 4–5). Labium, coxae of palp (maxillae) and sternum yellow brown (Figs 3, 12). Labium 0.50 long, 0.80 wide, with 5 conspicuous cuspules. Coxae of palp (maxillae) 1.70 long, 1.00 wide, with different cuspule numbers on left and right maxillae, 29 cuspules on left and 22 cuspules (2 absent) on right maxillae (Fig. 3). Sternum 2.35 long, 2.30 wide, with large, irregularly shaped sigilla in the centre (Fig. 12).
Legs reddish brown, light-colored ventrally, with long and short brown sparse setae, thick thorn-like and normal spines. Tibia III with a slightly saddle-like depression dorsally on the basal part (Fig. 6). Tarsi I and II with scopulae; scopulae absent on tarsi III and IV (Figs 7–10). Filiform trichobothria on all dorsal tibiae, metatarsi and tarsi. Tarsus I with 2 clavate trichobothria dorsally; Tarsus II with 1 + 1 broken clavate trichobothria dorsally; Tarsus III with 2 clavate trichobothria dorsally; Tarsus IV with 3 clavate trichobothria dorsally (Figs 7–10). Metatarsal preening combs absent on all legs. The thick thorn-like spines on legs: femur I, dorsal = 3; patella I, ventral = 6 + 6 broken; tibia I, ventral = 50 + 3 broken; metatarsus I, ventral = 21 + 3 broken; tarsus I, retrolateral = 6; femur II, dorsal = 1; patella II, prolateral = 2; tibia II, prolateral = 5, retrolateral = 7 + 4 broken; metatarsus II, prolateral = 2 + 4 broken, retrolateral = 9; tarsus II, prolateral = 3, retrolateral = 5; patella III, distal = 1 + 2 broken; tibia III, distal = 6; metatarsus III, distal = 5 + 1 broken; tarsus III, prolateral =10, retrolateral = 7; patella IV, distal = 1; tibia IV, distal = 6; metatarsus IV, distal = 3; tarsus IV, ventral =4. Legs each with 3 tarsal claws, paired claws with a row of teeth, 5 denticles. Leg formula: 4123. Measurements of legs: leg I 11.80 (4.30 + 1.70 + 2.70 + 1.90 + 1.20), leg II 11.40 (4.20 + 1.50 + 2.60 + 1.80 + 1.30), leg III 11.30 (3.80 + 1.80 + 2.20 + 2.20+ 1.30), leg IV 14.10 (4.90 + 1.80 + 2.90 + 2.90 + 1.60).
Opisthosoma deformed, brown, scattered with thick and slender black setae. Spinnerets brownish yellow, PMS one-segmented, 0.20 long, PMS-PMS 0.10; PLS three-segmented, 0.62 long, covered with brown spines, apical segment dome-shape. Palpal bulb simple, elliptic in prolateral view, embolus elongated and slender, cymbium with 3 clavate and 4 +1 broken filiform trichobothria in retrolateral view (Figs 13–16).
Distribution. Yunnan Province (Dali City), China.
Remarks. We preliminarily treat males collected in Dali, Yunnan Province as a different species (i.e., C. cangshan sp. nov.) from female C. yundingensis that occurs in Tengchong, Yunnan Province based on the geographical isolation by the distance (> 130 km apart) and two large rivers, Lancangjiang and Nujiang, between them. Though aerial dispersal has been well documented in Ummidia (Coyle 1985; Fisher et al. 2014), and Main (1957) proposed that the young C. malayana might be aerially dispersed, until now, ballooning has not been observed in Conothele spiders. It is thus unlikely that C. yundingensis from Tengchong or C. cangshan sp. nov. from Dali could cross over the barriers due to the possible lack of ballooning in this genus. The species is known only from male specimens.
description: Published as part of Yang, Zizhong & Xu, Xin, 2018, Two new species of the trapdoor spider genus Conothele Thorell, 1878 (Mygalomorphae: Halonoproctidae) from China, pp. 171-180 in Zootaxa 4442 (1) on pages 173-176, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4442.1.10, http://zenodo.org/record/1301442