Pholcophora americana Banks 1896
Creators: name: Huber, Bernhard A.
name: Meng, Guanliang
name: Valdez-Mondragón, Alejandro
name: Král, Jiří
name: Ávila Herrera, Ivalú M.
name: Carvalho, Leonardo S.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Araneae
Pholcidae
Pholcophora
Pholcophora americana

description: Pholcophora americana Banks, 1896
Figs 3A, 4–8, 33A–B
Remark
For synonymy, type material, and redescription, see Huber (2000).
Diagnosis
Easily distinguished geographically by being the only representative of Pholcophora (and of Ninetinae) in the western USA and Canada (Fig. 2); morphologically distinguished from similar congeners (P. mexcala; P. mazatlan sp. nov.; P. papanoa sp. nov.) by shape of male cheliceral apophyses (Fig. 5A– B; directed towards frontal rather than upwards, without proximal humps, relatively short), by tip of procursus (Fig. 5C–E; semi-transparent process widening distally), and by epigynum (main epigynal plate posteriorly strongly indented, Fig. 6A, C).
Material examined (new records)
USA – Colorado • 3 ♀♀, in pure ethanol; Lookout Mountain near Golden, ‘sites 1 & 2’; 39.73° N, 105.24° W; 2220–2230 m a.s.l.; 6 Jul. 2016; B.A. Huber leg.; one female used for SEM, two prosomata used for molecular work; ZFMK USA16 • 2 ♂♂, in pure ethanol; same collection data as for preceding; vouchers of Ávila Herrera et al. (2021); ZFMK Kra55–56. – California • 2 ♂♂, 5 ♀♀, 1 juv., in pure ethanol; Mono County, Inyo Nat. Forest; 37.80° N, 118.38° W; 15 Jun. 2003; P. Paquin and N. Dupérré leg.; under wood debris in pine forest; ZFMK G089 • 1 ♂, 1 ♀; Plumas County, Lassen National Forest, Warner Creek Campground; 40.3625° N, 121.3081° W; 1540 m a.s.l.; 18 May 2015; K. Schneider leg.; beaten from fallen pine cones; ZFMK Ar 23944. – Idaho • 1 ♀, in pure ethanol; Custer County, Salmon-Challis Nat. Forest, Kinnikinic Creek Road; 44.278° N, 114.408° W; 19 Sep. 2003; P. Paquin and D. Wytrykush leg.; scree under Picea glauca forest; ZFMK G090. – Montana • 1 ♂, 2 ♀♀, 1 juv., in pure ethanol; Missoula County, Lolo Nat. Forest, near Salmon Lake; 47.072° N, 113.384° W; 18 Sep. 2003; P. Paquin and D. Wytrykush leg.; under rocks, scree; ZFMK G092. – Oregon • 2 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀, 1 juv., in pure ethanol; Josephine County, Siskiyou Nat. Forest, Briggs Valley Road; 42.337° N, 123.610° W; 23 Sep. 2003; P. Paquin and D. Wytrykush leg.; ZFMK G091.
Description (amendments; see Huber 2000)
Male
Measurements of a male from Hat Creek, California: carapace width 0.95; tibia 1 length: 1.75; distance PME-PME 75 µm; diameter PME 80 µm; distance PME-ALE 30 µm; distance AME-AME 20 µm; diameter AME 60 µm; diameters of leg femora 0.20–0.23, of leg tibiae 0.11–0.12. Clypeus unmodified, clypeus rim to ALE 0.30. Chelicerae as in Fig. 5A–B; distances between cheliceral stridulatory ridges 2.5–2.7 µm. Procursus as in Fig. 5C–E, with distinctive transparent element distally; genital bulb as in Fig. 5F–H. Legs with few vertical hairs; prolateral trichobothrium absent on tibia 1. Tibia 1 length in 14 males (incl. specimens measured in Huber 2000): 1.50–1.75 (mean 1.62).
Female
In general similar to male but sternum without pair of anterior humps, and chelicerae without stridulatory files. Tibia 1 in 15 females (incl. specimens measured in Huber 2000): 1.25–1.70 (mean 1.48). Epigynum and internal female genitalia as in Figs 6–7, apparently without median receptacle, without or with very small pore plates.
Distribution
Widely distributed in the western USA, ranging into SW Canada (British Columbia) (Fig. 2). The map in Fig. 2 includes many records from British Columbia that were first shown in a map in Bennett (2014: fig. 5). A list of locality names was later published online in the Checklist of the Spiders (Araneae) of British Columbia (http://staff.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/). The Canadian dots in Fig. 2 are based on coordinates of specimens digitized at the Royal British Columbia Museum that were kindly provided by C. Copley (pers. com. Feb. 2017).
Natural history
Surprisingly, nothing is known about the biology of this widespread spider beyond some basic habitat data taken from labels. It has usually been found under rocks, wood debris, and other objects on the ground, often in pine forests. The most northern records (British Columbia) suggest that this species tolerates very cold winters, with occasional temperatures below -10°C.
description: Published as part of Huber, Bernhard A., Meng, Guanliang, Valdez-Mondragón, Alejandro, Král, Jiří, Ávila Herrera, Ivalú M. & Carvalho, Leonardo S., 2023, Short-legged daddy-long-leg spiders in North America: the genera Pholcophora and Tolteca (Araneae, Pholcidae), pp. 1-89 in European Journal of Taxonomy 880 (1) on pages 14-17, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2023.880.2173, http://zenodo.org/record/8155472