Modisimus toma Huber & Fischer & Astrin 2010, SP. NOV.
Creators: name: Huber, Bernhard A.
name: Fischer, Nadine
name: Astrin, Jonas J.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2010
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Araneae
Pholcidae
Modisimus
Modisimus toma

description: MODISIMUS TOMA HUBER & FISCHER SP. NOV.   
(Figs 42, 65, 84, 90, 91, 96, 97, 108–110, 118, 123, 133–135, 196)  
 Type: Male holotype from near La Toma (18°27.5 ′ N, 70°07.2 ′ W; ~ 70 m a.s.l.), San Cristóbal Prov., Dominican Republic; degraded forest, under dead leaves on ground, 7 November 2005 (B.A. Huber), in ZFMK (DR 4 a).   
 Etymology: The species name refers to the type locality; it is used as a noun in apposition.   
 Diagnosis: Medium-sized species, easily distinguished from known congeners by large male cheliceral apophyses (Figs 91, 134), strong spines on male cymbium (Figs 96, 133), and frontally diverging epigynal sclerites (Fig. 42).   
 Male (holotype): Total length, 2.1; carapace width, 1.0. Leg 1: 16.6 (4.1 + 0.3 + 4.2 + 6.6 + 1.4); tibia 2, 2.7; tibia 3, 2.1; tibia 4, 2.6. Tibia 1 L/d: 47. Habitus similar to M. jima sp. nov. (cf. Fig. 19), carapace pale ochre-yellow, ocular area basally brown posteriorly, clypeus light brown with lighter median band, and sternum light brown, lighter medially; legs pale ochre-yellow; abdomen bluish grey, with black spots dorsally and laterally, genital area light brown. Ocular area strongly elevated (Fig. 84); thoracic furrow distinct. PME – PME, 70 Mm; PME diameter, 90 Mm; PME – ALE, 95 Mm; AME – AME, 10 Mm; AME diameter, 15 Mm. Sternum wider than long (0.6/0.4), unmodified. Chelicerae with distinctive pair of lateral apophyses, carrying many modified club-shaped hairs (Figs 90, 91, 134). Palps as in Figure 133, coxa with retrolateral apophysis, femur with proximal flap retrolaterally, and distal apophysis ventrally; cymbium with strong spines; procursus with dorsal spine-like process and distal membranous structures (Fig. 97), bulb with long apophysis (Figs 97, 133). Legs without spines, many short vertical hairs dorsally on all femora; curved hairs dorsally on tibiae 1 and 2; retrolateral trichobothrium on tibia 1 at 14%; prolateral trichobothrium missing on tibia 1, present on other tibiae; tarsus 1 with ~25 pseudosegments.   
 Variation: Some males with fairly distinct darker rings on legs: distally on femora (preceded by whitish ring), and proximally and distally on tibiae (also bordered by whitish rings); some males with rather greenish abdomen. Tibia 1 in 13 other males: 4.0–5.2 (mean 4.4).   
 Female: In general similar to male, rings on legs more distinct; sternum with a bundle of between two and four strong, long hairs on each side posteriorly (Fig. 118). Tibia 1 in 12 females: 2.4–3.0 (mean 2.8). Epigynum, with distinctive pair of brown plates converging posteriorly (Figs 42, 108); dorsal view as in Figures 65, 135, with large membranous median structure.   
 Distribution and habitat: Known from three localities in the southern and central Dominican Republic (Fig. 196; Cuevas Pomier and La Toma are represented by a single mark in Fig. 196). Near La Toma, this species was found under dead curved leaves on the ground.   
 Material examined: Dominican Republic: San Cristóbal Prov., near La Toma, 1♂, holotype above; same data, 6♂ and 12♀ (ZFMK, DR 4); same data, 2♂ and 2♀, in pure ethanol (ZFMK, DR 100-1). Borbon, Cuevas Pomier [~ 18°28 ′ N, 70°08 ′ W], tropical deciduous forest, 200 m a.s.l., 13–28 July 1995 (S. & J. Peck), 10♂ (AMNH, #95-23); same data, but 28 July–5 August 1995, 4♂ and 1♀ (AMNH, #95-47). La Vega Prov., 10 km north-east of Jarabacoa Hotel Montana [19°10.9 ′ N, 70°34.8 ′ W], forest, 550 m a.s.l., 18 July–4 August 1995 (S. & J. Peck), 1♂ (AMNH, #95-30).
description: Published as part of Huber, Bernhard A., Fischer, Nadine & Astrin, Jonas J., 2010, High level of endemism in Haiti's last remaining forests: a revision of Modisimus (Araneae: Pholcidae) on Hispaniola, using morphology and molecules, pp. 244-299 in Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 158 (2) on pages 268-269, DOI: 10.1111/j.1096-3642.2009.00559.x, http://zenodo.org/record/5438272