Khorata nani Xu & Zheng & Yao 2020, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Xu, Hao
name: Zheng, Guo
name: Yao, Zhiyuan
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2020
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Araneae
Pholcidae
Khorata
Khorata nani

description: Khorata nani sp. nov.
Figs. 3–4
Type material. Holotype: male (SYNU-Ar00005), Mashuifeng Valley (22°35’N, 114°11’E, elevation 287 m), Wutong Mountain, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China, 28 February 2019, Q. Lu leg. Paratypes: 1 female (SYNU- Ar00006), same data as holotype; 1 female (SYNU-Ar00007), same data but 18 December 2018.
Other material examined. 1 male (opisthosoma missing, SYNU-Ar00008), Maluan Mountain (22°38’N, 114°17’E, elevation 198 m), Shenzhen, Guangdong, China, 15 December 2018, Q. Lu leg.
Etymology. The specific name is a patronym in honor of Zhaoxu Nan, the author of Field Notes from A Natural Shenzhen, who advocates nature conservation for Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, and is a noun (name) in genitive case.
Diagnosis. This species can be easily distinguished from all known congeners by combination of following characters: procursus with large, angular, subdistal membranous lamella prolaterally (arrow in Fig. 3A) and with three separated sclerotized apophyses distally (arrows in Fig. 3C), epigynum with posterior lip (arrow in Fig. 4A), and vulval pore plates nearly triangular (Fig. 4B).
Description. Male (holotype): Total length 2.34 (2.47 with clypeus), carapace 0.68 long, 0.93 wide, opisthosoma 1.66 long, 1.14 wide. Leg I: 16.75 (4.19 + 0.39 + 4.02 + 6.12 + 2.03), leg II: 11.34 (3.22 + 0.34 + 2.63 + 3.88 + 1.27), leg III: 9.12 (2.72 + 0.32 + 2.21 + 3.18 + 0.69), leg IV: 10.55 (3.03 + 0.33 + 2.56 + 3.74 + 0.89); tibia I L/d: 41. Distance PME-PME 0.11, diameter PME 0.13, distance PME-ALE 0.03, AME absent. Habitus as in Figs. 4 E–F. Carapace yellowish, with dark brown margins and dark median line; ocular area dark brown; clypeus brownish, with dark brown marks laterally; sternum yellowish, with dark brown marks. Legs brownish, but whitish on distal parts of femora and tibiae, with darker rings on subdistal parts of femora and proximal and subdistal parts of tibiae. Opisthosoma yellowish, with large dark brown spots. Ocular area slightly elevated and separated from rest of carapace. Thoracic furrow shallow, but distinct. Sternum wider than long (0.58/0.52). Chelicerae (Figs. 4 C–D) with pair of proximo-lateral apophyses (without scales), pair of small distal apophyses laterally, pair of small frontal apophyses (arrows in Figs. 4 C–D), and pair of long and hooked frontal apophyses (tips close together). Pedipalps as in Figs. 3 A–B; trochanter with short retrolateral apophysis and small ventral apophysis; femur with retrolateral apophysis; patella large; procursus simple proximally but complex distally, with large, angular, subdistal membranous lamella prolaterally (arrow in Fig. 3A), three separated sclerotized apophyses distally (arrows in Fig. 3C) and distal membranous elements prolaterally provided with scales; bulb simple, no other projections except for embolus. Retrolateral trichobothrium of tibia I at 6% proximally; legs with short vertical setae on tibiae, metatarsi and tarsi, without spines and curved setae; tarsus I with 42 distinct pseudosegments.
Female: Similar to male, habitus as in Figs. 4 G–H. Total length 2.68 (2.78 with clypeus), carapace 0.76 long, 0.96 wide, opisthosoma 1.92 long, 1.41 wide; tibia I missing. Distance PME-PME 0.09, diameter PME 0.11, distance PME-ALE 0.04, AME absent. Sternum wider than long (0.66/0.58). Epigynum (Fig. 4A) brown, with posterior lip (arrow in Fig. 4A) and pair of pockets anterior to lip. Vulva (Fig. 4B) with curved anterior arch and pair of nearly triangular pore plates.
Variation: Tibia I in the male from Maluan Mountain: 4.43. In another female paratype, tibia I: 3.58, tibia I L/d: 40.
Distribution. China (Guangdong, type locality; Fig. 1).
Natural history. The species was found on the web between rocks.
description: Published as part of Xu, Hao, Zheng, Guo & Yao, Zhiyuan, 2020, Two new species of the spider genus Khorata Huber, 2005 (Araneae: Pholcidae) from southern China, pp. 156-166 in Zootaxa 4747 (1) on pages 159-162, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4747.1.6, http://zenodo.org/record/3693509