Modisimus palvet 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 palvet

description: MODISIMUS PALVET HUBER & FISCHER SP. NOV.   
(Figs 9, 16, 35, 60, 89, 93, 114, 115, 121, 122, 185–187, 201)  
 Type: Male holotype from Macaya B. R., at 18°20.5 ′ N, 74°01.0 ′ W, Dept Sud, Haiti; ravine, with some broadleaf trees in pine forest, 1350 m a.s.l., domed sheets connected to undersides of green leaves, 30 November 2007 (B.A. Huber), in ZFMK (Haiti 19a).   
 Etymology: The species name is derived from the Creole words pal (pale) and vèt (green), and refers to the colour of this species; it is used as a noun in apposition.   
 Diagnosis: Medium-sized, pale-greenish, long-legged species, with six eyes, distinguished from close relatives (M. miri sp. nov. and M. berac sp. nov.) by pattern and conical shape of modified hairs on male chelicerae (Figs 89, 186), and by epigynum shape (Figs 60, 114); further distinguished from M. miri sp. nov. by slightly more slender procursus, and absence of apophyses above fang joints; distinguished from M. berac sp. nov. by slightly more slender bulbal apophysis, and slightly longer dorsal cymbium projection.   
 Male (holotype): Total length, 1.9; carapace width, 0.73. Leg 1: 23.6 (5.7 + 0.3 + 5.7 + 9.8 + 2.1); tibia 2, 3.7; tibia 3, 2.4; tibia 4, 2.8. Tibia 1 L/d: 76. Habitus as in Figures 9, 35, carapace pale ochre-yellow, clypeus with wide brown distal margin, sternum whitish; legs pale ochre-yellow with darker patella area and tibia–metatarsus joints; abdomen pale greenish grey, with some purple spots close together dorsally, ventrally monochromous. Ocular area elevated; thoracic furrow distinct, but shallow. PME– PME, 95 Mm; PME diameter, 55 Mm; PME–ALE, 95 Mm; no AME. Sternum as wide as long (0.45), unmodified. Chelicerae with four cone-shaped modified hairs on each side (Figs 89, 186). Palps as in Figure 185, coxa with retrolateral apophysis, femur with low proximal projection, and distal apophysis ventrally; procursus rather short and wide, with several membranous structures, including distinctive dorsal projection, bulb with prominent apophysis, and membranous and sclerotized subdistal elements. Legs without spines, many short vertical hairs on all femora; without curved hairs; retrolateral trichobothrium on tibia 1 at 7%; prolateral trichobothrium missing on tibia 1, present on all other tibiae; tarsus 1 with ~35 pseudosegments.   
 Variation: Tibia 1 in four other males: 5.3, 5.3, 5.7, and 5.8.   
 Female: In general, similar to male, but paler, without purple spots on abdomen; some females with white spots dispersed over dorsal side of abdomen, and indistinct darker rings subdistally on femora. Tibia 1 in six females: 3.8–4.5 (mean 4.1). Epigynum, simple externally (Figs 60, 114); dorsal view as in Figure 187.   
 Distribution: Known from type locality only   
(Fig. 201).  
 Material examined: Haiti: Dept Sud, Macaya B. R.: 1♂, holotype above; same data, 4♂ and 6♀ (ZFMK, Haiti 19); same data, 4♀, in pure ethanol (ZFMK, Haiti 64).
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 287-288, DOI: 10.1111/j.1096-3642.2009.00559.x, http://zenodo.org/record/5438272