Ninetis faro Huber, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Bernhard A. Huber
name: Philippe Le Gall
name: Jacques Francois Mavoungou
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2014
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Araneae
Pholcidae
Ninetis
Ninetis faro

description: Ninetis faro Huber, sp. nov.
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:C0D5E7FB-BB45-4921-BCBE-75FC4197FF02
Figs 25, 53-62
Diagnosis
Easily distinguished from most known congeners (especially from N. subtilissima Simon, 1890 which has a similar male palp) by shape of male cheliceral apophyses (Figs 60-61); from N. russellsmithi Huber, 2002 (which has similar male chelicerae) by shorter embolus and presence of procursus (Figs 58-59). From other species by shapes of bulbal projections (both projections of same length in N. toliara Huber & El Hennawy, 2007) or by shape of procursus (larger and not pointed in N. minuta (Berland, 1919) and N. namibiae Huber, 2000). Females are not easily distinguished (epigynum wider in N. namibiae, narrower in N. minuta; similar in other species).
Etymology
The name is a noun in apposition, derived from the type locality.
Type material
Holotype ♂, in MRAC (221178).
Type locality
CAMEROON, North Region, Faro Game Reserve [8°24’N, 12°49’E], pitfall in gallery forest, 5 May 2007 (R. Jocqué, K. Loosveldt, L. Baert, M. Alderweireldt).
Other material examined
CAMEROON: North Region: 1 ♂ in MRAC (221178), same data as and together with holotype; 2 ♂♂, 1 ♀ (2 vials) in MRAC (221136, 221208), same data but pitfall in wooded savanna, 3-4 May 2007. 1 ♀ in MRAC (221401), same data but sieving in gallery forest, 17 Apr. 2007. 2 ♂♂, 4 ♀♀ in MRAC (221463), Hossere Gare [8°30’N, 13°08’E], sieving of litter among rocks, 4 May 2007 (Jocqué, Loosveldt, Baert, Alderweireldt).
Description
Male (holotype)
MEASUREMENTS. Total body length 1.2, carapace width 0.50. Leg 1: 2.96 (0.80 + 0.20 + 0.80 + 0.73 + 0.43), tibia 2: 0.67, tibia 3: 0.50, tibia 4: 0.80; tibia 1 L/d: 12. Distance PME-PME 35 µm, diameter PME 40 µm, distance PME-ALE 25 µm, diameter AME 20 µm, distance AME-AME 20 µm.
COLOR. Entire animal ochre-yellow to ochre-grey.
BODY. Habitus as in Figs 53-54; ocular area not elevated; carapace without median furrow; clypeus more sclerotized at rim and medially slightly protruding; sternum about as wide as long (0.38/0.37), with distinct humps near leg coxae 1. Chelicerae as in Figs 60-61, with distinctive pair of frontal apophyses; with very fine stridulatory ridges.
PALPS. As in Figs 55-56 and 58-59, coxa and trochanter unmodified, femur with small retrolatero-ventral apophysis, tarsus with small pointed procursus; bulb with long ventral process and short membranous dorsal embolus.
LEGS. Without spines and curved hairs, few vertical hairs; retrolateral trichobothrium on tibia 1 at 67%; prolateral trichobothrium apparently absent on tibia 1, present on other tibiae; tarsus 1 with ~6 pseudosegments.
VARIATION. Tibia 1 in 5 other males: 0.63-0.73 (mean 0.69).
Female
In general similar to male but clypeus, sternum, and chelicerae unmodified; tibia 1 in 5 females: 0.50- 0.60 (mean 0.53). Epigynum simple oval sclerotized area consisting of large anterior and smaller posterior plate; internal structures poorly visible through cuticle (Fig. 57); unclear if complex internal structures are part of anterior plate (as appears in dorsal view; Fig. 62) or posterior plate (as appears in ventral view); anterior plate with transversal ridge apparently connected to median pocket. Pore plates not seen (Fig. 62).
Distribution
Known from two localities in the North Region of Cameroon (Fig. 25).
description: Published as part of Bernhard A. Huber, Philippe Le Gall & Jacques Francois Mavoungou, 2014, Pholcid spiders from the Lower Guinean region of Central Africa: an overview, with descriptions of seven new species (Araneae, Pholcidae), pp. 1-46 in European Journal of Taxonomy 81 (81) on pages 26-28, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2014.81, http://zenodo.org/record/830852