Ixchela mixe Valdez-Mondragón, 2013, new species
Creators: name: Valdez-Mondragón, Alejandro
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2013
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Araneae
Pholcidae
Ixchela
Ixchela mixe

description: Ixchela mixe new species
Figures 86–97
Type data. MEXICO: Oaxaca: 1 3 holotype (CNAN T0399) [15 March 2008; A. Valdez, H. Montaño, C. Santibañez] from Cueva de Tlahuitoltepec (lat 17.0929°, lon -96.0547°; 2032 m), Municipio Santa María Tlahuitoltepec, Distrito Mixes; inside the cave. Paratypes: 1 Ƥ, 3 immatures (CNAN T0400) [20 July 2007; A. Valdez, O. Francke, H. Montaño, C. Santibáñez, A. Ballesteros], same locality as holotype. 1 3, 2 ƤƤ (one with egg sac) (CNAN T0623 and T0624) [14 September 2009; A. Valdez, C. Santibáñez, R. Paredes], same locality as holotype.
Etymology. The specific name is a noun in apposition and refers to the ethnic group of the region of Oaxaca where the type locality is located: Los Mixes.
Diagnosis. Resembles to I. pecki, distinguished by the FAC conical and larger, distally with SAC shorter and directed towards prolateral part of chelicerae (Figs 88–90); by palp femur without VAF (Figs 91, 92); by the distal sclerotized spine on the embolus, small and flat distally (arrows Figs 91, 92); by epigynum larger than wide, being wider in middle part (Figs 95, 96); and by VAE conical and shorter, separated from each other, located above anterior rounded protuberance (Figs 94, 95, 97).
Description. Male (Holotype). Prosoma: Carapace pale brown, with two anterior pale regions, next to ocular region (Fig. 87). Carapace with three thin pale gray lines, inconspicuous, extending from fovea to lateral margins (Fig. 87). Ocular region brown, with a thin, dark brown U-shaped region in posterior part (Fig. 87). Clypeus pale yellow, with wide brown region (Fig. 90). Chelicerae dark brown, distally pale (Fig. 88). Sternum pale olive green, darker anteriorly. Labium dark green, pale distally. Endites basally orange, olive green in middle part and pale distally. Legs: Coxae pale orange. Trochanters orange. Femora brown, dark on legs I and II, pale on legs III and IV. Patellae and tibiae pale brown. Metatarsi and tarsi orange. Opisthosoma: Pale blue, globular, higher than long (Fig. 86). Palp: Femur conical (Figs 91, 92). Procursus short, VPP inconspicuous and with long setae (Fig. 91). Procursus with distal spine thin and small (Figs 91–93). Embolus short, with long spine dorsal-apical (Figs 91, 92). Measurements: Total length 5.15. Carapace 2.25 long, 2.10 wide. Clypeus length 0.80. Diameter AME 0.09, ALE 0.20, PME 0.14, PLE 0.17. Distance ALE-PME 0.10, PME-PME 0.25. Leg I: 46.30 (12.40+0.90+12.20+16.50+4.30), tibia II: 8.70, tibia III: 7.10, tibia IV: 8.60. tibia I l/d 32.33.
Female (Paratype). (CNAN T0624). Similar to the male, differences: Legs: Femora brown, dark in basal part. Patellae, tibiae, metatarsi and tarsi pale brown. Epigynum: Larger than wide, brown on anterior and posterior parts, olive green in central part (Figs 94, 95). VAE anterior, short, conical (Figs 94, 95, 97). PP short, on posterior part of epigynum, with oval concavities sac-shaped between MSE and PP (Fig. 96). MSE short and wide, T-shaped (Fig. 96). Measurements: Total length 4.70. Carapace 2.00 long, 1.90 wide. Clypeus 0.75 long. Diameter of AME 0.06, ALE 0.18, PME 0.13, PLE 0.14. Distance ALE-PME 0.08, PME-PME 0.20. Leg I: 38.86 (10.38+0.83+10.00+ 13.75+3.90), tibia II: 7.40, tibia III: 6.10, tibia IV: 7.35; tibia I l/d 33.33.
Variation: There is variation in the shape of VAE, two females with VAE apically asymmetric; on another female VAE smaller, where even one of the two VAE in this is smaller than the other. Male tibia I: 12.20, 12.75. Female tibia I: 10.00–10.87 (x = 10.54).
Natural History. The spiders were collected inside the cave, on their sheet webs on walls, near the ground, and between boulders (Fig. 5). This cave was exceptionally small, with 20 m of total length, and located in a disturbed pine forest. The cave had low humidity, ca 50%, and also showed evidence of human disturbance inside.
Distribution. MEXICO: Oaxaca (Fig. 146).
description: Published as part of Valdez-Mondragón, Alejandro, 2013, Taxonomic revision of the spider genus Ixchela Huber, 2000 (Araneae: Pholcidae), with description of ten new species from Mexico and Central America, pp. 285-327 in Zootaxa 3608 (5) on pages 304-306, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3608.5.1, http://zenodo.org/record/216512