Tropizodium kalami Prajapati, Murthappa, Sankaran & Sebastian, 2016, sp. n.
Creators: name: Prajapati, Dhruv A.
name: Murthappa, Prashanthakumara S.
name: Sankaran, Pradeep M.
name: Sebastian, Pothalil A.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2016
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Araneae
Zodariidae
Tropizodium
Tropizodium kalami

description: Tropizodium kalami sp. n.
(Figs. 1A–B, 2A–C, 3A–C, 6A–H, 7A–G)
Type material: Holotype: Male (ADSH 112761 A), INDIA: Kerala: Ernakulam, Thevara in Kochi, Sacred Heart CMI Public School ground, 9°56'15.90"N, 76°17'50.91"E, 10 m alt., 2 February 2015, D. A. Prajapati leg., from ground, by hand; Paratype: 2 females (ADSH 112761 B), same data as holotype.
Diagnosis. T. kalami sp. n. is most similar to Tropizodium siam Dankittipakul, Jocqué & Singtripop, 2012 and Tropizodium serraferum (Lin & Li, 2009), but can be distinguished from the mentioned species by the following combination of characters: retrolateral tibial apophysis with narrow distal part, sharp median retrolateral bend, median apophysis with apico-retrolateral depression, retrolateral lobe of median apophysis with prolateral fold, long tortuous copulatory ducts originating apico-retrolateral to spermathecae and medially placed hairband shaped epigynal orifice (compare Figs 2B–C, 3A–B & 6E with Dankittipakul et al. 2012, figs. 4–6, 10–11 & Lin & Li 2009, figs. 1–4, 5–7).
Description. Male (holotype, Figs 1A, 6A–C, 6G–H): Prosoma, clypeus, chelicerae, sternum, maxillae, labium, spinnerets, leg segments pale yellowish. Clypeal margin with long, thick bristles. Chilum absent. Dorsum of chelicerae bears stout setae; cheliceral margins without teeth; inter-cheliceral triangle small. Fangs reddishbrown, short. Sternum heart shaped, with triangular extensions fitting in coxal concavities. Opisthosoma oval; dorsum sepia with pale yellow striae and spots; lateral sides and venter pale yellowish. Leg segments with thick covering of incised hairs; femora I–II with single dorsal spine, metatarsi II and III (right one) distally with single pair of ventral spines. Posterior ventral spines (PVS) present, arranged in single row (Fig. 6H). Body length 1.86. Prosoma length 0.91, width (in the middle) 0.55, height (in the middle) 0.40. Opisthosoma length 0.95, width (in the middle) 0.47, height (in the middle) 0.40. Eye diameter: ALE 0.05. AME 0.11. PLE 0.06. PME 0.05. Eye interdistances: AME–AME 0.04. AME–ALE 0.01. AME–PME 0.02. ALE–PME 0.02. ALE–ALE 0.24. PLE–PLE 0.16. PME–PME 0.21. PME–PLE 0.01. Clypeus height at ALE 0.14, at AME 0.10. Chelicera length 0.29. Measurements of palp and legs. Palp 1.1 [0.34, 0.24, 0.15, 0.37], I 2.42 [0.65, 0.21, 0.57, 0.56, 0.43], II 2.08 [0.53, 0.18, 0.44, 0.50, 0.43], III 2.03 [0.53, 0.15, 0.42, 0.53, 0.40], IV 3.07 [0.80, 0.22, 0.71, 0.82, 0.52]. Leg formula: 4123. Pedipalp (Figs. 2A–C, 6D–F): Palpal segments pale yellowish. Cymbium apically with single stout spine, prolaterally with three comb-like setae (Figs. 2A, 6D). Retrolateral tibial apophysis large resembling the ‘horn of antelope’, nearly as long as the cymbium, with narrow distal half, with sharp median retrolateral bend not visible in retrolateral view (Figs 2A–C, 6D–F). Median apophysis massive, with apico-retrolateral depression; retrolateral lobe of median apophysis with prolateral fold (2B, 6E). Tegulum with median transparent part (Figs 2A, 6D). Embolus short, spiniform, directed at 2’o clock position in ventral view. Sperm duct proximally thick, distally narrow, with a sharp retrolateral inverted ‘U’ shaped bend (Figs 2A–B, 6D–E).
Female (Paratype, Figs. 1B, 7A–E). In all details like male except the followings: cephalic region provided with numerous thick bristles. Opisthosoma sepia with numerous creamy-white spots. Palp without spines. Body length 3.32. Prosoma length 1.15, width (in the middle) 0.7, height (in the middle) 0.63. Opisthosoma length 2.17, width (in the middle) 1.52, height (in the middle) 1.6. Eye diameter: ALE 0.04. AME 0.10. PLE 0.02. PME 0.04. Eye interdistances: AME–AME 0.05. AME–ALE 0.01. AME–PME 0.03. ALE–PME 0.06. ALE–ALE 0.28. PLE– PLE 0.18. PME–PME 0.26. PME–PLE 0.03. Clypeus height at ALE 0.21, at AME 0.24. Chelicera length 0.39. Measurements of palp and legs. Palp 0.93 [0.33, 0.15, 0.21, 0.24], I 3.25 [0.84, 0.30, 0.69, 0.80, 0.62], II 2.99 [0.78, 0.31, 0.59, 0.79, 0.52], III 2.96 [0.79, 0.31, 0.57, 0.81, 0.48], IV 4.2 [1.10, 0.39, 0.95, 1.16, 0.60]. Epigyne (Figs.
3A–C, 7F–G): simple, weakly sclerotized. Spermathecae nearly globular, situated far from each other (Figs. 3B, 7G). Copulatory ducts longer as well as thicker than other species, meandering, with thick basal part, originate apico-retrolaterally to spermathecae (Figs. 3B, 7G). Epigynal orifice ‘hairband’ shaped, situated medially, with pointed ends (Figs. 3B, 7G).
Variation. Female: (n = 2) Body length 2.03–3.32.
Etymology. The specific epithet is a tribute to Bharat Ratna Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, the former President (“People’s President”) of India, whose life is always inspiring students from all over the world.
Distribution: Only known from the type locality (Fig. 9).
description: Published as part of Prajapati, Dhruv A., Murthappa, Prashanthakumara S., Sankaran, Pradeep M. & Sebastian, Pothalil A., 2016, Two new species of the ant-eating spider genus Tropizodium Jocqué & Churchill, 2005 (Araneae, Zodariidae, Zodariinae) from India, pp. 575-584 in Zootaxa 4061 (5) on pages 576-579, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4061.5.7, http://zenodo.org/record/256907