Buitinga qingyuani Yao & Kioko & Kioko & Li 2019, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Yao, Zhiyuan
name: Kioko, Grace M.
name: Kioko, Esther N.
name: Li, Shuqiang
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2019
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Araneae
Pholcidae
Buitinga
Buitinga qingyuani

description: Buitinga qingyuani Yao & Li sp. nov.
Figs 1–2, 7
Type material. Holotype: male (NMK-Ar29685), Mzima Springs (2°59.049′S, 38°1.383′E, elev. 684 m), Tsavo West National Park, Mtito Andei Town, Taita-Taveta County, Kenya, 27 July 2016, G.M. Kioko, Z. Yao and Q. Zhao leg. Paratypes: 2 males and 3 females (NMK-Ar29686–29690), same data as holotype.
Etymology. The specific name is a patronym in honor of the collector Qingyuan Zhao, and is a noun (name) in genitive case.
Diagnosis. This species resembles B. nigrescens Berland, 1920 (see Huber 2003: 568, figs 6, 30, 92–98) with similar procursus (Figs 1 A–D) and epigynum (Fig. 2A) but can be distinguished by males with pedipalpal femur with proximo-dorsal apophysis (arrow in Fig. 1B). In addition, males present larger cheliceral proximo-lateral apophysis (Figs 2 D–E), extremely swollen cheliceral frontal apophysis with distal projection (Fig. 2E), and relatively short and wide bulbal apophysis (Fig. 2C) than B. nigrescens; and females present larger pore plates than B. nigrescens (Fig. 2B).
Description. Male (holotype): Total length 2.13 (2.50 with clypeus), carapace 0.66 long, 0.91 wide, opisthosoma 1.47 long, 1.14 wide. Leg I: 22.01 (5.45 + 0.44 + 5.64 + 8.08 + 2.40), leg II: 14.02 (3.85 + 0.45 + 3.44 + 4.87 + 1.41), leg III: 10.69 (3.01 + 0.36 + 2.66 + 3.64 + 1.02), leg IV: 13.54 (3.97 + 0.40 + 3.36 + 4.84 + 0.97); tibia I L/d: 56. Distance PME-PME 0.18; diameter PME 0.06; distance PME-ALE 0.02; AME absent. Sternum wider than long (0.70/0.63). Habitus as in Fig. 2F. Carapace yellowish, with dark brown lateral marks; ocular area, clypeus and sternum dark brown. Legs yellowish, but slightly whitish on distal parts of femora and tibiae, with darker rings on subdistal parts of femora and tibiae. Opisthosoma yellowish, with distinctive dark brown pattern. Ocular area slightly elevated. Thoracic furrow absent. Chelicerae as in Figs 2 D–E, with pair of proximo-lateral apophyses, pair of extremely swollen frontal apophyses, each provided with small projection and strong modified setae distally, and pair of distal apophyses, each provided with four teeth. Pedipalps as in Figs 1 A–B; coxa with ventral apophysis; trochanter with retrolatero-ventral apophysis; femur with large proximo-dorsal apophysis (arrow in Fig. 1B); trichobothria on tibia very distal; procursus simple, with three membranous process distally; bulb with weakly sclerotized embolus and short apophysis provided with two small apophyses (arrows in Fig. 2C). Retrolateral trichobothrium of tibia I at 6%; legs with vertical setae on metatarsi, without spines and curved setae; tarsus I with 12 distinct pseudosegments.
Female: Similar to male, habitus as in Figs 2 G–I. Total length 2.02 (2.38 with clypeus), carapace 0.55 long, 0.86 wide, opisthosoma 1.47 long, 1.13 wide; tibia I: 4.87; tibia I L/d: 51. Distance PME-PME 0.15; diameter PME 0.06; distance PME-ALE 0.04; AME absent. Sternum wider than long (0.58/0.50). Epigynum (Fig. 2A) with straight scape anteriorly. Vulva (Fig. 2B) with pair of large pore plates.
Distribution. Kenya (Taita-Taveta, type locality; Fig. 7).
Natural History. The species was found on the web on a tree root.
description: Published as part of Yao, Zhiyuan, Kioko, Grace M., Kioko, Esther N. & Li, Shuqiang, 2019, Three new species of the spider family Pholcidae (Arachnida: Araneae) from Taita-Taveta, Kenya, pp. 114-124 in Zootaxa 4651 (1) on pages 115-118, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4651.1.7, http://zenodo.org/record/3359156