Trichothyse subtropica Lawrence 1927
Creators: name: Sankaran, Pradeep M.
name: Haddad, Charles R.
name: Tripathi, Rishikesh
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Araneae
Gnaphosidae
Trichothyse
Trichothyse subtropica

description: Trichothyse subtropica Lawrence, 1927
Figs 12, 18, 58–63
Trichothyse subtropica Lawrence, 1927: 15, plate I, fig. 15
(lectotype ♀, here designated, and paralectotype ♀: NAMIBIA: Kunene River [19°04’S, 14°13’E], III.1923, leg. R.F. Lawrence, SAMC B6143—examined).
Remark. The lectotype designated here is the larger of the two females in the type repository. The types are quite obviously faded in colour, and the true colouration of this species is probably consistent with the congeners (re)described in this paper from recently collected material.
Diagnosis. Among the Afrotropical species, the females of T. subtropica and T. hortensis share the convexly shaped primary spermathecae, but T. subtropica can be recognised by the less strongly curved primary spermathecae, while separated by more than 1.5 times the width in T. hortensis (cf. Fig. 18 and Fig. 16). Male unknown.
Description. Female (lectotype, Kunene River, SAMC B6143, Figs 58–63). Carapace, clypeus, chelicerae, labium, endites, sternum, scutum and legs orange-brown (Figs 58–61). Abdomen uniform grey (Fig. 58), anterior lateral spinnerets yellow-brown, posterior, median and lateral spinnerets creamy-grey; carapace with faintly darker striae radiating from fovea, densely covered with white appressed hairs; clypeus and posterior slope provided with numerous erect stiff black setae. Fovea narrow, longitudinal, straight, dark brown. Anterior surface of cheliceral paturon with long black setae, promargin with low keel ending in distal tooth, with small denticle beyond it (Fig. 61; arrow); retromargin with single tiny basal denticle. Abdomen oval, hirsute; dorsum without scutum, with three pairs of distinct oval sigilla, two pairs at ¼ abdomen length and third pair at midpoint (Fig. 58). Metatarsi I–II and all tarsi with well-developed complete scopulae (Figs 62–63), scopulae on metatarsi III and IV restricted distally. Spinnerets hirsute. Body length 12.10. Carapace 4.40 long, 3.14 wide.Abdomen 7.62 long, 4.39 wide. Eye sizes and interdistances: ALE 0.26, AME 0.23, PLE 0.19, PME 0.17; ALE–PLE 0.16, AME–AME 0.10, AME–PME 0.25, PME–PLE 0.17, PME–PME 0.21. AME and ALE nearly contiguous. Clypeus height at AMEs 0.19, at ALEs 0.17. Chelicerae 1.48 long. Length of palp and legs: palp 2.93 [1.11, 0.54, 0.50, 0.78], I 8.94 [2.65, 1.70, 1.93, 1.71, 0.95], II 8.92 [2.59, 1.73, 1.89, 1.70, 1.01], III 8.54 [2.55, 1.35, 1.72, 1.93, 0.99], IV 10.66 [2.98, 1.58, 2.28, 2.81, 1.01]. Leg formula: 4123. Spination of palp: femur pl 2 do 2, patella pl 1, tibia pl 2 rl 1 rlv 1, tarsus plv 2 rlv 2 vt 2; legs: femur I pl 1 do 3, II pl 2 do 3, III pl 2 do 3 rl 2, IV pl 1 do 3 rl 1; patella I–II spineless, III pl 1 rl 1, IV rl 1; tibia I–II vt 1, III pl 3 rl 2 plv 2 rlv 1 vt 2, IV pl 2 rl 2 plv 2 rlv 2 vt 2; metatarsus I–II plv 1 rlv 1, III pl 3 rl 3 plv 1 rlv 1 vt 3, IV pl 3 rl 3 plv 2 rlv 2 vt 3; tarsus I–IV spineless.
Genitalia (Figs 12, 18): epigyne hirsute, with paired S-shaped margins forming a broad shallow atrium (Fig. 12; arrow). Copulatory openings indistinct, hidden behind anterior edge of posterior lobes, visible when epigyne is rotated on its longitudinal axis. Copulatory ducts short, and secondary spermathecae entirely obscured by primary spermathecae (Fig. 18). Primary spermathecae convex, forming arrowhead-shaped space between them, separated by less than the width of each spermatheca (Fig. 18). Fertilization ducts narrow, slightly undulating, diverging (Fig. 18).
Distribution. Known only from the type locality, on the north-western border between Namibia and Angola (Fig. 120).
description: Published as part of Sankaran, Pradeep M., Haddad, Charles R. & Tripathi, Rishikesh, 2025, A review of the ground spider genus Trichothyse Tucker, 1923 (Araneae, Gnaphosidae), pp. 39-70 in Zootaxa 5583 (1) on pages 52-53, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5583.1.2, http://zenodo.org/record/14798099