Plynnon Deeleman-Reinhold, 2001, gen. n.
Creators: name: Deeleman-Reinhold, Christa
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2001
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Araneae
Phrurolithidae
Plynnon

description: Genus Plynnon gen. n. Type species.— <i>P. zborowskii</i> sp. n. <i>Described species</i>.— Plynnon <i>zborowskii</i> sp. n. &amp;male;&amp;female;, Borneo, this volume, <i>P. longitarse</i> sp. <i>n</i>., &amp;male;&amp;female;, Borneo, this volume, <i>P. jaegeri</i> sp. <i>n</i>., <i>&amp;male;</i> &amp;female;, W Sumatra, this volume. <i>Unidentified specimens</i> (map 37): Loc. 1: Nepal, Annapurna trek, 1 &amp;male;, Bhichuk 1700-1800 m, 5.10.1987, P. Beron (NMNHS). Loc. 2: Malaysia, Maxwell Hill, 1 &amp;male;, P. Schwendinger (MHNG), abdomen constricted, tegulum expanded, longer than cymbium, touching patella. Loc. 3: Borneo, W Sarawak, palm oil plantation on border of river Sarawak 1 &amp;male;, palpal femur without modification, palpal tibia with small projection, sperm duct with coil reaching near posterior end of tegulum. Loc. 4: Sulawesi, Dumoga, 1 &amp;male; (KBIN Cel026), abdomen constricted. Loc. 5: Moluccas, Ambon, Hila, 1 &amp;female;. Loc. 6: Borneo. W Sabah, Crocker Range, east side at 1350 m, 60 km from Kota Kinabalu, 11 &amp;male;, ravine with stream, 17.v. 1987, D. Burckhardt and I. Löbl (MHNG). Loc. a (not on map): cf. <i>jaegeri,</i> N Sumatra, Dairi, 1 &amp;male;, Sidkalang-Singkil, 980 m, 19.xi.1985, C. Lienhard (MHNG). Loc. b (not on map): Borneo, Mt. Kinabalu, &amp;male; &amp;female;, secondary forest canopy. <i>Diagnosis.</i> — Very handsome, dark to reddish-brown spiders (2-5 mm), vaguely mimicking mutillid wasps or ants, with a contrasting broad white band in the middle or distal half of the tibia of the first pair of legs. There is superficial resemblance to Orthobula and the two genera share the absence of spines on the femora and the absence of a tibial apophysis in the male palp; conductor and median apophysis are lacking. Plynnon is easily distinguished from <i>Orthobula</i> by the more elongate body form with low, flat, posteriorly wedge-shaped carapace; the sides of the head are more sinuated (figs 716, 721, 730); the carapace surface is smooth and the posterior median eyes are small and widely separated. The anterior tarsi lack spines. The abdomen is elongate rather than round as in <i>Orthobula.</i> The genital organs are similar in structure to those in <i>Orthobula,</i> the vulva often has round openings surrounded by chitinous rim. Species in the genus <i>Micaria</i> have a superficially similar appearance and share the body shape with the constricted abdomen in males, the contrasting markings on the legs and the long tarsi and the short depressed endites; however these gnaphosid spiders have iridescent hair on the abdomen, the posterior eye row is procurved, the femora bear spines whereas pairs of strong spines ventrally on the anterior tibiae are lacking; the anterior spinnerets in <i>Micaria</i> are cylindrical, not conical, and separated (less than in other Gnaphosidae), the posterior median spinnerets in females are cylindrical-acuminate and the male palp is provided with a tibial apophysis and a median apophysis. Plynnon is separate from other phrurolithines by the long acuminate distal segment of the posterior lateral spinnerets. <i>Description.</i> — All species listed here with smooth, rebordered carapace. Carapace in profile dorsally feebly convex, highest point just beyond the middle (fig. 722). Thoracic groove absent. AER straight or slightly recurved, PER recurved and wider than AER; in both rows, middle eyes smaller than lateral eyes and closer to them than to each other. Clypeus variable, 1 or 2 d AME, rebordered. Chelicerae with 2 minute promarginal teeth close together and 2 retromarginal denticles; frontal spines absent. Labium as long as wide (figs 717, 723). Sternum rebordered, narrowly truncate between coxae IV. Pedicel not fused with sternum. Retrocoxal window absent. Leg IV longer than leg I. All femora spineless, clavate, femur I 11/2 x thicker than femur II in males only, tibiae ventrally flattened and widened, with 3-6 pairs of strong ventral spines, anterior metatarsi with one ventral pair of long spines or a single spine; posterior legs spineless, posterior metatarsi with apical brush. Tarsal claws with few teeth; tarsi with 2-3 long trichobothria. Female palpal tibia and patella with prolateral spines. Abdomen widest in posterior half, brown or grey, often with transverse white bands or round spots and often slightly constricted. Males with entire epigastric scutum surrounding the lung openings and often with dorsal scutum, in females, epigastric scutum divided into central epigynal plate and two lateral plates as in <i>Orthobula,</i> not produced anteriorly into a collar (figs 715-717, 721, 730). PM spinnerets in female (figs 727, 729) bipartite, anterior part elongate with 4 pairs of closely packed spigots, posterior part cylindrical. Male palp simple, femur with modification or without, tibia lacking retrolateral apophysis, U-shaped duct located distally, embolus apical, conductor and median apophysis lacking. Vulva similar to that in <i>Orthobula</i>, openings most often round; membranous bursa of sometimes large dimensions, connected through a chitinous piece with strongly sclerotized ducts. Spermathecae located posteriorly. <i>Behaviour.</i> — Similarly versatile as in <i>Orthobula</i>: found in low numbers in evergreen primary and secondary forest and plantations, in leaf litter, foliage and in the canopy. <i>Distribution</i>.— Sumatra, Borneo, Sulawesi, Ambon, Nepal at 1900 m altitude. <i>Taxonomic remarks.</i> — The species listed below are fairly uniform in morphology and differ mainly in abdominal pattern and genital organs. <i>Etymology</i>.— An arbitrary combination of letters. The gender <i>is</i> neuter.
description: Published as part of <i>Deeleman-Reinhold, Christa, 2001, Forest Spiders of South East Asia With a revision of the sac and ground spiders (Araneae: Clubionidae, Corinnidae, Liocranidae, Gnaphosidae, Prodidomidae and Trochanteriidae)., pp. 400-505 in Forest Spiders of South East Asia With a revision of the sac and ground spiders- Family Liocranidae, Leiden, Netherlands :Brill Leiden; Boston; Köln</i> on pages 438-439, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.814704