Masteria soucouyant Passanha & Brescovit 2018, n. sp.
Creators: name: Passanha, Victor
name: Brescovit, Antonio D.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2018
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Araneae
Dipluridae
Masteria
Masteria soucouyant

description: Masteria soucouyant n. sp.
(Figs 10, 29C, 32)
Types. TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO. ♂ holotype, ♀ paratype, Tamana Hill (10°28'5.304"N; 61°11'47.58"W), Sangre Grande, II.1972, J.A.L. Cooke leg., deposited in AMNH.
Etymology. The species is named after a vampire witch who is a local legend of Trinidad and Tobago and originated from European vampires.
Diagnosis. Males of Masteria soucouyant n. sp. resemble those of M. barona and M. petrunkevitchi in the elongated palpal bulb, but differ from those of M. barona in the presence of grouped retrolateral spines on the palpal tibia (Fig. 10D) and from those of M. petrunkevitchi in the presence of eight eyes (Fig. 10A). Females differ from those of other species in the trilobed spermathecae (Fig. 10E).
Description. Male (Holotype). Color: Carapace and legs orange, abdomen light brown. Total length 4.36. Carapace 2.07 long, 1.57 wide. Abdomen 2.29 long. Fovea 0.11. Clypeus 0.05. Ocular tubercle 0.16 long, 0.25 wide. Eyes: six, posterior row recurved. AME absent, ALE 0.11, PME 0.07, PLE 0.09. Basal segment of chelicerae with 10 prolateral teeth, and 15 smaller mesobasal teeth. Labium 0.22 long, 0.35 wide. Sternum 0.88 wide, 1.04 long. Palp: femur 1.35/ patella 0.82/ tibia 1.22/ tarsus 0.47/ total 3.86. Legs I: femur 1.91/ patella 1.04/ tibia 1.94/ metatarsus 1.41/ tarsus 1.13/ total 7.43; II: 1.47/ 0.72/ 1.19/ 1.10/ 0.91/ 5.39; III: 1.41/ 0.75/ 1.10/ 1.13/ 0.85/ 5.24; IV: 1.97/ 0.85/ 1.79/ 1.66/ 1.10/ 7.37. Leg formula 1423. Spination: palp: femur p1, patella d1ap, v1-1 -3ap, p1, tibia p1; Legs I: femur p1, patella v1-2 -3ap, p1, tibia v1-1 -1-3ap, p1, metatarsus v1-1 -1; II: femur p1, patella v1-1 - 3ap, p1, tibia v1-1 -3ap, p1, metatarsus v1-1 -2ap, p1; III: femur p1-1, r1-1, patella v1-2 ap, p1, r1, tibia d2b-1-1, v1- 1 -2-3ap, p1-1, r1-1-1, metatarsus d1-1, v2-3 -3ap, p1, r1-1; IV: femur p1, r1, patella v1-1 -2ap, p1, r1, tibia d2b-1-1, v1-1 -2-3ap, p1-1, r1-1-1, metatarsus d1-1, v3-3 -3ap, p1-1, r1. Tibia I: P1 a high spur, P2 a strong spine with slightly projected base and below P1 and P3, P3 a strong spine with projected base. Metatarsus I with flattened spine and basal depression associated with processes of tibia I (Figs 10F, 29C). Palp: tibia three times the length of cymbium, with row of dorsal and ventral elongated setae, group of 10-12 microspines on retrolateral tibia (Fig. 10D). Cymbium as wide as long, with four apical spines. Bulb with short tegulum, embolus three times length of tegulum, tapering to apex, curved on base (Fig. 10B–C). PLS: basal, medial and apical, 0.63, 0.63, 0.66 long.
Female (Paratype). Color: as in male. Total length 5.16. Carapace 2.41 long, 1.82 wide. Abdomen 2.75 long. Fovea 0.19. Clypeus 0.05. Ocular tubercle 0.22 long, 0.35 wide. Eyes: six, posterior row recurved (Fig. 10A). AME absent, ALE 0.12, PME 0.07, PLE 0.12. Basal segment of chelicerae with 11 prolateral teeth, and 15 smaller mesobasal teeth. Labium 0.35 long, 0.35 wide. Sternum 0.94 wide, 1.19 long. Palp: femur 1.19/ patella 0.69/ tibia 1.10/ tarsus 1.07/ total 4.05; Legs I: femur 2.04/ patella 1.07/ tibia 1.85/ metatarsus 1.57/ tarsus 1.13/ total 7.66; II: 1.82/ 0.94/ 1.41/ 1.35/ 0.97/ 6.49; III: 1.79/ 0.88/ 1.32/ 1.41/ 0.91/ 6.31; IV: 2.22/ 0.94/ 1.91/ 1.85/ 1.04/ 7.96; Leg formula 4123. Spination: palp: femur p1, patella v1-1 -3ap, p1, tibia v2-1 -3ap, p1, tarsus v1 b; Legs I: femur p1, patella v1-1 -3ap, p1, tibia v1-1 -1-3ap, p1, metatarsus v1-1 -1; II: femur p1, patella v1-1 -3ap, p1, tibia d2b-1-1, v1- 1 -1-3ap, p1, metatarsus v2 b-1-3ap, p1; III: femur p1, patella v1-2 ap, p1-1, r1, tibia d2b-1-1-1-1, v1-1 -1-3ap, p1-1, r1, metatarsus d1-1, v2 b-3-3ap, p1-1, r1; IV: femur p1, patella v1-2 ap, p1, r1, tibia d2b-1-1-1-1, v1-1 -1-3ap, p1, r2- 1-1, metatarsus d1-2, v2 b-3-3ap, p1-1, r1. Palpal claw with 16 teeth. Spermathecae trilobed, with ectal lobe sharp and straight, two internal lobes, sharp and sinuous, on same slightly projected base, ectal lobe more thickened than ental (Fig. 10E). PLS: basal, medial and apical, 0.47, 0.63, 0.47 long.
Distribution. Known only from Trinidad and Tobago (Fig. 32).
description: Published as part of Passanha, Victor & Brescovit, Antonio D., 2018, On the Neotropical spider Subfamily Masteriinae (Araneae, Dipluridae), pp. 1-73 in Zootaxa 4463 (1) on pages 19-21, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.1441911