Dicristatus cordatus Irfan, Zhang & Peng, sp. n.
Creators: name: Irfan, Muhammad
name: Zhou, Gu-Chun
name: Peng, Xian-Jin
name: Zhang, Zhi-Sheng
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Araneae
Linyphiidae
Dicristatus
Dicristatus cordatus

description: Dicristatus cordatus Irfan, Zhang & Peng, sp. n.
(òä二叉e)
Figures 43, 44, 312, 315
Types. Holotype ♀ (HNU–HB– IV–1718), CHINA, Hubei Prov.: Enshi Co., Huangjindong Town, Maliuxi Vill., 29.95006°N, 109.02566°E, 876 m, 20.V.2017, G.C. Zhou et al. leg.; Paratypes: 4♀, with same data as for holotype (HNU–HB– IV–1718); 6♀, Enshi Co., Huangjindong Town, Maliuxi Vill., 30.03902°N, 109.14274°E, 1114 m, 19.V.2017, M. Irfan & G.C. Zhou leg.(HNU–HB– IV–1715); 1♀, Enshi Co., Huangjindong Town, Maliuxi Village 29.95240°N, 109.01717°E, 785 m, 20.V.2017, G.C. Zhou et al. leg.; 1♀, Enshi Co., Xingdou MNNR, 30.04611°N, 109.13038°E, 1205 m, 18.V.2017, G.C. Zhou et al. leg. (HNU–HB– IV–1712); 2♀, Enshi Co., Huangjindong Town, Maliuxi Vill., 29.95948°N, 109.02106°E, 752 m, 24.VIII.2017, M. Irfan & G.C. Zhou leg. (HNU–HB– IV–1724); 1♀, Enshi Co., Xingdou MNNR, 30.04166°N, 109.13377°E, 1253 m, 18.V.2017, G.C. Zhou et al. leg. (HNU–HB– IV–1710); Hunan Prov.: 2♀, Ningxiang Co., Huaminglou Town, Yanglin Vill., 28.10020°N, 112.65881°E, 189 m, 10.V.2017, G.C. Zhou et al. leg. (HNU–HN– IV–1707).
Etymology. The species name comes from the Latin adjective “cordatus ”, meaning “heart-shaped” and referring to the heart-shaped dorsal plate in epigyne.
Diagnosis. Dicristatus cordatus sp. n. resembles D. minutus in having the similar copulatory ducts extending posteriorly (Figs 43A–D; Irfan et al. 2023, figs 10A–E), but can be distinguished by the anterior margin of dorsal plate triangular in D. cordatus sp. n. (Fig. 43D; vs. pentagonal in D. minutus).
Description. Female (holotype, Figs 44A, B): Total length: 1.52. Carapace 0.664 long, 0.56 wide, yellowish with grey marking, mid dorsally slightly elevated, with fovea, cervical and radial grooves distinct. Clypeus 0.14 high. Chelicerae with five promarginal and six retromarginal teeth. Sternum longer than wide, yellowish, with microsetae. Eyes: AER recurved, PER straight, slightly wider than AER. Eye sizes and interdistances: AME 0.04, ALE 0.07, PME 0.06, PLE 0.07, AME–AME 0.02, PME–PME 0.03, AME–ALE, 0.02, PME–PLE 0.03, AME–PME 0.04, ALE–ALE 0.24, PLE–PLE 0.26, ALE–PLE contiguous. Length of legs: I 2.23 (0.56, 0.79, 0.51, 0.37), II 1.97 (0.54, 0.64, 0.45, 0.34), III 1.60 (0.51, 0.54, 0.38, 0.27), IV 2.16 (0.69, 0.77, 0.49, 0.31). Tibial spine formula: 2-2-1-1. TmI 0.27 and TmIV absent. Opisthosoma 1.07 long, 0.85 wide, oval, light yellowish, mid dorsally with broad black band, ventrally transverse black band around epigastric furrow.
Epigyne (Figs 43A–D): Protruding, ventral plate (VP) wider than long; dorsal plate (DP) heart–shaped, extending posteriorly above the epigastric furrow; copulatory opening (CO) present in ventral pocket of copulatory ducts; copulatory ducts (CD) extending posteriorly on the dorsal plate; spermathecae (S) globular, present anteriorly on dorsal plate, spaced by two-third of diameters.
Male. Unknown.
Distribution. Known only from the type localities (Hubei and Hunan Provinces, Figs 310, 315).
description: Published as part of Irfan, Muhammad, Zhou, Gu-Chun, Peng, Xian-Jin & Zhang, Zhi-Sheng, 2025, Survey of Linyphiidae spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) from some Oriental Regions of China, pp. 1-248 in Megataxa 15 (1) on pages 37-38, DOI: 10.11646/megataxa.15.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/14985176