Andromma ghesquierei Bosselaers & Jocqué 2022, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Bosselaers, Jan
name: Jocqué, Rudy
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2022
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Araneae
Liocranidae
Andromma
Andromma ghesquierei

description: Andromma ghesquierei sp. nov.
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: D7618EA5-A975-48D8-825D-EA2F9EF5B03D
Figs 2E, 24–25, 40
Diagnosis
The male of Andromma ghesquierei sp. nov. differs from the males of all other known species of Andromma by the male palp with the embolus originating in the middle of the posterior tegular margin, running over the centre of the tegulum (Fig. 24C–D); the female can easily be recognized by the very large, rounded spermathecae visible in transparency (Fig. 25C–D).
Etymology
The species name is a patronym in honour of J. Ghesquière who collected all the type material of this species apart from the specimens of Lac Tumba; he also collected many other invertebrates in D.R. Congo.
Type material
Holotype
D.R. CONGO • ♂; Equateur Province, Eala; 0°30′ N, 18°19′ E; 1936; J. Ghesquière leg.; BE_ RMCA _ ARA.Ara 247536.
Paratypes
D.R. CONGO • 18 ♂♂, 14 ♀♀, 3 juvs; same collection data as for holotype; BE_ RMCA _ARA.Ara 177019 • 1 ♀; Nov. 1936; further same collection data as for holotype; BE_ RMCA _ARA.Ara 894 • 1 ♀; same collection data as for preceding; BE_ RMCA _ARA.Ara 916 • 3 ♀♀, 2 juvs; May 1936; further same collection data as for preceding; BE_ RMCA _ARA.Ara 22957 • 1 ♀; same collection data as for preceding; BE_ RMCA _ARA.Ara 917 • 1 ♀; same collection data as for preceding; BE_ RMCA _ARA.Ara 920 • 1 ♀; same collection data as for preceding; BE_ RMCA _ARA.Ara 921 • 1 ♀; Equateur Province, Lac Tumba, Bikoro; 0°43′ S, 18°07′ E; 350 m a.s.l.; 11 Oct. 1955; N. Leleup leg.; BE_ RMCA _ARA.Ara 84109.
Other material
D.R. CONGO • 16 ♂♂, 7 ♀♀; N Kivu., Rutshuru; 1°11′ S, 29°27′ E; 20 Dec. 1937; J. Ghesquière leg.; BE_RMCA_ARA.Ara 22878.
Description
Male (holotype, Fig. 24)
MEASUREMENTS. Total length 3.20. Carapace length 1.42, width 1.21, height 0.64.
COLOUR (Fig. 24A–B). Cephalothorax including legs and chelicerae yellowish orange, fovea brownish; sternum pale yellow with small brown precoxal triangles; abdomen including spinnerets pale cream.
PROSOMA. Fovea faint, length 0.21, anterior end 0.71 from PME. MOQ (Fig. 2E) length 0.18, anterior width 0.20, posterior width 0.19. AER straight from above, width 0.32, PER procurved from above, width 0.35. AME circular, other eyes oval; AME 0.08, ALE 0.05, PLE 0.05, PME 0.02; AME–AME: 0.03, AME–ALE: 0.01, ALE–PLE: touching, PME–PME: 0.12. Clypeus vertical, 0.06, with four long setae. Chilum absent. Sternum 0.92 long, 0.78 wide. Chelicerae: anterior margin with three teeth.
LEG SPINATION. All femora with one dorsal spine, Fe I pl 1; T I v 2-2-2-2-2; Mt I v 2-2-2; T II v 2-2-2-2; Mt II v 2-2-2; T III v 2-2; Mt III pl1v 2; T IV pl 1 v 1; Mt IV rl 1 v 1-2.
LEG I MEASUREMENTS. Fe: 1.07, P: 0.43, T: 0.85, Mt: 0.78, t: 0.64; total: 3.77.
LEG FORMULA. 4123.
MALE PALP (Fig. 24C–F). RTA subcircular, provided with thin prong pointing forward, VTA subtriangular with rounded corners, both in retrolateral and ventral views; tegulum with sperm duct long and complex with wide basal part clearly visible in ventral view; embolus with thick base, originating in centre of posterior margin of tegulum, curved inward, ending in slender tip slightly curved antero-ventrally, near anterior margin of cymbial concavity. Conductor close to distal tip of embolus, subrectangular with a prolateral, forward projecting finger-like appendage.
Female (Paratype BE_RMCA_ARA.Ara 22957; Fig. 25)
MEASUREMENTS. Total length 3.69. Carapace length 1.56, width 0.99, height 0.71.
COLOUR (Fig. 25A–B). Carapace and chelicerae pale yellowish orange, legs pale yellow, sternum yellow with pale brown precoxal triangles.
PROSOMA. Fovea pronounced, length 0.28, anterior end 0.71 from PME. MOQ length 0.25, anterior width 0.25, posterior width 0.26. AER straight from above, width 0.40, PER procurved from above, width 0.45. AME circular, remainder oval; AME 0.10, ALE and PLE 0.05, PME 0.02; AME–AME:
0.05, AME–ALE: 0.03, ALE–PLE: touching, PME–PME: 0.16. Clypeus 0.07. Chelicerae with three teeth. Chilum absent. Sternum 0.92 long, 0.78 wide.
LEGS: TARSI SLIGHTLY WIDENED TOWARDS EXTREMITY. Spination: all femora with one dorsal spine; T I v 2-2- 2-2-2; Mt I v 2-2-2; T II v 2-2-2-2; Mt II v 2-2-2; T III v 2-2; Mt III v 2-2; T IV pl 1 v 1; Mt IV rl 1 v 1-2.
LEG MEASUREMENTS.
FePTMtttotalI1.470.491.331.330.985.60II1.400.491.050.770.704.41III1.120.490.910.980.844.34IV1.470.561.261.470.985.74
LEG FORMULA. 4123.
EPIGYNE (Fig. 25C–F). Roughly rectangular, slightly wider than long, with crescent-shaped copulatory openings in the posterior half. Large broadly oval spermathecae and copulatory ducts visible in transparency. Fertilisation duct short, oriented posteriorly. Sickle-shaped sclerites procurved.
Distribution
Known from the Eastern D.R. Congo and the Kivu Province (Fig. 40).
Remark
It would be surprising that the species occurs in the eastern lowland of Congo as well as in the western Kivu Province. The specimens from Kivu may be mislabeled.
description: Published as part of Bosselaers, Jan & Jocqué, Rudy, 2022, Studies in the Liocranidae (Araneae): revision of Andromma Simon, 1893, pp. 1-78 in European Journal of Taxonomy 850 on pages 47-49, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2022.850.1997, http://zenodo.org/record/7427642