Lathys inaffecta Li 2017, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Li, Shuqiang
name: Wang, Xiaoxiao
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2017
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Araneae
Dictynidae
Lathys
Lathys inaffecta

description: <i>Lathys inaffecta</i> Li, sp. nov. (Figs 92, 93A–B, 94–97) Type material. Holotype. Male, China, Guizhou, Kaili City, Zhouxi Town, Wangzhou Cave, 26°29.261´N, 107°55.416´E, elev. 704 m, 25 May 2007, Y. Lin &amp; J. Liu leg., deposited in IZCAS. Paratypes. 2 females, same data as holotype, deposited in IZCAS. Compared type material. Paratypes of <i>L. chishuiensis</i> (Figs 90–91, 93C), 1 male and 1 female, Suoluo Nature Reserve, Jinshagou, Guizhou, 28 May 2008, deposited in SWUC. Etymology. The specific name is derived from the Latin word “ <i>inaffectus</i> ”, meaning “smooth”, and refers to the shape of the most conspicuous tibial spine; adjective. Diagnosis. This new species is similar to <i>L. chishuiensis</i> (Zhang, Yang &amp; Zhang, 2009; Figs 90–91), but can be separated by the smooth retro-dorsal tibial spine (with a row of denticles on the retro-dorsal spine in <i>L. chishuiensis</i>), TA prolaterally short, about 1/5 of TA length (about 1/3 of TA length in <i>L. chishuiensis</i>). Description. Male (holotype). Total tength 3.01 (Figs 96D–E). Prosoma length 1.33, with 1.14. Cephalic region width 0.74. Cephalic part strongly elevated, dark brown, with several setae. Thoracic part brown, furrows indistinct, fovea reduced. Prosoma margin black. Six eyes, PER procurved in dorsal view, AME absent. All eyes encircled with black. Eyes subequal in size. ALE 0.10, PLE 0.10, PME 0.10. Eye region length 0.26, width 0.47. ALE-ALE 0.17, PME-PME 0.09, PME-PLE 0.06. Clypeus height 0.07. Chelicerae length 0.67, width 0.32. Chelicerae dark brown, with distinct lateral condyles, 3 promarginal and 4 retromarginal teeth. Labium dark brown, gnathocoxae dark brown, sternum yellow-brown. Labium length 0.25, width 0.28. Gnathocoxae length 0.49, width 0.25. Sternum length 0.79, width 0.69. Legs yellow-brown. Leg formula I-IV-II-III. Leg measurements: I 4.84 (1.48, 0.44, 1.09, 1.14, 0.69); II 4.25 (1.14, 0.44, 1.09, 0.99, 0.59); III 3.81 (0.99, 0.40, 1.04, 0.84, 0.54); IV 4.58 (1.28, 0.44, 1.38, 0.99, 0.49). Ratio Cl/Met IV = 0.56, with 14 setae. Opisthosoma length 1.83, width 1.28. Opisthosoma pale yellow, with black anchor shaped pattern. Ventral without distinct pattern. Cribellum narrow, undivided. Pedipalpus (Figs 92–93, 95) relatively large. Embolus relatively short, filiform, originating at approximately 12-o’clock position. TA prolaterally small and pointed. Prolateral of TA with a sheet apophysis. RTA with a tiny apophysis and a spine apically. Three spines present on the tibia, a prominent and smooth spine and a hooked spine on the dorsum of tibia, and a tiny spine located at the base of RTA. Apex of patella with a spine. Female (one of the paratypes). Total body length 2.57 (Fig. 96C). Prosoma length 1.28, width 1.04. Cephalic region width 0.74. Eye diameters: ALE 0.10, PLE 0.10, PME 0.09. Eye interdistances: ALE-ALE 0.16, ALE-PLE 0.01, PME-PLE 0.07, PME-PME 0.09. Clypeus height 0.06. Chelicerae length 0.74, width 0.32. Chelicerae with distinct lateral condyles, 2 promarginal and 4 retromarginal teeth. Labium length 0.22, width 0.26. Gnathocoxae length 0.42, width 0.26. Sternum length 0.84, width 0.59. Leg formula I-IV-II-III. Leg measurements: I 4.24 (1.28, 0.44, 1.09, 0.89, 0.54); II 3.56 (1.09, 0.40, 0.84, 0.74, 0.49); III 2.80 (0.99, 0.35, 0.40, 0.64, 0.42); IV 3.80 (1.19, 0.44, 0.94, 0.79, 0.44). Ratio Cl/Met IV = 0.56, with 16 setae. Opisthosoma length 1.43, width 1.09. Opisthosoma white. Epigynum (Figs 94, 96A–B). Width 0.37. BO small, round and sclerotized. Copulatory ducts short, touching at midline, forming an "X". Spermathecae large, oval, widely separated. Fertilization duct internally attached to the spermathecae base. Variation. Total body length: females 2.57–2.85 (<i>n</i> = 2). Distribution. Known only from the type locality in Guizhou, China (Fig. 97). Remarks. The species differs only slightly from <i>L. chishuiensis</i> Zhang, Yang &amp; Zhang, 2009. Zhang, Hu &amp; Zhang (2012) excluded <i>L. chishuiensis</i> from <i>Lathys</i>, but could not transfer it to any of known genera. Zhang suggested erecting a new genus to include <i>L. chishuiensis</i> (personnal communication). Pending such a transfer to a new genus, we have also preliminarily placed <i>L. inaffecta</i> Li, <b>sp. nov.</b>, along side with <i>L. chishuiensis,</i> in <i>Lathys</i>. <b>Funding</b> This study was supported by the National Natural Sciences Foundation of China (31471960, 31530067) and the Southeast Asia Biodiversity Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences (2015CASEABRI005, Y4ZK111B01). <b>Acknowledgments</b> The manuscript benefitted greatly from comments by Peter Jäger (Frankfurt am Main, Germany), Yuri M. Marusik (Magadan, Russia), Yanfeng Tong (Shenyang, China) and Yucheng Lin (Chengdu, China). Fuqiang Chen (Beijing, China) helped to modify the drawings. Joseph K. H. Koh (Singapore) kindly checked the English of the manuscript.
description: Published as part of <i>Li, Shuqiang &amp; Wang, Xiaoxiao, 2017, New cave-dwelling spiders of the family Dictynidae (Arachnida: Araneae) from Guangxi and Guizhou, China, pp. 125-228 in Zoological Systematics 42 (2)</i> on pages 226-227, DOI: 10.11865/zs.201711, http://zenodo.org/record/5366040
description: {"references": ["Zhang, Z. S., Yang, Z. Z., Zhang, Y. G. 2009. A new species of the genus Lathys (Araneae, Dictynidae) from China. Acta Zootaxonomica Sinica, 34: 199 - 202.", "Zhang, Z. S., Hu, D. S., Zhang, Y. G. 2012. Notes on the spider genus Lathys Simon, 1884 (Araneae: Dictynidae), with description of four new species from China. Zootaxa, 3359: 1 - 16."]}