Anansus atewa Huber &amp; Kwapong, 2013, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Huber, Bernhard A.
name: Kwapong, Peter
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2013
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Araneae
Pholcidae
Anansus
Anansus atewa

description: <i>Anansus atewa</i> sp. nov. urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:9EC8FF7E-F56B-4FAD-9B48-730CE2795474 Figs 9-10, 23, 35-47 Diagnosis Easily distinguished from known congeners by distinct pair of projections on male clypeus (Figs 35, 39; other known species with single tiny median process); also by male cheliceral apophyses (more proximal, wider apart, and more pointed than in other known species; Figs 39, 45), by shape of procursus (large ventral curved sclerite; without retrolateral sclerite provided with brush of long hairs; without ventral pointed projection; Figs 38, 44), and by more anterior position of epigynal pockets (Figs 41, 46). Etymology The species name is a noun in apposition, derived from the type locality. Type material Holotype &amp;male;, in ZFMK (Ar 10513). Type data GHANA: Eastern Region: Atewa Hills, Atewa Atwirebu Reserve (6°13.8’N, 0°33.5’W), 740 m a.s.l., 25 Feb. 2013 (B.A. Huber). Other material examined GHANA: Eastern Region: 4 &amp;female;&amp;female; together with holotype; 2 &amp;male;&amp;male; 2 &amp;female;&amp;female; in ZFMK (Ar 10514), same data, specimens taken alive and died from heat; 2 &amp;female;&amp;female; 5 juvs in pure ethanol in ZFMK (Gha 137), same data. Description Male (holotype) MEASUREMENTS. Total body length 1.5, carapace width 0.6. Leg 1: 5.2 (1.3 + 0.2 + 1.4 + 1.6 + 0.7), tibia 2: 0.9, tibia 3: 0.7, tibia 4: 1.1; tibia 1 L/d: 22. Distance PME-PME 25 µm, diameter PME 80 µm, distance PME-ALE 20 µm, no AME. COLOR. Carapace ochre-grey, slightly darker medially, sternum with four pairs of dark lines extending from behind labium to bases of leg coxae, legs pale ochre-yellow, without rings, abdomen ochre-gray with distinct dark median dorsal mark. BODY. Habitus as in Figs 35-36; ocular area barely elevated; carapace without median furrow; clypeus with distinct pair of projections at rim (Fig. 35); sternum wider than long (0.40/0.35), unmodified. Chelicerae as in Fig. 45, with pair of lateral processes proximally and pointed frontal apophyses, without stridulatory ridges. PALPS. As in Figs 37-38 and 43-44, coxa unmodified, trochanter with indistinct ventral projection, femur small relative to tibia, with small retrolatero-ventral process and larger prolatero-ventral process set with tubercles, procursus complex, entire distal part apparently hinged against basis, without elements distinctive for other known species (retrolateral sclerite provided with brush of long hairs; ventral pointed projection), bulb with single weakly sclerotized process (embolus). LEGS. Without spines and curved hairs, few vertical hairs; retrolateral trichobothrium on tibia 1 at 25%; prolateral trichobothrium absent on tibia 1, present on other tibiae; tarsus 1 with about ten indistinct pseudosegments. VARIATION. Tibia 1 in 2 other males: 1.3, 1.4. Female In general similar to male; tibia 1 in 6 females: 1.2-1.4 (mean 1.3). Epigynum consisting of large anterior plate provided with pair of pockets and narrow posterior plate (Figs 40, 41, 46); internal genitalia as in Figs 42 and 47. Natural history The spiders were found in the leaf-litter under leaves that are curved in a way to produce protected space on the underside. Two eggsacs contained 13 and 15 eggs respectively. Distribution Known from type locality only (Fig. 23). Further juvenile specimens from near Mpraeso and from Tagbo Falls (Ghana; in ZFMK) might also belong to this species.
description: Published as part of <i>Huber, Bernhard A. &amp; Kwapong, Peter, 2013, West African pholcid spiders: an overview, with descriptions of five new species (Araneae, Pholcidae), pp. 1-44 in European Journal of Taxonomy 59</i> on pages 21-24, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2013.59, http://zenodo.org/record/1406590