Suffrica chawia Henrard & Jocqué, 2015, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Henrard, Arnaud
name: Jocqué, Rudy
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2015
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Araneae
Zodariidae
Suffrica
Suffrica chawia

description: Suffrica chawia sp. nov.
Figs 1 – 24, 96
Type material. Holotype. KENYA: ♂: Taita Hills, Chawia Forest, 3°29’S 38° 20’E, 1550m, 22.II.2004, pitfalls, Spanhove T. & Chovu M. (MRAC 221964).
Paratypes. 3♂: KENYA, Taita Hills, Chawia Forest, 3°29’S 38°20’E, 1550m, 22.II.2004, pitfall traps, Spanhove T. & Chovu M. (MRAC 221946); 5♂: as previous, (MRAC 221959); 1♂: as previous (MRAC 221972); 2♂: as previous, 24. II.2004 (MRAC 221975); 3♂: as previous, 22.II.2004 (MRAC 221982); 3♂: as previous (MRAC 222000); 1♂: as previous, 24.V.2004 (MRAC 233025); 1♂: as previous (MRAC 233020).
Diagnosis. The male of this species is recognized by the finely reticulate carapace, the leg spination, the abdomen with a deep furrow and a reduced glandular outlet (Figs 6, 8, 9) and details of the palp such as the smooth conductor with blunt tip (Figs 11, 15).
Etymology. The species name is a noun in apposition taken from the only forest in the Taita Hills where the species was collected.
Description. Male (Holotype). Total length 2.92, carapace 1.37 long, 0.90 wide and 0.64 high. Carapace (Figs 1–3, 6, 7) finely reticulated, medium brown, darker along margin and with very faint radiating striae; chelicerae and chilum pale brown; sternum brownish orange; legs: coxae and femora brown, remainder yellow. Clypeus 0.25 high. Eyes AME: 0.05: ALE: 0.05; PME: 0.07; PLE: 0.06; AME – AME: 0.02; AME – ALE: 0.07; PME – PME: 0.04; PME – PLE: 0.12. MOQ: width 0.13 in front, 0.18 at the back; 0.21 long.
Chilum 0.10 high, 0.13 wide; trapezoidal, inferior margin concave.
Sternum: 0.74 long, 0.57 wide.
Legs: spination: Fe: I d 1 II d 1 III d 1 IV d2; T (all spines at distal extremity): III pl 1 v2 IV pl 1 v 2; Mt (all spines at distal extremity): I v(pl) 1 II v(pl) 2 III dw 4 IV dw4. All femora with prolateral and retrolateral femoral organs (Figs 17 – 20).
Leg measurements:
Abdomen: dorsum with brown scutum in front of deep central longitudinal dorsal furrow provided anteriorly with faint gland outlet with few small needle like setae and tiny pores (Figs 6, 8, 9); on both sides with grey, smooth ridge; sides sepia; venter pale. Spinnerets (Figs 21 – 24) white.
Palp. (Figs 4, 5, 10 – 16). Patella almost twice as high as long; tibia with conical DTA, its extremity slightly bent forward, and RTA with anterior blade-shaped extension and posterior, simple, roughly rectangular retrolateral apophysis separated from anterior extension by deep groove; ventrally with conspicuous long, straight seta; cymbium strongly domed, with distal ventral groove accommodating the conductor and deep basal, retrolateral concavity accommodating the anterior tibial extension of the RTA; embolus with small tooth halfway near the flat and obliquely truncated tip, enveloped in basal part of conductor; the latter large, with flat, slightly curved distal part and blunt tip; MA large, with sharp, straight, ridged prolateral prong and two short retrolateral lobes, posterior one rounded, anterior one truncated and stout; distal tegular apophysis (TA) with long, slender, serrated prong.
Female. Unknown.
Variation. Total length of males (n=16) varies between 2.5 and 3.0. The pale area along the ridges on the abdominal dorsum varies from a narrow longitudinal patch to a broad reniform spot.
Distribution. Only known from Chawia Forest in the Taita Hills, Kenya (Fig. 96).
description: Published as part of Henrard, Arnaud & Jocqué, Rudy, 2015, On the new Afrotropical genus Suffrica with discovery of an abdominal gland and a dual femoral organ (Araneae, Zodariidae), pp. 1-25 in Zootaxa 3972 (1) on pages 5-8, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3972.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/288869