Ixchela mendozai Valdez-Mondragón & Francke 2015, SP. NOV.
Creators: name: Valdez-Mondragón, Alejandro
name: Francke, Oscar F.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2015
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Araneae
Pholcidae
Ixchela
Ixchela mendozai

description: Ixchela mendozai SP. NOV.   
 Type data: MEXICO: Puebla: 1 ♂ holotype (CNAN T0749) [24 February 2012; A. Valdez, C. Santibáñez, J. Mendoza, D. Barrales, A. Ortega] from Campamento Ecoturístico Cañadas Rojas, Puente Colorado (lat. 18.683°, long. −97.345°; 2231 m), Municipio Chapulco. Paratypes: 2 ♀♀ (CNAN T0750), same data as holotype.   
 Etymology: The specific name is a noun in apposition and dedicated to arachnologist Jorge Iván Mendoza Marroquín for his participation in collecting the type series, and his contribution to knowledge of the spiders of Mexico.   
 Diagnosis: Resembles I. tlayuda, but distinguished by the FAC long and rounded, forming an angle of 90° with the chelicerae in lateral view (Fig. 62); the VAF with sharp tip (Fig. 60); the long, curved and sharp sub-distally sclerotized spine on ventral part of embolus (arrow, Fig. 63); and the epigynum with three projections apically, the central markedly longer and curved, the lateral ones small and rounded (Figs 64, 66, 67).   
 Description: Male (Holotype). Prosoma: Pale yellow, with three brown markings on each side (Fig. 57). Ocular region pale yellow, with a brown longitudinal line projecting from AME (Fig. 57). Fovea surrounded with an irregular, wide brown region, extending backward (Fig. 57). Clypeus pale yellow, with a wide brown region near chelicerae (Fig. 58). Chelicerae brown, pale around the SAC (Fig. 59). Sternum pale yellow. Labium and endites brown; endites with retrolateral apophysis, which has a small subdistal protuberance. Legs: Coxae pale yellow, with small brown markings on retrolateral and prolateral parts. Trochanters pale yellow. Femora pale orange, with several brown rings throughout their length, one sub-distal ring dark brown, wide, very marked. Patellae brown. Tibiae pale orange, with several brown rings throughout their length, less visible than on femora. Metatarsi and tarsi orange, without colour rings. Legs with numerous oblique, long setae; with few short, vertical setae. Opisthosoma: Conical, longer than high, pale blue, with dorsal grey pattern (Figs 56, 57). Gonopore plate oval. Palp: Femur pale yellow, conical, with several long setae ventrally; VAF conical, with sharp tip (Figs 60, 61). Patella and tibia pale orange. Procursus brown, long and straight, with distal spine, thin and curved (Figs 60, 61). VPP with 3–4 long setae (Fig. 60). Embolus conical, dorsally with a curved spine (Figs 60, 61), ventrally with apical sigmoid projection (Figs 60, 61). PAB wide (Fig. 61). Measurements: Total length 6.40. Carapace 2.45 long, 2.30 wide. Clypeus 0.95 long. Diameter AME 0.14, ALE 0.22, PME 0.17, PLE 0.20. Distance ALE–PME 0.17, PME–PME 0.26. Leg I: 45.31 (11.75 + 1.07 + 11.87 + 15.62 + 5.00), tibia II: 8.40, tibia III: 6.25, tibia IV: 8.30. Tibia I l/d: 31.50.   
 Female (Paratype). Similar to the male, but with the following differences: Prosoma: The three brown markings larger and darker than on male. Clypeus with brown region longer than on male, forming an upside down, U-shaped area. Legs: The brown rings on femora and tibiae slightly more marked than on male. Epigynum: Wider than long, with three projections at apex (Figs 64, 66, 67), with a small rounded pit on central projection (Fig. 64). PP small (Fig. 65); with small, oval sac-shaped concavities between MSE and PP (Fig. 65). MSE with upside down Y-shape (Fig. 65). Measurements: Total length 5.40. Carapace 2.15 long, 2.10 wide. Clypeus 0.80 long. Diameter AME 0.10, ALE 0.22, PME 0.18, PLE 0.21. Distance ALE–PME 0.16. PME–PME 0.24. Leg I: 31.97 (8.70 + 1.00 + 8.90 + 10.37 + 3.00), tibia II: 6.40, tibia III: missing, tibia IV: 6.50; tibia I l/d 28.40.   
 Natural history: The specimens were collected in an oak forest, the females on their irregular sheet webs among boulders on the ground; the male holotype was collected on an irregular sheet web in a corner inside a cabin, being the first specimen of the genus Ixchela collected inside a building.   
 Distribution: MEXICO: Puebla (Fig. 90).
description: Published as part of Valdez-Mondragón, Alejandro & Francke, Oscar F., 2015, Phylogeny of the spider genus Ixchela Huber, 2000 (Araneae: Pholcidae) based on morphological and molecular evidence (CO 1 and 16 S), with a hypothesized diversification in the Pleistocene, pp. 20-58 in Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 175 (1) on pages 40-41, DOI: 10.1111/zoj.12265, http://zenodo.org/record/10107789