Neischnocolus tsere Peñaherrera-R & Guerrero-Campoverde & León-E & Pinos-Sánchez & Falcón-Reibán 2023, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Peñaherrera-R, Pedro
name: Guerrero-Campoverde, Ariel
name: León-E, Roberto J.
name: Pinos-Sánchez, Andrés
name: Falcón-Reibán, José M.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Araneae
Theraphosidae
Neischnocolus
Neischnocolus tsere

description: Neischnocolus tsere sp. nov.
Figures 1A–D; 2A, D; 3A; 4A, B, 7
Type material. Holotype male, Ecuador, province of Morona Santiago, canton Morona, parish of Morona, Río Blanco (- 2.354631º S, - 78.151706º W, 922 m), 4 July 2019, J. Falcón-Reibán, A. Recalde. Deposited in Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador (MECN-AR-450).
Etymology.— The specific epithet is a noun in apposition taken from the word tsére of the Shuar language, meaning spider.
Diagnosis.— Males resemble those of N. cisnerosi sp. nov., N. panamanus, and N. iquitos by the morphology of the male palpal organ, having a embolus almost perpendicular to palpal organ axis, but differ from them by the PI keel well developed and longer than PS keel, PI and PS keels slightly serrated at distal section, PI not continuous, and R keel absent; whereas C. cisnerosi sp. nov. have a PI keel well developed and longer than PS keel, PS and PI keels non-serrated, R and PAC keels present; in N. iquitos have a PS keel well developed than PI keel, PI keel proximally serrated, and R keel present; in N. panamanus have PS and PI keels well developed, PI keel non-serrated, and R keel absent (Pérez-Miles et al., 2008; Kaderka, 2020).
Description.— Male holotype (MECN-AR-450) (Fig. 2A, B): Total length: 20.4. Carapace length, 10.66, width, 9.77. Abdomen length, 8.73, width, 7.42. Eyes: anterior and posterior eye rows slightly recurved; AME: 0.35, ALE: 0.15, PME: 0.19, PLE: 0.18, AME-AME: 0.25, AME-ALE: 0.16, PME-PME: 0.87, PME-PLE: 0.11, ALE-PLE: 0.18, OQ length: 1.25, width: 1.77, clypeus: 0.12. Fovea deep, slightly procurved. Chelicerae: 14 promarginal teeth and 12 denticles. Labium: length: 1.08, width: 1.74, with 24 cuspules. Maxillae: 82–137 cuspules on inner third. Sternum: length: 4.97, width: 3.13. Legs: formula 4123, total length: I 36.32, II 34.46, III 32.57, IV 41.31; leg (femur/patella/tibia/metatarsus/tarsus) and pedipalp (femur/patella/tibia/cymbium) article lengths: I 10.7/5.1 5/9.41/7.03/4.03, II 9.80/3.46/8.50/7.63/5.07, III 9.01/3.92/7.29/7.84/4.51, IV 11.05/4.22/9.55/11.91/4.58, palp 5.72/3.35/5.36/2.60. Tibia I with paired distal proventral apophyses with one short and wide spine on inner side of each branch (Fig. 3A). Flexion of metatarsus retrolateral with respect to tibial apophyses. Palpal tibia with two distal conical processes, most distal processes less sharp-pointed (Fig. 4A, B). Scopula: tarsi I–IV slightly scopulated, tarsi I–III distally divided by rhomboidal group of setae, tarsi IV fully divided by a line of longer, thicker setae. Metatarsus: I, 75%, II, 75%, III, 25%, IV, absent. Legs and pedipalp spination: femora and patellae I–IV and palp 0. Tibiae I 1R; II 3V, 1P; III 3V, 1P; IV 3V, 1P, 1R; palp 1P. Metatarsi; I, 2V; II, 4V; III, 7V, 2P, 2R; IV, 12V, 2P, 1D. Tarsi I–IV and palp, 0. Palpal bulb (Fig. 1A–D): Bent embolus almost perpendicular to palpal organ axis, elongated and curved apical portion of palpal organ, PI keel well developed and longer than PS keel, PS and PI keels slightly serrated apically, PI keel not continuous, A keel weakly developed, PAC and R keels absent, well-developed TH, dense MDGA spike-shaped all over dorsal and superior prolateral surface.
Colour.— In vivo, carapace and legs covered by small reddish setae; metatarsi I–IV covered by dark grey setae; abdomen covered with small dark brown and dark reddish setae and dispersed long light brown hairs: abdomen with a small black dot above urticating setae patch. Colour: after four years in preservative, all setae changed to pale brown (Fig. 2A, B).
Female: Unknown.
Distribution and natural history.— Known only from type locality (Fig. 7). The specimen was collected in the southern foothill evergreen forest of eastern slope of the Andean Cordillera (sensu MAE, 2013); within the Napo Province (sensu Morrone, 2014). The specimen was collected under a rock as a juvenile and was kept in captivity for about one year until it reached sexual maturity; during this time, the spider moulted 4 times. Changes in colour were marked and evident after each moult; passing from greyish to light brownish becoming dark reddish in adulthood.
description: Published as part of Peñaherrera-R, Pedro, Guerrero-Campoverde, Ariel, León-E, Roberto J., Pinos-Sánchez, Andrés & Falcón-Reibán, José M., 2023, Two new Species of Neischnocolus Petrunkevitch, 1925 (Araneae: Theraphosidae) from Eastern and Western Ecuador, pp. 483-493 in Zootaxa 5351 (4) on pages 484-487, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5351.4.6, http://zenodo.org/record/8392081