Parabomis pilosus Dippenaar-Schoeman & Foord 2020, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Dippenaar-Schoeman, Anna S.
name: Foord, Stefan H.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2020
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Araneae
Thomisidae
Parabomis
Parabomis pilosus

description: Parabomis pilosus sp. nov.
Figures 1, 2, 21 – 25
Etymology. The name refers to the numerous setae on the carapace of the species.
Diagnosis. The male of this species differs from all the other congeners by the blunt RTA (Fig. 23) vs. pointed in other species. In the female, the epigyne atrium is bell-shaped (Fig. 24) and contrasts with that of P. martini, which is subtriangular. Carapace and abdomen bearing rows of flat-lying translucent club-shaped setae that are longer and denser than in other species, especially on the carapace declivity (Fig. 22).
Description. Male (holotype). TL 1.7; CL 0.9; CW 1.0. Legs: I 1.43 (0.51, 0.13, 0.30, 0.27, 0.22); II 1.43 (0.63, 0.22, 0.28, 0.20, 0.10); III 1.09 (0.34, 0.12, 0.32, 0.21, 0.10); IV 1.32 (0.47, 0.15, 0.32, 0.19, 0.19). Carapace dark brown, granular, with numerous white club-shaped setae (Fig. 21); carapace edge white; eyes circled with black; chelicerae dark brown; mouthparts yellowish brown; carapace wider than long. Sternum orange brown, granulose, bearing numerous strong flat-lying translucent setae. Legs with coxae, trochanters and tibiae brown, with white articulations. Abdomen broad, dorsum dark brown, shield-like, with pale patches; granular. Palp: RTA not pointed but with blunt broad apex (Fig. 23); VTA absent.
Female. TL 2.6; CL 1.05; CW 1.3; CH 1.4; AW 2.1; AL 2.1. Legs: Legs: I 1.88 (0.65, 0.29, 0.42, 0.25, 0.27); II 1.81 (0.60, 0.26, 0.43, 0.24, 0.28); III 1.20 (0.42, 0.21, 0.26, 0.12, 0.19); IV 1.7 (0.55, 0.46, 0.26, 0.31, 0.12). Carapace fawn with clypeus and eye region infused with brown, lateral edges darker brown; chelicerae and mouthparts yellowish white; posterior declivity clothed with numerous white flat-lying club-shaped setae (Figs 1-2, 22). Sternum yellowish white. Legs fawn to brown infused with white; femora darker, especially legs II and III; articulate area of each leg segment with white rim. Abdomen fawn to white, with faint spots; depressions on abdomen darker, bearing two brownish triangular to round patches. Epigyne: atrium bell-shaped (Fig. 24); spermathecae oval, spermathecal ducts short, glandular lobes anteriorly of spermathecae (Fig. 25).
Type material. Holotype ³: BOTSWANA: Okavango Delta, Shakawe Fishing Camp, 18°26’S, 21°54’E, leg. J. van Niekerk, 1.XII.2001 (active searching) (NCA 2006 /868).
Paratypes: BOTSWANA: Okavango Delta, Xugana Island, 130 km NNW of Maun, 19°04’S, 23°03’E, leg. B.H. Lamoral, 17–25.XI.1980, 1♀ (NMSA 23719); Okavango Delta, 30 km N of Lechwee Camp, approx. between 18°40’S– 19°00’S and 23°00’E– 23°45’E, leg. B. Lamoral, 17-20.XI.1979, 1³ (NMSA); Okavango Delta, N of Lechwee Camp and Khwai River Lodge, between 18°40’S– 19°00’S and 23°00’E– 23°45’E, leg. B. Lamoral, 18- 20.XI.1979, 2³ (NMSA); Okavango Delta, near Shakawe, Lesideng Research Camp, 18°25’S, 21°53’E, leg. R. Lyle, 10-20.XII.2006 (beating shrubs in riverine forest), 1♀ (NCA 2020 /550).
Other material examined. BOTSWANA: Okavango Delta, Xugana Island, 130 km NNW of Maun, 19°04’S, 23°03’E, leg. F. Nyathi, 17-25.XI.1980, 1♀ (NMZ / A 70941). SOUTH AFRICA: Limpopo Province: Tshipise, Farm Alicedale (citrus), 22°42’S, 30°14’E, leg. J. Wilkinson, 12.IV.2016 (on tree in silk retreat, see Figs 1-2), 1♀ (SANSA Virtual Museum).
Distribution. Known from Botswana and northern South Africa (Fig. 32).
Biology/Habitat. Specimens were sampled by sweeping grass and herbs. In Tshipise, a female was sampled from a silk retreat made between leaves.
description: Published as part of Dippenaar-Schoeman, Anna S. & Foord, Stefan H., 2020, Revision of the Afrotropical crab-spider genus Parabomis Kulczyński, 1901 (Araneae: Thomisidae), pp. 161-174 in Zootaxa 4899 (1) on pages 170-171, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4899.1.8, http://zenodo.org/record/4400882