Khorata shao YAO &amp; LI, 2010, sp. nov.
Creators: name: YAO, ZHIYUAN
name: LI, SHUQIANG
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2010
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Araneae
Pholcidae
Khorata
Khorata shao

description: <i>Khorata shao</i> sp. nov. Figs 51–54, 61 Type material: <b>Holotype:</b> male (IZCAS), Baiyu Cave [22°07.694ʹN, 106°46.004ʹE, alt. 300 m], Pingxiang, Guangxi, <b>China</b>, 8 August 2009, Z.Y. Yao and C.X. Wang leg. <b>Paratypes:</b> 13 males, 40 females (IZCAS), same data as holotype. <b>Etymology:</b> The specific name is from the Chinese word for spoon (sháo), in reference to the shape of pore plates of epigynum; noun. <b>Diagnosis:</b> This species resembles <i>K. fusui</i> Zhang &amp; Zhu, 2009 in having similar shape of procursus and similar small rounded hump of bulb (Figs 51A–B, D; 53A, D; 54A), but can be distinguished by the black margins in dorsal shield of prosoma (Figs 51C, 52C), the different apophyses of male chelicerae (Figs 53B– C), the ventral view of female genital area (Figs 52A, 54C), and the nearly spoon-shaped pore plates of epigynum (Figs 52B, 54B). This species also resembles <i>K. epunctata</i> <b>sp. nov.</b> in having similar male chelicerae (Figs 11B–C, 53B–C) and similar ventral view of female genital area (Figs 10A, 12B, 52A, 54C), but can be distinguished by the black margins in dorsal shield of prosoma (Figs 51C, 52C), the different distal elements of procursus (Figs 51A–B, D; 53A, D; 54A), and the shape of pore plates of epigynum (Figs 52B, 54B). <b>Description: Male (holotype):</b> Total length 2.13 (2.25 with clypeus), prosoma 0.73 long, 1.05 wide, opisthosoma 1.40 long, 0.95 wide. Leg I: 22.28 (6.03 + 0.38 + 6.15 + 9.29 + 3.08), leg II: 15.23 (4.27 + 0.41 + 3.75 + 5.35 + 1.45), leg III: 11.41 (3.34 + 0.35 + 2.76 + 3.99 + 0.97), leg IV: 14.27 (4.25 + 0.37 + 3.55 + 5.15 + 0.95); tibia I L/d: 68. Habitus as in Fig. 51C. Dorsal shield of prosoma yellowish, with black margins and narrow dark median line behind ocular area; sternum black. Legs yellowish, with slightly darker rings on femora (subdistally) and tibiae (proximally and subdistally). Opisthosoma grey with large black spots dorsally and ventrally. Ocular area slightly elevated and separated from prosoma, thoracic furrow shallow but distinct; distance PME-PME 0.11; diameter PME 0.11; distance PME-ALE 0.03; AME absent. Sternum slightly wider than long (0.58/0.49). Chelicerae as in Figs 53B–C, with pair of long, hooked frontal apophyses (distance between tips: 5 µm); pair of strong proximal apophyses and sclerotized apophyses proximocentrally, respectively, without modified hairs; pair of small ledges on frontolateral surface distally. Palps as in Figs 51A–B; 53A, D; trochanter with retrolateral apophysis and small ventral projection, femur with retrolateral apophysis, patella large, procursus simple proximally but complex distally, bulb simple, with embolus and small rounded hump retrolaterally. Retrolateral trichobothrium of tibia I at 8%; legs with short vertical hairs on all metatarsi (mostly dorsally and laterally), without spines and curved hairs; tarsus I with more than 30 pseudosegments, only about 12 distinct ones distally. <b>Variation:</b> Tibia I in other males (n=13): 5.45–6.73 (mean: 6.07). <b>Female:</b> Similar to male, habitus as in Figs 52C–D. Tibia I in females (n=38, leg I lost in the other two specimens): 4.74–5.83 (mean: 5.46). Genital area brown (Figs 52A, 54C), with internal structures nearly invisible through cuticle, apparently without pockets. Dorsal view of epigynum (Figs 52B, 54B) with two nearly inverted spoon-shaped pore plates. <b>Distribution:</b> The species is known only from the type locality (Fig. 61).
description: Published as part of <i>YAO, ZHIYUAN &amp; LI, SHUQIANG, 2010, Pholcid spiders of the genus Khorata Huber, 2005 (Araneae: Pholcidae) from Guangxi, China, pp. 1-79 in Zootaxa 2594 (1)</i> on page 15, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.2594.1.1