Pholcus mueangensis Dong & Zheng & Yao & Li 2017, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Dong, Tingting
name: Zheng, Guo
name: Yao, Zhiyuan
name: Li, Shuqiang
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2017
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Araneae
Pholcidae
Pholcus
Pholcus mueangensis

description: Pholcus mueangensis Yao & Li sp. nov.
Figs 11–12
Type material. Holotype: male (Ar29657), Lak Mueang Cave (8°27.983′N, 98°31.898′E, elevation 15 m), Mueang District, Phangnga, Thailand, 10 October 2015, Q. Zhao, G. Zhou and Z. Chen leg. Paratypes: 2 males and 2 females (Ar 29658–29661), same data as holotype.
Etymology. The specific name refers to the type locality; adjective.
Diagnosis. This species resembles P. buatong Huber, 2016 (see Huber et al. 2016c: 38, figs 143–146, 154– 168, 184–186) with similar male chelicerae (Fig. 12 D) and epigynum (Fig. 12 A) but can be distinguished by two transversal sclerotized ridges close retrolatero-ventrally but separated retrolatero-dorsally on the procursus (arrows in Fig. 11 D), by the longer appendix (Fig. 12 C), by the shorter embolus (Fig. 12 C) and by the nearly triangular pore plates (Fig. 12 B).
Description. Male (holotype): Total length 3.12 (3.28 with clypeus), carapace 0.78 long, 0.82 wide, opisthosoma 2.34 long, 0.61 wide. Leg I: 38.10 (9.10 + 0.43 + 9.04 + 17.63 + 1.90), leg II: 24.11 (6.22 + 0.42 + 6.03 + 10.38 + 1.06), leg III: 14.32 (4.17 + 0.38 + 3.56 + 5.51 + 0.70), leg IV: 20.99 (6.15 + 0.38 + 5.06 + 8.46 + 0.94); tibia I L/d: 111. Distance PME-PME 0.36; diameter PME 0.09; distance PME-ALE 0.03; AME absent. Sternum wider than long (0.69/0.55). Habitus as in Figs 12 E–F. Carapace yellowish, with brown marks on posterior half; ocular area brownish, with a brown median band; sternum yellowish, with brownish marks. Legs yellowish, patellae, proximal parts of femora and tibiae brown, darker rings absent. Opisthosoma yellowish, with dark brown spots dorsally and laterally. Ocular area elevated, each eye triad on top of a laterally directed eye-stalk; Thoracic furrow absent. Chelicerae as in Fig. 12 D, with a pair of indistinct frontal apophyses, distal apophyses absent. Pedipalps as in Figs 11 A–B; trochanter with a long ventral apophysis; femur with a small dorsal apophysis proximally and a rounded ventral protrusion; procursus simple proximally but complex distally, with two transversal sclerotized ridges close retrolatero-ventrally but separated retrolatero-dorsally; bulbal apophyses as in Fig. 12 C; uncus absent; appendix long; embolus long, weakly sclerotized, with some nearly transparent projections distally. Retrolateral trichobothrium of tibia I at 3%; legs with short vertical setae on tibiae, metatarsi and tarsi; without spines and curved setae; tarsus I with 7 distinct pseudosegments.
Female: Similar to male, habitus as in Figs 12 G–H. Total length 3.21 (3.40 with clypeus), carapace 0.73 long, 0.78 wide, opisthosoma 2.48 long, 0.83 wide; tibia I: 6.41; tibia I L/d: 73. Distance PME-PME 0.21; diameter PME 0.08; distance PME-ALE 0.03; AME absent. Sternum wider than long (0.61/0.50). Ocular area without eye-stalks. Epigynum (Fig. 12 A) with a knob. Vulva (Fig. 12 B) with a sclerotized anterior arch and two nearly triangular pore plates.
Variation: Unknown (leg I lost in the other specimens).
Distribution. Thailand (Phangnga, type locality; Fig. 21).
Natural History. The species was found in the entrance zone of the cave.
description: Published as part of Dong, Tingting, Zheng, Guo, Yao, Zhiyuan & Li, Shuqiang, 2017, Ten new species of the spider genus Pholcus Walckenaer, 1805 (Araneae, Pholcidae) from Southeast Asia, pp. 339-369 in Zootaxa 4306 (3) on page 354, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4306.3.3, http://zenodo.org/record/844967