Pholcus seoulensis Lee & Lee 2021, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Lee, Jun-Gi
name: Lee, Jun-Ho
name: Choi, Doo-Young
name: Park, Sun-Jae
name: Kim, A-Young
name: Kim, Sam-Kyu
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2021
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Araneae
Pholcidae
Pholcus
Pholcus seoulensis

description: Pholcus seoulensis Lee & Lee, sp. nov.
Figs. 1A–B, 2A–B, 3, 4, 13A–L, 16
Type material. Holotype: ♂, SOUTH KOREA: Seoul: Gangbuk-gu, Suyu-dong, Bballaegol in Mt. Bukhansan (37˚37'45"N, 127˚00'13"E), 22 Jun. 2015, J.G. Lee & J.H. Lee leg. (NIBR). Paratypes: 1♀, same data as for holotype (KNU); 1♂ 1♀, same locality as for holotype, 23 May 2015, J.G. Lee & J.H. Lee leg. (KNU); 1♂ 2♀, Dobong-gu, Dobong-dong, Mt. Dobongsan (37˚41'10"N, 127˚01'49"E), 29 May 2016, J.G. Lee & J.H. Lee leg. (KNU); 4♂ 5♀, Yongsan-gu, Huam-dong, Mt. Namsan (37˚33'02"N, 126˚59'06"E), 24 May 2014, DY Choi leg. (KISE); 2♀, ditto (KNU).
Etymology. The specific epithet is derived from the type locality, Seoul.
Diagnosis. This species can be distinguished from the other congeners by the combination of following characteristics: Male—procursus tip with membranous prolateral process with two blunt projections distally; uncus lingulate, inner margin almost linear; pseudoappendix present, tiny and slender. Female—epigynal anterior plate strongly protruded, marginally without hump; epigynal posterior plate 0.4 times as long as anterior plate, lateral portion of posterior plate slightly extended posteriorly, with sclerotized areas on posterior margin; pore plates of internal genitalia oblong, medially located and close together.
Description. Male (holotype). Habitus as in Fig. 1A. Total length 5.5. Prosoma 1.5 long, 1.6 wide. Diameter of AME 120 µm, ALE 170 µm, PME 160 µm, PLE 150 µm. AME–AME 70 µm, PME–PME 240 µm, PME–ALE 40 µm. Chelicera (Fig. 2A–B) with thumb-like proximo-lateral apophysis (left one broken), small, ventrally curved frontal apophysis, and ventrally curved, notched triangular distal apophysis longer than proximo-lateral apophysis. Opisthosoma 3.8 long, 2.0 wide. Leg Ⅰ 50.4 (12.8 + 0.7 + 13.0 + 21.4 + 2.5), leg II 33.5 (9.2 + 0.7 + 8.6 + 13.5 + 1.5), leg III 22.6 (6.6 + 0.6 + 5.5 + 8.7 + 1.2), leg IV 30.0 (8.7 + 0.8 + 7.5 + 11.6 + 1.4). Ratio of leg Ⅰ (18.0: 1.0: 18.3: 30.1: 3.5), leg II (13.1: 1.0: 12.3: 19.2: 2.2), leg III (11.9: 1.0: 10.1: 15.7: 2.1), leg IV (11.4: 1.0: 8.8: 15.2: 1.8). Leg formula 1243. Tibia Ⅰ L/d 81. Retrolateral trichobothrium on tibia Ⅰ at 6% proximally. Tarsus I with 22 pseudosegments. For the other somatic features see description of the species-group above. Palp (Fig. 3). Trochanter apophysis as long as femur, slender, distinctly elongated and strongly curved, distally blunt and folded once, proximo-retrolaterally with tubercle (Fig. 3A–B); femur ventrally swollen; tibia with prolatero-ventral tubercle; procursus (Fig. 3B) dark brown, slightly sinuated dorsally, with moderate ventral knee; dorso-subdistal portion of procursus slightly swollen, with one short hair and two spines (Fig. 3B, D); procursus tip (Fig. 3C–E) with four ridges retrolaterally, finger-like, distally blunt dorsal process directed prolaterally (arrowed 1 in Fig. 3D), membranous prolateral process with two blunt projections distally (arrowed 2 in Fig. 3D), and pointed triangular ventral process (arrowed in Fig. 3E); genital bulb round, pale yellow; uncus (Fig. 3F) dark brown, lingulate, outer proximal margin extended roundly without scales, outer distal margin curved and inner margin almost linear, with many tiny scales; pseudoappendix (Fig. 3G) tiny, slender and blunt, hidden by uncus prolaterally; embolus (Fig. 3G) pale yellow, slender and distally fringed, weakly sclerotized, about 1.5 times as long as uncus.
Female (one of paratypes from the same locality as holotype). Habitus as in Fig. 1B. Total length 5.4. Prosoma 1.4 long, 1.6 wide. Diameter of AME 90 µm, ALE 200 µm, PME 160 µm, PLE 160 µm. AME–AME 50 µm, PME–PME 200 µm, PME–ALE 40 µm. Opisthosoma 3.6 long, 1.8 wide. Leg Ⅰ 34.6 (8.6 + 0.7 + 8.8 + 14.3 + 2.2), leg II 23.7 (6.6 + 0.6 + 6.0 + 9.1 + 1.4), leg III 17.3 (4.9 + 0.5 + 4.4 + 6.4 + 1.1), leg IV 24.6 (6.8 + 0.7 + 6.6 + 9.1 + 1.4). Ratio of leg Ⅰ (12.1: 1.0: 12.4: 20.2: 3.1), leg II (11.7: 1.0: 10.8: 12.8: 2.6), leg III (9.3: 1.0: 8.5: 12.2: 2.1), leg IV (9.6: 1.0: 9.5: 12.9: 2.0). Leg formula 1423. Tibia I L/d 55. For the other somatic features see description of the species-group above. Epigyne (Fig. 4A–C). Anterior plate strongly protruded, half as high as epigyne length, with hat-shaped mark; posterior plate bright ivory, 0.4 times as long as anterior plate, lateral portion slightly extended posteriorly, with sclerotized areas on posterior margin; epigynal knob thick and distally round, half as long as posterior plate. Internal genitalia (Fig. 4D). Anterior arch with median portion strongly curved anteriorly; genital valve curved roundly; posterolateral portion strongly concave; pore plates oblong, medially located and close together.
Variation. Males. Prosoma width: 1.6–1.7 (mean 1.6), tibia Ⅰ: 10.9–13.0 (mean 11.6) (n=5).
An intrapopulational variation was observed on the length of dorso-subdistal spines and dorsal process, and shapes of projections of membranous prolateral process in procursus tip (Fig. 13A, D, G, J).
Females. Prosoma width: 1.4–1.7 (mean 1.6), tibia Ⅰ: 8.1–9.0 (mean 8.5) (n=6). An intrapopulational variation was observed on the size of pore plates of internal genitalia (Fig. 13C, F, I, L), but the epigynal shapes were largely consistent (Fig. 13B, E, H, K).
Habitat information. This species was found on rock walls and under rocks in mountainous regions.
Distribution. Korea (Seoul) (Fig. 16).
description: Published as part of Lee, Jun-Gi, Lee, Jun-Ho, Choi, Doo-Young, Park, Sun-Jae, Kim, A-Young & Kim, Sam-Kyu, 2021, Five new species of the genus Pholcus Walckenaer (Araneae: Pholcidae) from South Korea, pp. 61-77 in Zootaxa 5052 (1) on pages 63-65, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5052.1.3, http://zenodo.org/record/5565987