Ptocasius zabkai Yang & Peng 2023, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Yang, Su-Fang
name: Peng, Xian-Jin
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Araneae
Salticidae
Ptocasius
Ptocasius zabkai

description: Ptocasius zabkai sp. nov.
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 28D24F80-185D-422F-9D74-925674FE74B6
Figs 36–38, 43
Diagnosis
The male of the new species resembles that of P. wuermli (Żabka, 1981) (Żabka 1981: figs 56–59), but can be distinguished by: (1) sperm duct originating at about 10:00 o’clock position in ventral view (Figs 36B, 38A), while originating at about 8:00 o’clock in P. wuermli (Żabka 1981: fig. 56); (2) genital lobe bigger, angular in ventral view (Figs 36B, 38A), while obtuse in P. wuermli (Żabka 1981: fig. 56); (3) tibial apophysis finger-shaped in retrolateral view (Figs 36C, 38B), while needle-shaped in P. wuermli (Żabka 1981: fig. 58). The female of the new species resembles that of P. wuermli (Żabka 1981: figs 52– 53), but can be distinguished by: (1) pockets close to posterior margin of copulatory openings, almost two times as wide as long in ventral view (Figs 37B, 38C), while relatively away from posterior margin of copulatory openings, almost as long as wide in P. wuermli (Żabka 1981: fig. 52); (2) anterior interval of copulatory openings slightly wider than posterior interval in ventral view (Figs 37B, 38C), while four times as wide as posterior interval in P. wuermli (Żabka 1981: fig. 52); (3) spermathecae almost touching in dorsal view (Figs 37C, 38D), while distinctly diverging in P. wuermli (Żabka 1981: fig. 53).
Etymology
The specific name is the patronym in honor of Dr Marek Żabka, one of the most famous arachnologists in Poland.
Type material
Holotype
CHINA • ♂; Yunnan Province, Nujiang Prefecture, Nujiang State Nature Reserve, No. 12 bridge Camp area, 16.3 km West of Gongshan; 27°42′54″ N, 98°30′08″ E; 2775 m a.s.l.; 15–19 Jul. 2000; Heng-mei Yan, David Kavanaugh, Charles Griswold, Hong-bin Liang, Darrell Ubick and Da-zhi Dong leg.; HNU-00–QD–1A.
Paratypes (13 ♂♂, 14 ♀♀)
CHINA – Yunnan Province • 1 ♂, 2 ♀♀; same collection data as for holotype; HNU-00–QD–1P • 1 ♂; Nujiang Prefecture, Gongshan County, Danzhu, 13.5 km Southwest of Gongshan; 27°37′50″ N, 98°37′14″ E; 2700 m a.s.l.; 30 Jun.–5 Jul. 2000; David Kavanaugh, Charles Griswold, Hong-bin Liang, Darrell Ubick, Heng-mei Yan and Da-zhi Dong leg.; HNU-000630 • 2 ♀♀; Nujiang Prefecture, Gongshan County, Nujiang State Nature Reserve, Qiqi, 9.9 km West of Gongshan; 27°42′55″ N, 98°33′55″ E; 2000 m a.s.l.; 9–14 Jul. 2000; Heng-mei Yan, David Kavanaugh, Charles Griswold, Hong-bin Liang, Darrell Ubick and Da-zhi Dong leg.; HNU-00–QF–10 • 1 ♀; Nujiang Prefecture, Gongshan County, Danzhu, 15.7–16.0 km Southwest of Gongshan; 27°37′37″ N, 98°35′31″ E to 27°37′19″ N, 98°35′14″ E; 2900–3125 m a.s.l.; 30 Jun.–5 Jul. 2000; Heng-mei Yan, David Kavanaugh, Charles Griswold, Hong-bin Liang, Darrell Ubick and Da-zhi Dong leg.; HNU-00–GDS–3.
Description
Male (holotype)
BODY AND HEAD. Total length 5.00. Prosoma 2.50 long, 1.75 wide. Opisthosoma 2.50 long, 1.50 wide. Clypeus high 0.15. Carapace (Fig. 36A) reddish brown, densely covered with brown hairs; carapace margin and eye base black; each side with a longitudinal belt formed by white hairs. Fovea light brown. Cervical and radial groove indistinct. Eye diameters and interdistances: AME 0.45, ALE 0.25, PLE 0.25, AERW 1.40, PERW 1.40, EL 0.90. Sternum scutiform, covered with thin brown hairs, grayish brown, margin grayish black. Clypeus yellowish brown, sparsely covered with long dark brown hairs. Endites and labium grayish brown, distal area covered with dense black hairs, labium triangular.
CHELICERAE. Light brown, covered with short brown hairs, two promarginal teeth and one retromarginal denticle.
LEGS. Light yellowish with black annuli and spots, densely covered with black hairs, spines short and weak. Tibiae I and II with two pairs of long ventral spines, metatarsi I and II with one pair of ventral spines.
LEG MEASUREMENTS. I = 4.60 (1.60, 2.30, 1.00, 0.70), II = 4.40 (1.40, 1.70, 0.80, 0.50), III = 4.80 (1.50, 1.70, 0.80, 0.80), IV = 5.30 (1.50, 2.00, 1.00, 0.80), IV 2.89 (0.97, 1.08, 0.42, 0.42). Leg formula: IV–III–II–I.
ABDOMEN (Fig. 36A). Almost cylindric, dorsum yellowish brown, covered with grayish white and black hairs; each side with a black longitudinal band and two small light spots; the median area with a black spike-shaped spot and two pairs of sigillae; ventral grayish white, scattered with black spots, the median area with a discontinuous black longitudinal band; sides with discontinuous black longitudinal grains. Spinnerets grayish black.
PALP (Figs 36B–C, 38A–B). As long as wide; embolus slender, slightly away from genital bulb, originating at about 8:00 o’clock position in ventral view; genital bulb with membranous structure, genital lobe angular; tibial apophysis finger-shaped.
Female (paratypes)
BODY AND HEAD. Total length 5.00. Prosoma 2.20 long, 1.60 wide. Opisthosoma 2.80 long, 1.80 wide. Clypeus (Fig. 37A) high 0.10. Eye diameter and interdistances: AME 0.45, ALE 0.25, PLE 0.25, AER 1.40, PER 1.35, EFL 0.90. Tibiae I and II with three pairs of long ventral spines, metatarsi I and II with two pairs of long ventral spines.
LEG MEASUREMENTS. I = 3.70 (1.20, 1.50, 0.60, 0.40), II = 2.70 (0.90, 1.00, 0.45, 0.35), III = 4.05 (1.30, 1.50, 0.75, 0.50), IV = 4.50 (1.35, 1.60, 1.00, 0.55). Leg formula: IV–III–I–II.
ABDOMEN (Fig. 37A). The median area of the carapace with a yellowish-brown longitudinal band, clypeus covered with dense white hairs. The other morphological characteristics same as male.
EPIGYNUM (Figs 37B–C, 38C–D). Wider than long; the pockets below and close to copulatory openings, almost two times as wide as long; copulatory openings V-shaped, anterior interval of copulatory openings slightly wider than posterior interval in ventral view; spermathecae almost touching, twisted like coils, the top margins of spermathecae above copulatory openings.
Distribution
China (Yunnan Province, Fig. 43).
description: Published as part of Yang, Su-Fang & Peng, Xian-Jin, 2023, A review of the Ptocasius Simon, 1885 spiders of Gaoligong Mountains, China (Araneae: Salticidae), pp. 1-61 in European Journal of Taxonomy 903 (1) on pages 50-53, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2023.903.2321, http://zenodo.org/record/10119638