Trichothyse hortensis Tucker 1923
Creators: name: Sankaran, Pradeep M.
name: Haddad, Charles R.
name: Tripathi, Rishikesh
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Araneae
Gnaphosidae
Trichothyse
Trichothyse hortensis

description: Trichothyse hortensis Tucker, 1923
Figs 10, 16, 34–41
Trichothyse hortensis Tucker, 1923: 332, plate IX, fig. 53; Murphy, 2007: 50, figs 382–383; Dippenaar-Schoeman et al., 2021: 28, figs 1–7
(lectotype ♀, here designated, and paralectotype ♀: NAMIBIA: Waterberg [ca. 20°25’S, 17°15’E], leg. R.W. Tucker, II.1920, SAMC B5072—examined).
Other material examined. SOUTH AFRICA: Free State: Kalkfontein Dam Nature Reserve, 29°31’04’’S, 25°16’05’’E, 28.I.2014, leg. N. Josling (in garden amongst plants), 1♀ (NCA 2015 /1903).
Remark. The holotype female’s colouration is faded (Fig. 34), so the redescription is based on the recently collected specimen.
Diagnosis. The females of T. hortensis share with T. subtropica the convex shape of the primary spermathecae but can be distinguished from it by the far stronger curvature of the same structure, being separated by at least 1.5 times their width (cf. Fig. 16 and Fig. 18). Male unknown.
Description. Female (Kalkfontein, NCA 2015/1903, Figs 35–41). Carapace, clypeus, chelicerae, labium, endites, sternum, scutum and legs yellow-brown, eye field slightly darker than carapace, carapace with faint black mottling (Fig. 35). Abdomen dark grey, mottled creamy-grey dorsally in anterior half (Fig. 35), spinnerets yellowgrey; carapace with faintly darker striae radiating from fovea, densely covered with grey appressed hairs; cephalic part, midline and posterior slope with numerous stiff erect brown setae (Fig. 35). Fovea narrow, longitudinal, straight, brown. Anterior surface of cheliceral paturon with long brown setae, with low serrated keel ending in distinct denticle, and additional sharp denticle beyond it (Fig. 38; arrow); retromargin without keel, with two weakly developed, indistinct denticles. Abdomen oval, hirsute, dorsum with three pairs of distinct oval sigilla, first two pairs at ¼ abdomen length and third pair at midpoint (Fig. 35). Metatarsi I–II and all tarsi with well-developed scopulae (Figs 40–41), scopulae on metatarsi I and II complete while that on metatarsi III and IV restricted distally. Spinnerets hirsute (Fig. 39). Body length 5.90. Carapace 2.55 long, 1.38 wide. Abdomen 3.42 long, 2.23 wide. Eye sizes and interdistances:ALE 0.15, AME 0.17, PLE 0.13, PME 0.12; ALE–PLE 0.07, AME–AME 0.05, AME–PME 0.13, PME–PLE 0.10, PME–PME 0.12. AME and ALE nearly contiguous. Clypeus height at AMEs 0.13, at ALEs 0.11. Chelicerae 0.84 long. Length of palp and legs: palp 2.21 [0.78, 0.38, 0.35, 0.70], I 5.59 [1.59, 1.05, 1.15, 1.08, 0.72], II 5.53 [1.54, 1.01, 1.16, 1.10, 0.72], III 5.33 [1.52, 0.90, 1.07, 1.06, 0.78], IV 6.10 [1.82, 1.05, 1.43, 1.08, 0.72]. Leg formula: 4123. Spination of palp: femur pl 1 do 2, patella pl 1 do 2, tibia pl 2 rl 2 plv 1, tarsus pl 1 rl 1 plv 2 rlv 2 vt 2; legs: femur I–II pl 1 do 3, III pl 2 do 3 rl 2, IV pl 1 do 3 rl 1; patella I–II spineless, III–IV pl 1 rl 1; tibia I vt 1, II plv 1 vt 1, III pl 2 rl 2 plv 2 vt 2, IV pl 2 rl 2 plv 2 rlv 1 vt 2; metatarsus I plv 1, II plv 1 rlv 1, III pl 2 rl 2 plv 1 rlv 1 vt 3, IV pl 3 rl 3 plv 2 rlv 2 vt 3; tarsus I–IV spineless.
Genitalia (Figs 10, 16): epigyne originally hirsute, hairs lost during cleaning, with paired S-shaped lobes posteriorly, forming posterior border and broad shallow atrium (Fig. 10; arrow). Copulatory openings indistinct, probably at anterior edge of posterior lobes. Copulatory ducts very short, partly obscured by primary spermathecae (Fig. 16). Primary spermathecae strongly convex, forming diamond-shaped space between them, at least 1.5 times their width. Paired secondary spermathecae short, globular, partly obscured by primary spermathecae. Fertilization ducts narrow, finger-like, diverging.
Variation. The holotype female is 9.02 mm in length.
Distribution. Known only from northern Namibia and the Free State Province of South Africa (Fig. 120).
description: Published as part of Sankaran, Pradeep M., Haddad, Charles R. & Tripathi, Rishikesh, 2025, A review of the ground spider genus Trichothyse Tucker, 1923 (Araneae, Gnaphosidae), pp. 39-70 in Zootaxa 5583 (1) on pages 46-48, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5583.1.2, http://zenodo.org/record/14798099