Spermophora maathaiae Bernhard A. Huber & Charles M. Warui 2012, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Bernhard A. Huber
name: Charles M. Warui
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2012
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Araneae
Pholcidae
Spermophora
Spermophora maathaiae

description: Spermophora maathaiae sp. nov.
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:133558CC-190F-45DD-8178-A130F484A205
Figs 46, 66-67, 92-96
“Spermophora” sp. 1 indet.: Huber, 2003a: 601, map 4.
Spermophora cf. berlandi Dimitrov, Astrin & Huber 2012 (DNA sequence data).
Diagnosis
Distinguished from very similar S. mau sp. nov. by shape of female epigynal scape (shorter; tip wide and rounded rather than pointed; Fig. 95) and by details of procursus tip (slightly different shapes of sclerites; Figs 92, 93). From other species by male cheliceral armature (shapes of frontal apophyses; Fig. 94) and by widened and sclerotized tip of female epigynal scape.
Etymology
The species is named in honor of Prof. Wangari Maathai, founder of the Green Belt Movement and first African woman to win the Nobel peace prize.
Type material
Holotype
♂, in ZFMK (Ar 8749).
Paratypes
3 ♂♂, 6 ♀♀, in ZFMK (2 ♂♂, 5 ♀♀: Ar 8750) and NMKE (1 ♂, 1 ♀).
Type locality
KENYA, Eastern Province, Mt. Kenya N.P., Chogoria Forest, “site 1” (0°12.1’S, 37°29.4’E), 2460 m a.s.l., 27 Jan. 2010 (B.A. Huber).
Other material examined
KENYA: Eastern Province: 3 ♀♀, 3 juvs. in pure ethanol, in ZFMK (Ken 112), Mt. Kenya N.P., Chogoria Forest, “site 1”, same data as types above; 1 ♂, 1 ♀, in MRAC (161899), Sirimon Track at 2650 m a.s.l. [0°03.8’S, 37°17.8’E], 24 Jul. 1975 (R. Bosmans). Central Province: 1 ♀ in pure ethanol, in ZFMK (Ken 123), Mt. Kenya N.P., Naro Moru Forest, overhanging vegetation along road cut (0°10.2’-10.6’S, 37°12.0’-13.3’E), 2800-3200 m a.s.l., 29 Jan. 2010 (B.A. Huber); 1 ♂, 3 ♀♀, in MRAC (215392), Castle Forest, bamboo forest at 2445 m a.s.l., 21 Apr. 2004 (R. Jocqué, C. Warui, van den Spiegel); 1 ♂, in MRAC (215146), same data but ruins of old brick huts, 2370 m a.s.l..
Description
Male (holotype)
MEASUREMENTS. Total body length 3.2, carapace width 1.3. Leg 1: 20.8 (5.2 + 0.5 + 5.3 + 7.2 + 2.6), tibia 2: 3.4, tibia 3: 2.6, tibia 4: 3.4; tibia 1 L/d: 40. Distance PME-PME 240 µm, diameter PME 160 µm, distance PME-ALE 25 µm, no AME.
COLOR. Prosoma ochre-yellow with large lateral black marks, ocular area with black lateral marks, clypeus slightly darkened, sternum monochromous black, legs ochre-yellow, with darker rings on femora (subdistally) and tibiae (proximally, subdistally), abdomen grey with distinctive black pattern dorsally and laterally, ventrally mostly black.
BODY. Habitus as in Fig. 46; ocular area elevated, with pair of horns in front of PME (similar S. mau, cf. Fig. 44, but wider apart); carapace only anteriorly with shallow thoracic furrow; clypeus unmodified. Chelicerae as in Fig. 94, frontal apophyses without modified hairs. Sternum wider than long (0.90/0.75), unmodified.
PALPS. In general as in S. mau sp. nov. (cf. Figs 87, 88); coxa with retrolatero-ventral apophysis, trochanter with retrolateral apophysis, femur barely modified (except dorsal apophysis proximally), procursus with ventral flap and several complex distal elements that appear hinged to proximal part (Figs 92, 93), bulb similar S. berlandi Fage, 1936 (cf. figs 262-263 in Huber 2003b), with two coneshaped projections and long embolus.
LEGS. Without spines and curved hairs, few vertical hairs; retrolateral trichobothrium on tibia 1 at 12%; prolateral trichobothrium absent on tibia 1, present on other tibiae; tarsus 1 with>20 pseudosegments, distinct distally.
VARIATION. Tibia 1 in 5 other males: 5.1-5.6 (mean 5.5).
Female
In general similar to male but triads closer together (distance PME-PME 160 µm), without horns. Tibia 1 in 13 females: 4.1-4.8 (mean 4.4). Epigynum a simple plate with long posterior scape ending in wide rounded tip (Figs 66, 95); internal genitalia as in Figs 67 and 96.
Distribution
Known from Mount Kenya only (Fig. 27).
description: Published as part of Bernhard A. Huber & Charles M. Warui, 2012, East African pholcid spiders: an overview, with descriptions of eight new species (Araneae, Pholcidae), pp. 1-44 in European Journal of Taxonomy 29 (29) on pages 29-31, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2012.29, http://zenodo.org/record/1406636