Althepus xianxi Liu & Li & Wongprom & Zheng & Li 2017, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Liu, Chang
name: Li, Fengyuan
name: Wongprom, Prasit
name: Zheng, Guo
name: Li, Shuqiang
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2017
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Araneae
Ochyroceratidae
Althepus
Althepus xianxi

description: Althepus xianxi Li et Li sp. nov.
Figs 19–22
Type material. Holotype: Male (IZCAS) Thailand, Yala Province, Betong District, Ban Bo Nam Ron Village. 05°49.960'N, 101°04.080'E, altitude 384m, 24 October 2015. Paratypes: 2 females and 2 males, same data as holotype (IZCAS).
Etymology. The specific name is derived from the Chinese pinyin 'xiān xì', which means 'slender', referring to the slender spermathecae; noun in apposition.
Diagnosis. The species resembles A. jiandan sp. nov. (Figs 6–7) with the male palp, but can be distinguished by the small conductor (Figs 19A–D) as well as by the loosely twisted spermathecae (Fig. 20E).
Description. Male (holotype). Total length 3.22; carapace 1.09 length, 1.41 width; abdomen 1.83 length, 0.88 width. Carapace rounded (Fig. 20G), yellow, with narrow marginal bands and one wide median band. Anterior margin of thoracic region distinctly elevated. Clypeus brown. Cheliceral promargin with two teeth, followed by a lamina, retromargin with two small teeth (Fig. 21K). Labium black-brown. Sternum brown. Abdomen elongate, with complex patterns of white and dark-brown dorsally and ventrally. Legs brown, femur and tibia annulated with white. Leg measurements: I missing, II 21.27 (5.77 0.50, 5.64, 8.01, 1.35), III 13.16 (3.85, 0.50, 3.59, 4.49, 1.03), IV 20.82 (5.83, 0.50, 5.71, 7.50, 1.28). Male palp (Figs 19A–D): tarsus with three slightly curved, serrated bristles at the top of cymbial protrusion (Fig. 19D), one spine slightly bent with tip directed towards proximally (Fig. 19A); one strong spine and one bristle arising from tubercles; bulb dark yellow, ovate; embolus arising retrolatero-distally from bulb, curved and extremely long proximally; conductor arising prolatero-proximally from bulb, with forked structures on the distal part; embolus and conductor widely separated (the distance is almost equal to diameter of bulb).
Female (paratype). Similar to male in coloration and general features (Figs 20H–I), but with a smaller body size. Internal genitalia with a pair of loosely twisted transparent spermathecae (Fig. 20E). Measurements: total length 3.00; carapace 0.88 length, 1.06 width; abdomen 1.75 length, 1.00 width. Legs I 22.89 (5.45, 0.38, 6.03, 8.72, 2.31), legs II missing, III 9.99 (2.88, 0.38, 2.56, 3.21, 2.37), IV 13.97 (3.97, 0.38, 3.85, 4.49, 1.28).
Variation. Carapace 1.00–1.09 length, 1.19–1.41 width, tibia I 5.38–8.72 (leg I lost in male holotype) in males; Carapace 0.88–0.94 length, 1.06–1.09 width, tibia I 6.03 (leg I lost in other specimen) in females.
Distribution. Known only from the type locality (Fig. 22).
description: Published as part of Liu, Chang, Li, Fengyuan, Wongprom, Prasit, Zheng, Guo & Li, Shuqiang, 2017, Eleven new species of the spider genus Althepus Thorell, 1898 (Araneae, Ochyroceratidae) from Thailand, pp. 469-499 in Zootaxa 4350 (3) on page 494, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4350.3.3, http://zenodo.org/record/1059253