Copuetta uzungwa Haddad, 2013, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Haddad, Charles R.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2013
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Araneae
Corinnidae
Copuetta
Copuetta uzungwa

description: Copuetta uzungwa sp. nov.
Figs 60, 108, 149, 150
Etymology: The species name is a noun in apposition of the type locality.
Diagnosis: Males can be recognised by the embolus with quite a broad base, with a much broader distal coil that has a short, distally directed tip (Figs 108, 149). This differs from C. naja sp. nov., whose tip is sharp and directed retrolaterally (Figs 107, 145).
Remarks: The carapace of the male holotype is somewhat deformed and is considerably broader on the right side. Consequently, the CW: PERW ratio is much higher in this species than in congeners. The second male that was available for study (collected 12.III.1996 from the type locality) is very badly damaged with all the legs detached from the body and several missing, and the abdomen separated from the cephalothorax. Due to the very poor condition of the specimen it is not designated as a paratype.
Male (holotype, Uzungwa, ZMUC). Measurements: CL 3.23, CW 2.90, AL 3.30, AW 1.35, TL 6.65 (4.90– 6.65), FL 0.28, SL 1.37, SW 1.37, AME–AME 0.08, AME–ALE 0.01, ALE–ALE 0.55, PME–PME 0.16, PME– PLE 0.07, PLE–PLE 0.57, PERW 0.86, MOQAW 0.53, MOQPW 0.49, MOQL 0.60.
Length of leg segments: I 2.55 + 1.10 + 2.15 + 2.25 + 1.32 = 9.37; II 2.50 + 1.07 + 2.00 + 2.20 + 1.25 = 9.02; III 2.40 + 1.05 + 1.92 + 2.35 + 1.15 = 8.87; IV 3.18 + 1.15 + 2.50 + 3.50 + 1.10 = 11.43.
General appearance as in Fig. 60. Carapace creamy-yellow, eye region mottled black, entire clypeus black; paired black mediolateral markings from cephalic region to posterior slope; pale along midline, with small narrow oval black marking in front of fovea; striae pale brown with black mottling, radiating from fovea, directed at coxae; lateral margins with narrow black fringe, with large black spots between palpal coxae and leg I coxae, and between all leg coxal pairs; markings covered with black feathery setae, areas between them covered in white feathery and short straight setae. AME separated by distance equal to ½ their diameter; AME separated from ALE by distance less than 1⁄10 AME diameter; clypeus height slightly larger than 4⁄5 AME diameter; PLE slightly larger than PME; PME separated by distance slightly larger than 4⁄5 their diameter; PME separated from PLE by distance slightly less than ½ PLE diameter; CW: PERW = 3.37:1. Chelicerae pale orange-brown with black mottling, yellow-brown prolaterally at distal end; promargin with two teeth separated by nearly double the basal width of proximal tooth, proximal tooth very small, distal tooth much larger; retromargin with two teeth separated by approximately ¼ their basal width, distal tooth slightly smaller, close to fang base. Endites creamy-orange, cream prolaterally distally; labium creamy-orange, paler distally; sternum creamy-yellow, yellow around borders. Legs yellow, posteriors slightly darker, with faint black mottling; markings covered in black feathery setae, with white feathery setae between them; femora I–IV with faint lateral mottling; patellae I–IV with faint dorsal and lateral mottling; tibiae I– IV with faint broad median bands, darker on III and IV; metatarsi I and II with proximal and distal bands at paired spines, III and IV with proximal, median and distal bands; tarsi without markings. Leg spination: femora: I pl 2 do 3 rl 1, II pl 2 do 3 rl 1, III pl 2 do 3 rl 2, IV pl 2 do 3 rl 2; all femora with scattered erect ventral setae; patellae: I– IV with fine proximal and distal do setae; tibiae: I pl 2 plv 2 rlv 2, II pl 2 plv 2 rlv 2, III pl 2 do 1 rl 2 plv 2 rlv 2 vt 1, IV pl 2 do 1 rl 2 plv 2 rlv 2 vt 2; metatarsi: I plv 2 rlv 2, II rl 1 plv 2 rlv 2, III pl 3 rl 3 plv 2 rlv 2 vt 3, IV pl 3 rl 3 plv 2 rlv 2 vt 3. Palpal spination: femora: pl 1 do 2, with rlv 5 erect setae; patellae: pl 1 do 2; tibiae: pl 1 do 1 plv 1; tarsi: pl 1 plv 3 rlv 1. Abdomen with pale creamy-grey anterior dorsal scutum, extending slightly past midpoint; dorsum with lateral black stripes with small white spots, fused posteriorly; cream medially except small black spots anteriorly and behind midpoint of dorsum; spinnerets surrounded by narrow black ring dorsally and laterally, absent ventrally; markings covered in black feathery and short straight setae, with white feathery and brown short straight setae between them; venter cream, densely covered in white short straight and white feathery setae; epigastric scutum creamy-yellow; ventral sclerite absent; inframamillary sclerite orange. Male palp creamy-yellow, cymbium yellow; tegulum yellow-orange, with orange-brown ducts; embolus with narrow base and single coil, much broader than base, with short, distally directed tip (Figs 108, 149, 150).
Female: Unknown.
Type material: Holotype 3: TANZANIA: Iringa Region: Mufindi District, Uzungwa Scarp Forest Reserve, 08°31.58'S, 35°54'E, 750m a.s.l., leg. S. McKamey et al., 7.III.1996 (canopy fog 36) (ZMUC).
Additional material examined: TANZANIA: Iringa Region: Mufindi District, Uzungwa Scarp Forest Reserve, 08°31.58'S, 35°54'E, 750m a.s.l., leg. S. McKamey et al., 12.III.1996 (canopy fog 38), 13 (ZMUC).
Distribution: Known only from the type locality (Fig. 153).
Biology: Collected by canopy fogging in forests.
description: Published as part of Haddad, Charles R., 2013, Taxonomic notes on the spider genus Messapus Simon, 1898 (Araneae, Corinnidae), with the description of the new genera Copuetta and Wasaka and the first cladistic analysis of Afrotropical Castianeirinae, pp. 1-79 in Zootaxa 3688 (1) on pages 57-59, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3688.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/284201