Bowie rotundus Wang & Irfan & Zhang & Zhang 2024, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Wang, Lu-Yu
name: Irfan, Muhammad
name: Zhang, Feng
name: Zhang, Zhi-Sheng
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Araneae
Ctenidae
Bowie
Bowie rotundus

description: Bowie rotundus sp. nov. (圆Ñ伊Ħ)
Figures 5–6, 7
Type material. Holotype male (SWUC-T-CTe-02-01), China, Tibet, Medog County, 29.3245°N, 95.326967°E, elev. 1116 m, 22 May 2019, L.Y. Wang, P. Liu, T. Yuan and H. Wang leg.; Paratypes: 2 males and 2 females (SWUC-T-CTe-02-02~05), Medog County, 29.327161°N, 95.325881°E, elev. 1049 m, 31 May 2022, L.Y. Wang, B. Tan and T.Y. Ren leg.
Etymology. The specific name comes from the Latin word ‘ rotundus’, which means‘round’ and refers to the tegular apophysis almost round, ball-like.
Diagnosis. Bowie rotundus sp. nov. resembles B. robustus (Thorell, 1897) and B. theodorianum (Jäger, 2012) from Southwest Asia in having a similar retrolateral tibilal apophysis arising at the same position on the tibia of the male palp; and in the female genitalia with similarly spherical spermathecae and the epigyne with lateral teeth present at its widest part (Figs 5A–C, 6C–G; Jäger 2012: figs 66, 93), but can be distinguished by the combination of following characters: cymbium basal lamellar outgrowth somewhat triangular, with sharp, pointed end in ventral view (Figs 5A, 6D) vs. thumb shaped, with blunt end both in B. robustus and B. theodorianum (Jäger 2012: figs 66, 93); tegular apophysis almost round in ventral view (Figs 5A, 6D) vs. almost doorknob-shaped in B. robustus (Jäger 2012: fig. 66) and divided into two parts in B. theodorianum (Jäger 2012: fig. 93); membrabous extension of embolus like a small outgrowth, semicircular in prolateral and ventral view (Figs 5A, 6C, D) vs. sheet-like, extending above the embolus both in B. robustus and B. theodorianum (Jäger 2012: figs 65, 66, 92, 93). Females of B. rotundus can be distinguished by the combination of following characters: epigyne wider than long (Figs 5C, 6F) vs. about as long as wide both in B. robustus and B. theodorianum (Jäger 2012: figs 69, 73, 96); anterior margin of the median plate bulging upward in ventral view (Figs 5C, 6F) vs. not bulging upward in both B. robustus and B. theodorianum (Jäger 2012: figs 69, 73, 96).
Description. Male holotype (Fig. 6A) total length 12.70. Prosoma 6.78 long, 5.22 wide; opisthosoma 5.94 long, 3.82 wide. Carapace with distinct light, brownish median band, fovea marked, brown, lateral bands dark reddishbrown. Eye sizes and interdistances: AME 0.36, ALE 0.24, PME 0.47, PLE 0.32; AME-AME 0.21, AME-ALE 0.38, PME-PME 0.19, PME-PLE 0.41, ALE-PLE 0.19. MOA 0.95 long, front width 0.82, back width 1.10. Clypeus height 0.19. Chelicerae stout, brown, with three promarginal and four retromarginal teeth, without denticles. Endites and labium brown, longer than wide. Sternum dark brown, with sparse brown setae. Legs brown. Patellae I–II without spines; tibia I–II with five pairs of ventral spines; metatarsus I–II with three pairs of ventral spines. Leg measurements: I 20.81 (5.73, 8.22, 5.07, 1.79); II 19.18 (5.52, 7.41, 4.69, 1.56); III 16.67 (4.80, 5.82, 4.36, 1.69); IV 23.34 (6.15, 7.96, 7.16, 2.07). Leg formula: 4123. Opisthosoma oval, dorsum yellowish with four gray chevron stripes. Venter yellowish brown.
Male palp (Figs 5A–B, 6B–D). Retrolateral tibial apophysis thumb-shaped in retrolateral view, extending towards the cymbium base with broad, truncate end; cymbium with basal outgrowth like a minute projection with pointed end. Tegular apophysis more or less circular in shape. Conductor membranous, slightly curved, extending prolaterally. Embolus thick, with large membranous extension and with a basal process corresponding to the excavation of subtegulum, embolus with somewhat blunt end.
Female paratype (SWUC-T-CTe-02-02, Fig. 6B) total length 15.36. Prosoma 8.07 long, 6.01 wide; opisthosoma 7.51 long, 5.20 wide. Eye sizes and interdistances: AME 0.35, ALE 0.29, PME 0.51, PLE 0.45; AME-AME 0.29, AME-ALE 0.50, PME-PME 0.25, PME-PLE 0.49, ALE-PLE 0.24. MOA 1.07 long, front width 0.91, back width 1.25. Clypeus height 0.23. Leg measurements: I 19.38 (5.38, 7.96, 4.38, 1.66); II 17.74 (5.08, 6.90, 4.09, 1.67); III 16.09 (4.83, 5.63, 4.14, 1.49); IV 23.10 (6.08, 8.05, 6.89, 2.08). Leg formula: 4123. Spination and color pattern same as in male.
Genitalia (Figs 5C–D, 6F–G). Median plate of epigyne wider than long, lateral teeth situated at widest part. Internal duct system with two large lateral folds running diagonally from medially to laterally, with distinct bend in the middle part. Spermathecae separated by about their diameter from each other; fertilisation ducts pointing medially.
Distribution. Known only from the type locality, Medog, Tibet (Fig. 7).
Habitat. This species is nocturnal in habit and was found in the leaf litter of tropical rainforests.
description: Published as part of Wang, Lu-Yu, Irfan, Muhammad, Zhang, Feng & Zhang, Zhi-Sheng, 2024, On three species of ctenids (Araneae: Ctenidae) from Tibet, China, pp. 119-129 in Zootaxa 5458 (1) on pages 127-128, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5458.1.7, http://zenodo.org/record/11348477