Platocoelotes bifidus Yin, Xu & Yan, 2010, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Yin, Haiqiang
name: Xu, Xiang
name: Yan, Hengmei
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2010
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Araneae
Amaurobiidae
Platocoelotes
Platocoelotes bifidus

description: Platocoelotes bifidus sp. nov.
Figs 1A –G, 3A–G, 5.
Type material (all specimens in HNU): Holotype male, CHINA: Hunan, Shimen County, Mt. Hupingshan, unnamed cave (30.00ºN, 110.68ºE), 6 males and 5 female paratypes, 12 November 2006, Guo Tang, Peng Hu and Qiaobing Wang leg.
Etymology: The specific epithet is taken from the Latin adjective bifidus and refers to the bifid distal end of the male palpal conductor.
Diagnosis: The male of this new species can be distinguished from other Platocoelotes by the distally wrench-shaped conductor with bifid apex and both apexes strong and short (C, Figs 1A–D, 3B–D), while female can be separated by the transversely elongated opening of atrium (OA, Figs 1F, 3F).
Description. Male: Total length 4.6–5.0. Holotype total length 4.7. Carapace length 2.2, width 1.7; abdomen length 2.5, width 1.6 (Fig. 3A). Eye measurements and interdistances: AME 0.08; ALE 0.16; PME 0.16; PLE 0.16; AME–AME 0.03; AME–ALE 0.01; AME–PME 0.18; ALE–PLE 0.03; PME–PME 0.05; PME–PLE 0.05. Leg measurements: I: total 9.1 (femur 2.4, patella + tibia 3.1, metatarsus 2.2, tarsus 1.4); II: 8.1 (2.2, 2.6, 2.0, 1.3); III: 7.3 (1.6, 2.3, 2.2, 1.2); IV: 10.1 (2.7, 3.1, 2.7, 1.6); leg formula: IV, I, II, III. Chelicerae with 3 promarginal and 2 retromarginal teeth (Fig. 1E). Patellar apophysis small, with a sharp distal end; RTA broad, with distal end distinctly extending beyond distal margin of tibia; lateral tibial apophysis absent; cymbial furrow about one fourth of cymbial length; conductor lamella absent; distal margin of conductor bifid; dorsal conductor apophysis triangular; ventral conductor apophysis long, strongly extended proximally and reaching the distal end of RTA; median apophysis absent; embolus arising at approximately 210 degrees and continuing for about 180 degrees around genital bulb (Figs 1A–D, 3B–D).
Female: Total length 5.2–5.6. The specimen measured in total length 5.5. Carapace length 2.5, width 1.8; abdomen length 3.0, width 2.0. Eye measurements and interdistances: AME 0.08; ALE 0.16; PME 0.16; PLE 0.16; AME–AME 0.05; AME–ALE 0.01; AME–PME 0.10; ALE–PLE 0.03; PME–PME 0.08; PME–PLE 0.08. Leg formula: IV, I, II, III; leg measurements: I: total 8.2 (femur 2.2, patella + tibia 2.9, metatarsus 1.9, tarsus 1.2); II: 7.2 (2.0, 2.4, 1.8, 1.0); III: 7.0 (1.9, 2.2, 1.8, 1.1); IV: 9.7 (2.6, 3.1, 2.6, 1.4). Chelicerae with 3 promarginal and 2 retromarginal teeth. Epigynum with atrium large, longer than wide; opening of atrium transversely elongated; epigynal hoods distinct, close to epigastric furrow and widely separated from lateral atrial margins; spermathecae close to each other at the base, but distally separate; spermathecal heads small, situated medially and laterally, widely separated; copulatory ducts indistinct (Figs 1F –G, 3 F–G).
Distribution: China (Hunan) (Fig. 5)
Remarks: Males of this new species have the conductor ventral apophysis and lack the median apophysis. Females have the broad, shallow atrium and the distinct epigynal hoods. These characters allow us to put it into the genus Platocoelotes.
description: Published as part of Yin, Haiqiang, Xu, Xiang & Yan, Hengmei, 2010, A new Platocoelotes species and first description of the male of Platocoelotes icohamatoides from Hunan, China (Araneae: Amaurobiidae: Coelotinae), pp. 42-50 in Zootaxa 2399 on pages 43-45, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.275875