Pholcus punu Huber, sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:C721A4A8-5D18-467B-A433-7E526A641082

Figs 12-13, 27, 63-74

Diagnosis

Distinguished from P. moca Huber, 2011 (the most similar species and probably closest known relative) by shape of procursus (longer retrolateral process; absence of distinct ridge between retrolateral process and tip; compare Fig. 70 with fig. 946 in Huber 2011b); also by shape of uncus (not bilobed as in P. moca), presence of proximal frontal processes on male chelicerae and slightly different shape of epigynal plate (narrower in P. moca; compare Fig. 64 with fig. 921 in Huber 2011b).

Etymology

Named for the Punu (or Bapunu, Bapounou), one of the four major peoples of Gabon; noun in apposition.

Type material

Holotype ♂, in ZFMK (Ar 11938) .

Type locality

GABON, Haut Ogooué, forest above Canyon rose near Lékoni (1°38.6’S, 14°17.5’E), 600 m a.s.l., 19 Aug. 2011 (B.A. & S.R. Huber).

Other material examined

GABON: Haut Ogooué: 2 ♂♂, 10 ♀♀ in ZFMK (Ar 11939), same data as holotype ; 2 ♀♀, 2 juvs in pure ethanol, in ZFMK (Gab 209), same data . 1 ♂ in ZFMK (Ar 11940), forest at Lékoni River (1°10.7’S, 13°32.3’E), 305 m a.s.l., 18 Aug. 2011 (B.A. & S.R. Huber) ; 1 ♀, 1 juv. in pure ethanol, in ZFMK (Gab 213), same data . 1 ♂, 3 ♀♀ in ZFMK (Ar 11941), forest near Bongoville (1°36.7’S, 13°57.4’E), 600-650 m a.s.l., 20 Aug. 2011 (B.A. Huber) ; 2 juvs in pure ethanol, in ZFMK (Gab 207), same data . Ogooué-Ivindo: 5 ♂♂, 4 ♀♀ in ZFMK (Ar 11942), near Mohoba Mozeye (0°16.8’N, 13°20.9’E), 510 m a.s.l., forest along road, 17 Aug. 2011 (B.A. & S.R. Huber) ; 2 ♀♀, 3 juvs in pure ethanol, in ZFMK (Gab 169), same data . Ogooué-Lolo: 1 ♂, 1 ♀ in ZFMK (Ar 11943), forest at brook near Lastoursville, near Grotte de Pahon Pira (0°48.8’S, 12°45.2’E), 290 m a.s.l., 22-23 Aug. 2011 (B.A. Huber) . 2 ♂♂, 1 ♀ in ZFMK (Ar 11944), forest near Lastoursville (0°48.0’S, 12°44.4’E), 300 m a.s.l., 21 Aug. 2011 (B.A. Huber) ; 3 juvs in pure ethanol, in ZFMK (Gab 221), same data . 1 ♂, 1 ♀ in ZFMK (Ar 11945), near Moudouma (1°23.5’S, 12°09.6’E), 475 m a.s.l., forest along brook, 24 Aug. 2011 (B.A. & S.R. Huber) ; 1 juv in pure ethanol, in ZFMK (Gab 157), same data . Ngounié: 2 ♂♂, 4 ♀♀ in ZFMK (Ar 11946), Massif du Chaillu, ‘site 2’, near Moukabou (1°36.6’S, 11°40.7’E), 560 m a.s.l., forest, 25 Aug. 2011 (B.A. & S.R. Huber) ; 3 juvs in pure ethanol, in ZFMK (Gab 174), same data . 4 ♂♂, 7 ♀♀ in ZFMK (Ar 11947), Massif du Chaillu, ‘site 3’, between Mimongo & Yéno (1°38.1’S, 11°32.6’E), 570-650 m a.s.l., forest, 26 Aug. 2011 (B.A. & S.R. Huber) ; 3 juvs in pure ethanol, in ZFMK (Gab 233), same data. 1 ♂ in ZFMK (Ar 11948), Massif du Chaillu, ‘site 4’, between Yéno and Mouila (1°43.7’S, 11°18.4’E), 650 m a.s.l., forest along river, 26 Aug. 2011 (B.A. & S.R. Huber) . 3 ♂♂, 7 ♀♀ in ZFMK (Ar 11949), near Moulandoufouala (1°38.1’S, 10°42.5’E), 110 m a.s.l., forest along road, 27 Aug. 2011 (B.A. & S.R. Huber) ; 4 juvs in pure ethanol, in ZFMK (Gab 184), same data . Moyen-Ogooué: 3 ♂♂ in ZFMK (Ar 11950), S of Lambaréné near Tchad (0°58.1’S, 10°22.7’E), 165 m a.s.l., forest, 27 Aug. 2011 (B.A. & S.R. Huber) .

Description

Male (holotype)

MEASUREMENTS. Total body length 3.0, carapace width 0.9. Leg 1: 27.0 (6.4 + 0.4 + 6.5 + 11.5 + 2.2), tibia 2: 4.5, tibia 3: 2.7, tibia 4: 4.1; tibia 1 L/d: 82. Distance PME-PME 265 µm, diameter PME 95 µm, distance PME-ALE 45 µm, AME absent (only black spots without lenses).

COLOR. Carapace ochre-orange with large brown median mark, ocular area also brown, sternum medially slightly darkened; legs with dark rings on femora subdistally, patellae plus tibiae proximally, and tibiae subdistally; abdomen grey with internal black and whitish spots dorsally and laterally.

BODY. Habitus as in Fig. 63; ocular area slightly elevated, each triad on short hump directed laterally; carapace without median furrow; clypeus unmodified; sternum wider than long (0.66/0.52), unmodified. Chelicerae as in Fig. 72, with pair of lateral processes proximally, pair of frontal apophyses proximally, and pair of frontal apophyses distally provided with two modified hairs each; without stridulatory ridges.

PALPS. As in Figs 66-71, coxa unmodified, trochanter with short and wide retrolatero-ventral apophysis, femur with short retrolatero-dorsal process proximally, procursus complex, with distinctive sclerotized and membranous elements; bulb with large uncus, simple weakly sclerotized embolus, and hooked appendix.

LEGS. Without spines and curved hairs, few vertical hairs; retrolateral trichobothrium on tibia 1 at 3%; prolateral trichobothrium absent on tibia 1, present on other tibiae; tarsus 1 with>20 pseudosegments, only distally fairly distinct.

VARIATION. Tibia 1 in 22 other males: 6.7-8.8 (mean 7.9). Clypeus variably dark; AME spots sometimes fused. In most males the palps are extended and the bulbs rotated as in Fig. 71.

Female

In general similar to male; tibia 1 in 36 females: 5.3-7.1 (mean 6.3). Epigynum with distinct plate and ‘knob’, anterior area weakly sclerotized, ‘valve’ and other internal structures visible through cuticle (Fig. 64); internal genitalia as in Figs 65 and 73-74.

Natural history

The spiders were mostly found in the leaf litter and in cavities in the ground (Fig. 12), sometimes sharing the microhabitat with a representative of Smeringopina (e.g. S. moudouma Huber, 2013 in forest near Lastoursville; S. fang Huber, 2013 between Yéno and Mouila; S. lekoni Huber, 2013 at Lékoni River). The two specimens from Moudouma were found at the rock surface (Fig. 13) close to a small brook.

Distribution

Known from various localities in Gabon south of the Ogooué-Ivindo Rivers (Fig. 27; the closely related P. moca Huber, 2011 seems to be confined to the north of these rivers).