Yunohamella lyrica (Walckenaer, 1841)

Zhong, Rui, Zhong, Yang, Zhang, He, Liu, Jie, Liu, Changyong, Chen, Kuai & Hu, Changhao, 2025, Taxonomic notes on the genus Yunohamella Yoshida, 2007 (Araneae, Theridiidae) from China, with two new species, ZooKeys 1224, pp. 69-85 : 69-85

Yunohamella lyrica (Walckenaer, 1841)

Figs 7 , 8 , 9 , 10

Theridion lyricum Walckenaer, 1841: 288 ; Archer 1946: 43; Levi 1957: 89, figs 322–323, 329–331; Yoshida 1987: 13, figs 1, 2; Yoshida 1989: 318, fig. 4 P – R; Chikuni 1989: 44, fig. 64; Kim and Kim 2001: 155, fig. 2 A – I; Namkung 2002: 96, fig. 13.14 a, b; Paquin and Dupérré 2003: 223, figs 2494–2496.

Theridion lyra Hentz, 1850: 279, pl. 9, fig. 21; Keyserling 1884: 50, pl. 2, fig. 28; Kaston 1948: 106, figs 132, 153, 154.

Theridion kentuckyense Keyserling, 1884: 78 , pl. 4, fig. 47; Banks 1892: 30, pl. 5, fig. 43; Emerton 1909: 180, pl. 1, fig. 6.

Theridion mneon Bösenberg & Strand, 1906: 142, pl. 12, fig. 286.

Allotheridion lyricum : Archer 1950: 20.

Takayus lyricus : Yoshida 2001: 167; Namkung 2003: 98, fig. 13.14 a, b; Yoshida 2003: 97, figs 239–242, 530.

Keijia mneon : Yoshida 2001: 172.

Yunohamella lyrica Yoshida 2007: 69; Yoshida 2009: 372, figs 149, 150; Lee and Kim 2021: 166, fig. 4 A; Kim 2021: 172, fig. 75 A – D.

Platnickina mneon : Koçak and Kemal 2008: 3; Ono 2011: 452; Dupérré 2023: 231, fig. 73 A – C. Syn. nov.

Material examined.

• 2 males, 4 females: China Hubei Province: Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Xuan’en County, Qizimeishan National Nature Reserve, Chunmuying Town, Xiaoshui Cave ; 30.02 ° N, 109.78 ° E; elev. 1777 m; 1 June 2024; Changhao Hu & Mian Wei leg. ( CBEE, QZMS 04713 , QZMS 04714 , QZMS 04751 – QZMS 04754 ) . • 2 females: Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Xuan’en County, Qizimeishan National Nature Reserve, Chunmuying Town, Xiaoshui Cave ; 30.02 ° N, 109.78 ° E; elev. 1777 m; 12 July 2023; Changhao Hu & Mian Wei leg. ( CBEE, QZMS 02405 , QZMS 02406 ) . • 1 female: Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Xuan’en County, Qizimeishan National Nature Reserve, Chunmuying Town, Shaiping Village ; 29.96 ° N, 109.76 ° E; elev. 1822 m; 31 July 2023; Changhao Hu & Mian Wei leg. ( CBEE, QZMS 01160 ) .

Diagnosis.

For males see the diagnosis under Y. varietas by Lee and Kim (2021). Males of Y. lyrica are also similar to those of Y. subadulta (compare Fig. 7 D – F with Kim 2021: fig. 77 E – G) in having a sharp terminal conductor and a sperm duct curving four times, but Y. lyrica can be distinguished from Y. subadulta in having the conductor extend beyond the cymbium (vs. conductor not exceeding the cymbium in Y. palmgreni ). Females of Y. lyrica are similar to those of Y. takasukai Yoshida, 2012 (compare Fig. 9 D – F with Yoshida 2012: figs 4, 5) in having a pair of projections on the anterlateral epigynal plate, but Y. lyrica can be distinguished from Y. takasukai by having oval, laminar projections on the anterlateral epigynal plate and long, curved copulatory ducts (vs nipple-like projections and copulatory ducts short in Y. takasukai ).

Redescription.

Male, measurements: total length 2.11. Carapace 1.16 long, 0.88 wide. Abdomen 1.10 long, 0.91 wide. Eyes: AME 0.10, ALE 0.08, PME 0.08, PLE 0.08, AME – AME 0.10, AME – ALE 0.04, PME – PME 0.07, PME – PLE 0.09, AME – PME 0.09, ALE – PLE 0.00. Measurements of legs: I 7.48 (2.27, 0.43, 1.94, 2.10, 0.74), II 4.29 (1.38, 0.30, 0.98, 1.17, 0.46), III 2.71 (1.00, 0.19, 0.52, 0.60, 0.40), IV 3.87 (1.31, 0.26, 0.88, 0.95, 0.47). Leg formula: I-II-IV-III.

Carapace brownish green, with deep fovea and black radial furrow. Sternum shaped like an inverted triangle and dark brown. Chelicerae orange. Labium and endites dark brown. Legs yellow. Abdomen with long hairs; dorsum black, with a longitudinal mark composed of yellow base and white spots; venter yellow; anterior part of spinnerets black. Spinnerets brown (Fig. 7 A – C ).

Cymbium oval. Cymbial hood tilted at 30 °, almost 1 / 8 length of cymbium. Subtegulum bowl-shaped. Tegulum with a narrow prolateral part and a large retrolateral part; sperm duct curving four times. Median apophysis and tegular apophysis almost as long as the width of bulb. Conductor sclerotized, with a sharp end. Embolus straight, with a rounded base (Figs 7 D – F , 8 A, B ).

Female, measurements: total length 2.49. Carapace 0.91 long, 0.74 wide. Abdomen 1.40 long, 1.31 wide. Eyes: AME 0.09, ALE 0.07, PME 0.09, PLE 0.09, AME – AME 0.04, AME – ALE 0.02, PME – PME 0.08, PME – PLE 0.07, AME – PME 0.05, ALE – PLE 0.00. Measurements of legs: I 5.57 (1.73, 0.32, 1.47, 1.43, 0.62), II 3.76 (1.24, 0.33, 0.83, 0.86, 0.50), III 2.71 (0.94, 0.25, 0.51, 0.61, 0.40), IV 3.84 (1.30, 0.34, 0.84, 0.91, 0.45). Leg formula: I-IV-II-III.

Carapace dark brown. Legs yellow to orange. Abdomen black; dorsum with a longitudinal mark composed of white, red, and yellow spots; posterior part of dorsum with three inverted V-shaped marks composed of yellow spots; median band of venter black, the rest yellow; posterior part of genital groove with several white spots, posterior-lateral part of genital groove with black transverse bands. Other characters of habitus as for male (Fig. 9 A – C ).

Epigyne with an oval atrium, two oval sclerotized plates overhanging anterolateral epigynal plate, copulatory openings located laterally on sclerotized plates. Copulatory ducts curved into a C-shape. Spermathecae spherical. Fertilization ducts arising posteriorly from spermathecae (Fig. 9 D – F ).

Natural history.

This is one of the most widespread Yunohamella species. This species is found on bushes, forests, and fences, as well as inside houses ( Kaston 1948; Levi 1957; Gao and Li 2014; Kim et al. 2016; Lee and Kim 2021).

Comments.

Platnickina mneon was first described by Bösenberg and Strand (1906) based on a female specimen collected in Saga, Japan. To date, males of P. mneon remain unknown. Dupérré (2023) provided diagnostic characters and illustrations of P. mneon after examining the female holotype and noted that this species does not conform to the characteristics of the genus Platnickina Koçak & Kemal, 2008 (e. g. copulatory openings located on sclerotized plates in P. mneon vs inside the circular depression of the epigyne in Platnickina spp. ) and that it likely belongs to another genus. The holotype of P. mneon exhibits all the diagnostic features of Y. lyrica as provided by Levi (1957), including the two sclerotized plates, copulatory openings located on the sclerotized plates, and oval spermathecae (compare Figs 7 D – F , 9 D – F with Dupérré 2023: fig. 73 B, C and with Levi 1957: figs 329, 330). Although the types of Y. lyrica and P. mneon were unavailable for examination, our comparison based on specimens collected in Hubei Province, China and the illustrations and descriptions provided by Levi (1957) and Dupérré (2023) allows us to consider P. mneon as a junior synonym of Y. lyrica .

Distribution.

China (Hubei Province, new Province record; Yunnan Province), Japan, Korea, North America.

Figures

Figure 7. Yunohamella lyrica (Walckenaer, 1841), male. A habitus, dorsal view B habitus, ventral view C habitus, lateral view D left palp, prolateral view E left palp, ventral view F left palp, retrolateral view. Scale bars: 0.5 mm (A – C); 0.2 mm (D – F). (Photos by Changhao Hu and Rui Zhong.)

Figure 8. Yunohamella lyrica (Walckenaer, 1841), expanded left male palp. A prolateral view B ventral view. Scale bars: 0.2 mm. (Photos by Changhao Hu.)

Figure 9. Yunohamella lyrica (Walckenaer, 1841), female. A habitus, dorsal view B habitus, ventral view C habitus, lateral view D uncleared epigyne, ventral view E uncleared epigyne, ventral view F vulva, dorsal view. Scale bars: 0.5 mm (A – C); 0.1 mm (D – F). (Photos by Changhao Hu.)

Figure 10. The collection locality of Yunohamella spp. from Hubei Province, China. Black circle represents Y. gutenbergi R. Zhong, J. Liu & Hu, sp. nov.; green circle represents Y. mohorovicici R. Zhong, J. Liu & Hu, sp. nov.; red circle represents Y. jiugongensis (Liu & Zhong, 2023) comb. nov.; orange circles represent Y. lyrica (Walckenaer, 1841).