Asianopis lini, Omelko & Fomichev, 2025

Omelko, Mikhail M. & Fomichev, Alexander A., 2025, New data on Asianopis (Aranei: Deinopidae) in Southeast Asia, Zootaxa 5637 (2), pp. 311-325 : 313

Asianopis lini sp. nov.

( Figs 1–2 , 11 , 16 , 21–23 , 30, 34 , 53 )

Material examined. HOLOTYPE ♂ ( ZMMU), MALAYSIA: Borneo, Sabah Prov., Crocker Mts , 5°24’N 116°6’E, on grass, 1050 m., 9.02.1993 (A.M. Emelyanov).

Etymology. The specific name is a patronym in honour of Yejie Lin (Beijing, China), well-known Chinese arachnologist, one of the authors who established Asianopis and described several new species in it.

Comments. Although several species of Asianopis known only from females occur in Southeast Asia, we consider that A. lini sp. nov. cannot be conspecific with any of them, as the ranges of all known species in the genus, except for A. liukuensis , are local, and none of these species occur in Borneo.

Diagnosis. By the structure of the palp (shape of median apophysis and presence of embolic terminal apophysis) the new species is similar to A. wuchaoi ( China, Yunnan Prov.) and A. gorochovi ( Indonesia, Sumatra Is.). The male of A. lini sp. nov. can be easily distinguished from that of A. wuchaoi by carapace lacking lateral bands (vs. with distinct bands; cf. Fig. 1 and Lin et al. 2020b: fig. 13C), significantly longer carapace length (5.32 vs. 4.0) and the strongly curved embolic terminal apophysis ( ETA ) (vs. straight; cf. Fig. 34 and Lin et al. 2020b: fig. 21B). From A. gorochovi it can be differed by the light brown body color (vs. dark gray; cf. Figs 1–2 and 3–4 ), cephalic part the same color as thoracic part (vs. contrasting white; cf. Figs 1 and 3 ) and by embolus originates at ca. 1 o’clock and ending at 12 (vs. 6 and 4 o’clock, correspondingly; cf. Fig. 22 and 25 ).

Description. Male. Total length 16.95. Carapace: 5.32 long, 4.04 wide. Abdomen: 12.14 long, 2.76 wide. Eye sizes and interdistances:AME 0.19,ALE 0.33, PME 0.60, PLE 0.32, AME–AME 0.29, AME–ALE 0.97, PME–PME 0.21, PME–PLE 0.75, AME–PME 0.21. Palp measurements: 7.58 (3.73, 0.99, 1.26, -, 1.60). Leg measurements: I: 70.58 (17.32, 2.45, 20.32, 24.54, 5.95). II: 50.18 (14.92, 2.60, 14.39, 12.48, 5.79). III: 30.08 (10.06, 1.83, 8.22, 8.37, 1.60). IV: 30.4 (9.56, 1.93, 8.84, 8.65, 1.42).

Coloration. Clypeus yellow. Areas around AME, ALE, PLE covered with sparse whitish setae. Chelicerae yellow with gray lateral sides, 3 pro-, 1 retrolateral teeth and number of retrolateral denticles. Carapace light brown with poorly visible median band, lateral bands absent. Sternum yellow with couple of black dots on lateral edges. Labium and endites yellow.

Palpal femur, patella and tibia yellow, cymbium brown. Legs coloration. Coxae grayish ventrally, yellow laterally; femora yellow; patellae and tibiae yellow; metatarsi I–II light brown, III–IV yellow; tarsi I–II brown proximally and yellow distally, III–IV yellow.

Abdomen light yellow dorsally, with brown longitudinal stripe. Sides of abdomen yellow. Ventral part of abdomen light yellow with dark gray areas around epigastric fold, in front of spinnerets and with couple of small black dots medially. Spinnerets brown.

Male palp as shown in Figs 21–23 , 30, 34 . Femur twice as long as cymbium, length/width ratio ca. 2.52. Patella 1.4 times shorter than tibia. Tibia 2.7 times shorter than femur. Cymbium 1.3 times longer than tibia. Cymbial length/width ratio 1.1. Tegulum and sperm duct completely hidden behind embolic coils. Centrally located median apophysis (MA) consists of two lobes: proximal (PL) and distal (DL). Proximal lobe reverse comma-shaped, situated along the longitudinal axis of bulb. Distal lobe almost diagonal to PL. Embolus (Em) long, its coils cover whole tegulum except for its central part, originates at 1 o’clock, coiling ca 1440° around MA and ending at 12 o’clock. Distal part of embolus with curved terminal apophysis ( ETA ), tip of embolus widened.

Female unknown.

Notes. Judging by the structures of the male palp (tegulum partly obscured by embolic coils; embolus long and strongly coiled around median apophysis more than 1400°, widened subapically; median apophysis with two lobes) Asianopis lini sp. nov. belongs to zhuanghaoyuni -group. Thus, this group now consists of seven species: A. celebensis , A. gorochovi , A. konplong , A. lini sp. nov., A. wangi , A. wuchaoi and A. zhuanghaoyuni .

Distribution. Type locality only, Borneo (= Kalimantan) ( Fig. 53 ).

Figures

FIGURE 53. Distribution records of Asianopis spp in Indomalayan Realm and New Guinea: A. aruensis (1), A. camela (2), A. celebensis (3), A. dumogae (4), A. fasciculiger (5), A. goalparaensis (6), A. gorochovi (7), A. kollari (8), A. konplong (9); A. labangan (10), A. liukuensis (11), A. luzonensis (12), A. reticulata (13), A. wangi (14), A. wuchaoi (15), A. zhuanghaoyuni (16), A. mediocris (17), A. lini sp. nov. (18), A. naumenkoi sp. nov. (19), A. apo sp. nov. (20).

FIGURES 1–10. General appearance of Asianopis lini sp. nov. (1–2), A. gorochovi (3–4), A. liukuensis (5–6), A. naumenkoi sp. nov. (7–8) and A. apo sp. nov. (9–10). 1, 3, 5—male, dorsal; 2, 4, 6—ditto, ventral; 7, 9—female, dorsal; 8, 10—ditto, ventral. Scale bars: 2 mm.

FIGURES 11–15. Prosoma of Asianopis lini sp. nov. (11), A. gorochovi (12), A. liukuensis (13), A. naumenkoi sp. nov. (14) and A. apo sp. nov. (15). 11–15—anterior. Scale bars: 0.5 mm.

FIGURES 16–20. Chelicerae of Asianopis lini sp. nov. (16), A. gorochovi (17), A. liukuensis (18), A. naumenkoi sp. nov. (19) and A. apo sp. nov. (20). 16–20—posterior. Scale bars: 0.5 mm.

FIGURES 21–26. Terminal part of male palp of Asianopis lini sp. nov. (21–23) and A. gorochovi (24–26). 21, 24—prolateral; 22, 25—ventral; 23, 26—retrolateral. Scale bars=0.5 mm. Abbreviations: DL—distal lobe, Em—embolus, MA—median apophysis, PL— proximal lobe.

FIGURES 30–34. Whole male palp (30–32) and tip of embolus (33–34) of Asianopis lini sp. nov. (30, 34), A. liukuensis (31) and A. gorochovi (32–33). Scale bars=0.5 mm (30–32), 0.1 mm (33–34). Abbreviations: ETA—embolic terminal apophysis.