Nyctimus saksang Dhiya’ulhaq & Benjamin, 2025

Benjamin, Suresh P., Dhiya’ulhaq, Naufal Urfi, Deeleman-Reinhold, Christa, Buchori, Damayanti, Hidayat, Purnama, Scheu, Stefan & Drescher, Jochen, 2025, Taxonomic notes on the crab-spider genera Nyctimus Thorell, 1877 and Zametopina Simon, 1909 (Araneae, Thomisidae) with descriptions of six new species from Southeast Asia, ZooKeys 1255, pp. 95-125 : 95-125

Nyctimus saksang Dhiya’ulhaq & Benjamin sp. nov.

Figs 16 , 17

Etymology.

The specific epithet refers to a meat-stew dish associated with the Batak people from North Sumatra. The meat is cooked in blood, giving it a dark colouration. The dark colour of Nyctimus saksang Benjamin & Dhiya’ulhaq , sp. nov., is reminiscent of the colour of this dish.

Type material.

Holotype. Indonesia – Sumatra, Jambi Province • ♂; Batang Hari, Hutan Harapan Conservation Area ; 02°09'48.9"S, 103°20'04.4"E; elev. 73 m; 6 Jul. 2013; J. Drescher leg.; canopy fogging in rainforest; GOET 2013_HF 2.1_AraThom 036 N_001 (to be transferred to MZB).

Diagnosis.

Males can be easily distinguished from all other congeners by the very wide, axe-shaped RTA which consists of three large lobes (Figs 16 C, D , 17 ).

Description.

Male ( holotype 2013 _ HF 2.1 _ AraThom 036 N _ 001; Figs 16 , 17 ). Total length 3.11. Prosoma length 1.50; width 1.25. Opisthosoma length 1.61; width 1.40. Diameter of eyes: AME 0.08; ALE 0.17; PLE 0.14; PME 0.05. Interdistances between eyes: AME – AME 0.40; AME – ALE 0.10; ALE – ALE 0.73; PME – PME 0.38; PME – PLE 0.33; ALE – PLE 0.21; AME – PME 0.22; PLE – PLE 0.95. Leg measurements: leg I 4.20 (1.20, 0.44, 1.05, 0.89, 0.62); leg II 3.74 (1.10, 0.34, 0.91, 0.78, 0.61); leg III 2.78 (0.83, 0.37, 0.67, 0.52, 0.39); leg IV 2.87 (0.88, 0.26, 0.70, 0.60, 0.43). Prosoma cuboid, almost as long as wide, dark reddish brown; surface weakly granulated; laterally adorned with long macrosetae, each arising from a small tubercle. Chelicerae and sternum coloured as prosoma. Endites brown with white tip. Front legs brown; back legs brown except for the white femora. Opisthosoma round, dark brown with paired white bars in the middle that are almost touching each other; anteriorly with a white border; posteriorly with a white patch; dorsally covered with scutum; five large sigillae present, arranged in a triangular formation.

Palp (Figs 16 C, D , 17 ): cymbium oval. Embolus elongated, tapering; tip with a slight flange. Tegular hood small. RTA trilobed; ventral lobed finger-shaped; median lobe triangular, with dorsal lobe axe-shaped; dorsal edge slightly folded. VTA hook-shaped, small, attached medially on the ventral lobe of RTA.

Female. Unknown.

Distribution.

Only known from the type locality ( Indonesia: Sumatra: Jambi) (Fig. 19 ).

Figures

Figure 16. Nyctimus saksang Dhiya’ulhaq & Benjamin, sp. nov. male holotype (AraThom 036 N 2013 HF 2.1 001). A. Habitus, dorsal view; B. Habitus, ventral view; C. Left palp, ventral view; D. Left palp, retrolateral view. Scale bars: 1 mm (A, B); 0.2 mm (C, D).

Figure 17. Nyctimus saksang Dhiya’ulhaq & Benjamin, sp. nov. male holotype (AraThom 036 N 2013 HF 2.1 001). A. Left palp, ventral view; B. Left palp, retrolateral view. Abbreviations: DL = dorsal lobe; E = embolus; ML = medial lobe; RTA = retrolateral tibial apophysis; TH = tegular hood; VTA = ventral tibial apophysis; VL = ventral lobe. Scale bar: 0.2 mm.

Figure 19. Distribution of all described Nyctimus and Zametopina (Araneae: Thomisidae) species. Grey circles surrounding white dots indicate species collected from the same or very closely located sampling points in Brunei, Sabah (Malaysia), and Jambi (Indonesia).