Skip to main content

Four leptonetid spiders from China: Jingneta qishan, Jingneta wukuishan, Leptonetela jingde and Rhyssoleptoneta lishan

Four leptonetid spiders from China: Jingneta qishan, Jingneta wukuishan, Leptonetela jingde and Rhyssoleptoneta lishan

NEWS - Four species of leptonetid spiders have been established: Qishan cave spider (Jingneta qishan Tong, sp. nov. ♂♀), Wukuishan cave spider (Jingneta wukuishan Tong, sp. nov. ♂), Jingde cave spider (Leptonetela jingde Tong, sp. nov. ♂♀) and Lishan cave spider (Rhyssoleptoneta lishan Tong, sp. nov. ♂♀) from Anhui Province, China.

Leptonetidae Simon 1890 are very small (1–3 mm) and usually have six eyes, with the posterior median eye displaced behind the anterior lateral eyes and posterior lateral eyes, and the anterior median eye is missing. Most species live in moist habitats, such as leaf litter, under rocks, and in caves.

The family includes 22 genera and 392 species from North America, the Mediterranean, East Asia and Southeast Asia. Currently, 145 species in 8 genera have been recorded in China. Four species belonging to three genera have been recorded in Anhui Province: Jingneta maculosa (Song & Xu, 1986), Jingneta tunxiensis (Song & Xu, 1986), Leptonetela microdonta (Xu & Song, 1983) and Longileptoneta shenxian Wang & Li 2020.

Jingneta qishan is similar to Jingneta exilocula (Tong & Li 2008) in the horn-shaped apophysis on the palpal tibia, but can be distinguished by the chelicerae lacking a stridulatory bundle on the lateral edge (vs. having a stridulatory bundle), the palpal femur with 6 long setae on the retrolateral side (vs. 8), the bulbous tip with a prolateral thorn-like sclerite (vs. lacking) and the female genital area with a scape (vs. lacking).

Male (holotype). Total length 1.55. Carapace 0.62 long, 0.59 wide. Abdomen 0.99 long, 0.68 wide. Eye sizes and interdistances: ALE 0.05, PLE 0.05, PME 0.04; ALE–PME 0.06, PLE–PLE 0.02, PLE–PME 0.03; AER 0.08, PER 0.10. Carapace light yellow. Median groove, cervical grooves and radial furrows distinct. Chelicerae with eight large promarginal and five small retromarginal teeth. Rectangular labium; endites with serrula anterolaterally; sternum light yellow, longer than wide, heart shaped, smooth. Abdomen whitish, ovoid. Leg measurements: I - (1.15, 0.19, 1.16, 0.90, -); II - (0.94, 0.19, 0.95, 0.73, 0.59); III - (-, 0.19, 0.72, 0.64, 0.48); IV - (1.26, -, -, -, -). Metatarsus III with row of fine hairs ventrally (preening comb, arrow in Fig. 4H). Palp: femur with six long setae retrolaterally; tibia with one horn-shaped apophysis distally; tip of bulb with triangular embolus, a spine-like prolateral sclerite and several outgrowths, including a leaf-shaped prolateral outgrowth, a median triangular outgrowth, a small outgrowth and a ribbon-shaped retrolateral outgrowth.

Female (paratype). Similar to male in general features. Total length 1.37. Carapace 0.61 long, 0.49 wide. Abdomen 0.77 long, 0.55 wide. Eye sizes and interdistances: ALE 0.05, PLE 0.05, PME 0.04; ALE–PME 0.10, PLE–PLE 0.03, PLE–PME 0.02; AER 0.08, PER 0.11. Leg measurements: I 2.19 (0.59, 0.21, 0.57, 0.45, 0.37); II 1.85 (0.50, 0.18, 0.46, 0.37, 0.34); III 1.64 (0.45, 0.18, 0.36, 0.35, 0.30); IV 2.38 (0.70, 0.18, 0.69, 0.46, 0.35). Genital area with a scape on the posterior edge. Internal genitalia with a pair of coiled spermathecae and sperm stalk; atrium oval.

Jingneta wukuishan is similar to J. maculosa (Song and Xu 1986) in the dark stripes on the abdomen, but can be distinguished by the chelicerae with 7 promarginal teeth (vs. 10), palpal femurs with 6 long retrolateral setae and tibias lacking distinctive setae (vs. 9 setae and tibias with three short blunt spines).

Male (holotype). Total length 1.52. Carapace 0.61 long, 0.54 wide. Abdomen 0.93 long, 0.62 wide. Eye sizes and interdistances: ALE 0.06, PLE 0.06, PME 0.05; ALE–PME 0.06, PLE–PLE 0.04, PLE–PME 0.02; AER 0.11, PER 0.12. Carapace yellow to dark brown. Median groove, cervical grooves and radial furrows indistinct. Chelicerae with seven large promarginal and seven small retromarginal teeth. Rectangular labium; endites with serrula anterolaterally; sternum yellow to brown, longer than wide, heart shaped, smooth. Abdomen light brown, darker on sides, ovoid. Leg measurements: I 2.96 (0.83, 0.21, 0.78, 0.65, 0.49); II - (-, -, -, -, -); III 2.73 (0.75, 0.21, 0.67, 0.61, 0.49); IV 3.93 (1.08, 0.21, 1.20, 0.88, 0.56). Palp: femur with six long setae retrolaterally; cymbium constricted medially, attached to a small earlobe-shaped process retrolaterally; tip of bulb with a strong spine-like prolateral sclerite and several membranous outgrowths.

Leptonetela jingde is similar to L. microdonta (Wang and Li 2011) in the long setae on the palpal tibia, but can be distinguished from the chelicerae with 7 promarginal teeth (vs. 8), the palpal tibia with 4 long setae on the retrolateral side, two thick basal setae (vs. . 6 long setae, with 1 thinner basal seta and 3 thicker distal setae), prolateral sclerites spine-like (vs. fork-shaped, with 5 teeth distally) and abdomen with 4 dark chevron-shaped lines (vs. absent).

Male (holotype). Total length 1.25. Carapace 0.61 long, 0.59 wide. Abdomen 0.89 long, 0.73 wide. Eye sizes and interdistances: ALE 0.08, PLE 0.08, PME 0.07; ALE–PME 0.08, PLE–PLE 0.08, PLE–PME 0.03; AER 0.14, PER 0.17. Carapace light yellow. Median groove, cervical grooves and radial furrows distinct. Chelicerae with seven large promarginal and four small retromarginal teeth, with stridulatory file on the lateral margin. Rectangular labium; endites with serrula anterolaterally; sternum brown, shield shaped, smooth. Abdomen whitish, ovoid, with four dark chevron-shaped stripes. Leg measurements: I 2.66 (0.72, 0.17, 0.73, 0.57, 0.47); II 2.20 (0.62, 0.17, 0.55, 0.46, 0.40); III 1.97 (0.58, 0.18, 0.46, 0.46, 0.29); IV 2.45 (0.72, 0.17, 0.62, 0.54, 0.40). Palp: femur without long setae retrolaterally; tibia with four long setae retrolaterally, the basal two thick; cymbium constricted medially, attached to a large earlobe-shaped process retrolaterally; tip of bulb with a short spine-like prolateral sclerite and leaf-shaped median apophysis.

Female (paratype). Similar to male in general features. Total length 1.36. Carapace 0.64 long, 0.58 wide. Abdomen 0.96 long, 0.80 wide. Eye sizes and interdistances: ALE 0.08, PLE 0.07, PME 0.07; ALE–PME 0.12, PLE–PLE 0.08, PLE–PME 0.02; AER 0.14, PER 0.17. Leg measurements: I - (0.73, 0.20, 0.67, 0.56, -); II 2.19 (0.62, 0.20, 0.52, 0.45, 0.40); III 1.97 (0.58, 0.18, 0.44, 0.45, 0.32); IV - (0.73, 0.21, 0.62, -, -). Internal genitalia with sub-trapezoidal atrium, slightly swollen spermathecae, and convoluted spermathecal stalk including six coils.

Rhyssoleptoneta lishan is similar to Rhyssoleptoneta aosen (Zhu and Li 2021) in the shape of the genital area females, but can be distinguished by chelicerae with 8 promarginal teeth and stridulatory bands on the lateral margins (vs. 7 promarginal teeth and no stridulatory bands), palpal bulbs with membranous median outgrowths, without tooth-shaped protrusions (vs. no median outgrowths but with three tooth-shaped protrusion) and short protrusion of tarsus palpus in distal part (vs. in middle area).

Male (holotype). Total length 1.31. Carapace 0.62 long, 0.50 wide. Abdomen 0.67 long, 0.45 wide. Eye sizes and interdistances: ALE 0.06, PLE 0.06, PME 0.04; ALE–PME 0.06, PLE–PLE 0.06, PLE–PME 0.02; AER 0.10, PER 0.12. Carapace light yellow. Median groove, cervical grooves and radial furrows indistinct. Chelicerae with eight large promarginal and four small retromarginal teeth, with stridulatory file on the lateral margin. Rectangular labium; endites with serrula anterolaterally; sternum whitish, longer than wide, heart shaped, smooth. Abdomen whitish, ovoid, with four dark chevron-shaped stripes. Leg measurements: I 2.51 (0.70, 0.19, 0.68, 0.55, 0.39); II 2.11 (0.59, 0.19, 0.53, 0.45, 0.35); III 1.80 (0.51, 0.17, 0.45, 0.40, 0.27); IV - (-, -, -, -, -). Male palp: femur without long spines; tibia without special projection; tarsus wide, not branched distally, with a short projection and a long spur distally; bulb complex, wrinkled on prolateral surface, with 3 spine-like prolateral sclerites, with a membranous median outgrowth and belt-like median sclerite; triangular embolus.

Female (paratype). Similar to male in general features. Total length 1.23. Carapace 0.54 long, 0.45 wide. Abdomen 0.80 long, 0.52 wide. Eye sizes and interdistances: ALE 0.05, PLE 0.05, PME 0.04; ALE–PME 0.06, PLE–PLE 0.05, PLE–PME 0.02; AER 0.09, PER 0.11. Leg measurements: I 1.95 (0.55, 0.15, 0.54, 0.38, 0.33); II 1.63 (0.43, 0.15, 0.44, 0.32, 0.29); III 1.44 (0.39, 0.15, 0.32, 0.31, 0.27); IV 2.11 (0.62, 0.16, 0.59, 0.43, 0.31). Genital area with a scape on the posterior edge. Internal genitalia with a pair of coiled spermathecae and sperm stalk; triangular atrium.

Original research

Li S, Chen Q, Tong Y (2024). Four new species of leptonetid spiders (Araneae, Leptonetidae) from Anhui Province, China. ZooKeys 1218: 99-119, DOI:10.3897/zookeys.1218.136555

Dlium theDlium
Labels:

Popular Posts

Guinea grass (Panicum maximum)

Guinea grass or buffalo grass or green panic ( Panicum maximum ) is a plant species in Poaceae, annual grasses, growing upright to form clumps, strong, cultivated in all tropical and subtropical regions for very high value as fodder. P. maximum reproduces in very large pols, fibrous roots penetrate into the soil, upright stems, green, 1-1.5 m tall and have smooth cavities for diameters up to 2.5 mm. Propagation is done vegetatively and generatively. Ribbon-shaped leaves with a pointed tip, very many, built in lines, green, 40-105 cm long, 10-30 mm wide, erect, branched, a white linear bone, often covered with a layer of white wax, rough surface by hair short, dense and spread. The flower grows at the end of a long and upright stalk, open with the main axis length to more than 25 cm and the length of the bunches down to 20 cm. Grains have a size of 3x4 mm and oval. Seeds have a length of 2.25-2.50 mm and each 1 kg contains 1.2 - 1.5 million seeds. Guinea grass has two varieties. P...
Read more

Indian shot (Canna indica)

Puspa midra or Indian shot ( Canna indica ) is is plant species in Cannaceae, annual, shrub 0.5-2.5 meters high, depending on variety, erect stems, unbranched and leaf midrib arranged overlapping to form pseudostems and hermaphrodite flowers. C. indica forms a branched rhizome, 60 cm long which is divided into rounded segments and is covered in two stripes by pale green or purple scaly leaves. The rhizome has tubers that contain very large starch grains. The surface has transverse furrows, the underside appears white roots and numerous shoots. The leaves sit alternate and spiral or arranged in two rows, very large and divided into a leaf midrib, short stalk and blade. The strands are 30-60 cm long, 10-20 cm wide and have linear veins, green or purple-green, the base blunt or narrowly pointed and the apex immediately tapering or sharp. Hermaphrodite flowers, pedicels 0.2-1 cm long and red or yellow-orange, except in some cultivars 4.5-7.5 cm long. The sepals are triangular in shape a...
Read more

Indian rosewood (Dalbergia latifolia)

Sonokeling or Java palisandre or Indian rosewood ( Dalbergia latifolia ) is a species of plant in the Fabaceae, a large tree producing hardwood, medium weight and high quality, rounded leaves, thin and broad pods, highly adaptive, grows in dry and rocky landscapes with lots of sunlight. D. latifolia has medium to large size, cylindrical stems, up to 40 m high with a ring of up to 2 m, the bark is brownish gray and slightly cracked longitudinally. The crown is dense, dome-shaped and sheds leaves. The leaves are compound and pinnate oddly with 5-7 strands that have different sizes and appear alternately on the shaft. The leaves are round or elongated in width or heart, the upper surface is green and the surface is pale green. The flowers are small, 0.5-1 cm long and clustered in panicles. The pods are green to brown when ripe and are elongated lanceolate, pointed at the base and tip. The pods have 1-4 seeds which are soft and brownish. Indian rosewood grows at elevations below 600 m,...
Read more