Research Article |
Corresponding author: Zhi-Sheng Zhang ( zhangzs327@qq.com ) Academic editor: Alireza Zamani
© 2024 Lu-Yu Wang, Yan-Nan Mu, Feng Zhang, Yuri M. Marusik, Zhi-Sheng Zhang.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation:
Wang L-Y, Mu Y-N, Zhang F, Marusik YM, Zhang Z-S (2024) First record of the spider family Trechaleidae Simon, 1890 (Araneae) from China. ZooKeys 1203: 189-196. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1203.124808
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The family Trechaleidae Simon, 1890 is reported for the first time from China, including one new species: Shinobius cona sp. nov. (♂♀). Morphological descriptions, photos and illustrations of the new species are provided. Taxonomic features of species belonging to the genus are briefly discussed. Photos of the female of Shinobius orientalis (Yaginuma, 1967) are also presented to compare it with the new species.
Description, morphology, new species, taxonomy, Xizang
The spider family Trechaleidae is relatively small, with 133 named species belonging to 17 genera (
While studying specimens collected from Xizang, China, we found two specimens of both sexes that are similar to Shinobius in somatic morphology and features of the male palp and epigyne. These specimens, observed in the field, construct funnel-shaped webs and carry egg sacs by spinnerets. The goal of this paper is to provide a detailed description of the new species and a brief discussion of the taxonomic position of the genus.
All specimens are preserved in 75% ethanol and were examined, illustrated, photographed, and measured using a Leica M205A stereomicroscope equipped with a drawing tube, a Leica DFC450 camera, and LAS software (v. 4.6). Male palps and epigynes were examined and illustrated after they were dissected. Epigynes were cleared by immersing them in pancreatin (
Comparative material: Shinobius orientalis: 1♀ Japan, Ibaraki Pref., Sakuragawa, Hatori, 36°14'10.5"N, 140°05'58.1"E, 23.vi.2018, R. Kuwahara leg.
Abbreviations used in the text: ALE – anterior lateral eye; AME – anterior median eye; PLE – posterior lateral eye; PME – posterior median eye.
Family Trechaleidae Simon, 1890
Cispius orientalis Yaginuma, 1967.
Shinobius is similar to the South American genera Rhoicinus Simon, 1898 and Barrisca Chamberlin & Ivie, 1936, by the lack of the retrolateral tibial apophysis and having a very large subtegulum composing almost a half of the bulb. However, Shinobius can be separated from Rhoicinus and Barrisca by the cymbial tip shorter than the bulb and a strongly sclerotized posteroretrolateral part of the cymbium (vs. tip of cymbium longer than bulb, basal part of cymbium not modified) and by the presence of a median plate in the epigyne (vs. absent). Shinobius differs from other genera considered in the family by the lack of an extending retrolateral tibial apophysis.
Carapace brown. Eight eyes arranged in two rows, posterior row strongly protruding. Fovea longitudinal. Cervical groove indistinct, radial furrows distinct. Chelicerae yellow brown, with three promarginal and three retromarginal teeth. Endites and labium yellow brown, longer than wide. Sternum yellow brown, shield-shaped, with brown setae. Legs yellow brown, with black pigmentation. Leg formula: 4213. Opisthosoma oval. Dorsum yellow brown, with black brown markings. Venter yellowish-brown.
Male palp
: tibia without extending retrolateral apophysis (RTA), but with strongly sclerotized kind of hood; cymbium droplet-shaped, with tip shorter than bulb, spines and claws present or absent; posteroretrolateral part strongly sclerotized (Cs, Fig.
Epigyne : epigynal plate slightly wider than long; with a wide septum in type species and round in S. cona sp. nov.; fovea divided by septum; septum terminates near epigastral fold.
Shinobius cona sp. nov. and S. orientalis (Yaginuma, 1967).
Shinobius is the only genus of the family found far away from the rest of the genera which are distributed in the Neotropical Realm. Shinobius lacks a developed tibial apophysis (extending in from the tibia) but has instead a kind of hood with a strongly chitinized anterior margin lacking in other members of the family except for Rhoicinus. Based on this similarity and the shape of the bulb,
China (Xizang) and Japan (Fig.
Holotype ♂ (SWUC-T-TR-01-01): China, Xizang, Cona Co., Mama Township, Lebugou; 27°50′59″N, 91°46′39″E, elev. 2280 m; 4.viii.2020; L.Y. Wang, T. Yuan and Y.M. Hou leg.; Paratype: 1♀(SWUC-T-TR-01-02), same data as holotype.
The epithet refers to the type locality.
The new species is similar to S. orientalis (Yaginuma, 1967) (
Male holotype (Fig.
Shinobius cona sp. nov. male holotype (A), female paratype (B–I) A male habitus, dorsal view B female habitus, dorsal view C tibia I, ventral view D eyes, dorsal view E eyes and chelicerae, front view F chelicerae, ventral view G chelicerae, endites and labium, ventral view H sternum, ventral view I spinneret, ventral view.
Palp
(Figs
Shinobius cona sp. nov. A, B holotype male C, D paratype female A left male palp, ventral view B same, retrolateral view C epigyne, ventral view D vulva, dorsal view. Abbreviations: Ar = anterior receptacle; CO = copulatory opening; Co = conductor; Em = embolus; FD = fertilization duct; MA = median apophysis; Pr = posterior receptacle; H = hood; Se = septum; St = subtegulum; Te = tegulum.
Shinobius cona sp. nov. male holotype (A–E), female paratype (F, G) A left male palp, ventral view B same, retrolateral view C right male palp, bulb, ventral view (overturn) D same, retrolateral view (overturn) E right male palp, median apophysis and embolus, dorsal view (overturn) F epigyne, ventral view G vulva, dorsal view.
Female paratype (Fig.
Epigyne
(Figs
Forms a funnel-shaped web on the moss. Female was found with egg-cocoons attached to spinnerets.
We give great thanks Dr Francesco Ballarin (Tokyo, Japan) for providing the photos. Many thanks are given to Mr Tao Yuan and Yan-Meng Hou (College of Life Sciences, Hebei University, Baoding, China) for their assistance during the fieldwork and collection.
The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
No ethical statement was reported.
This research was supported by the Science & Technology Fundamental Resources Investigation Program (Grant No. 2022FY202100) and the Survey of Wildlife Resources in Key Areas of Tibet (ZL202203601).
All authors have contributed equally.
Lu-Yu Wang https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5250-3473
Yan-Nan Mu https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2504-673X
Feng Zhang https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3347-1031
Yuri M. Marusik https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4499-5148
Zhi-Sheng Zhang https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9304-1789
All of the data that support the findings of this study are available in the main text.