Research Article |
Corresponding author: Shuqiang Li ( lisq@ioz.ac.cn ) Academic editor: Jeremy Miller
© 2018 Yucheng Lin, Shuqiang Li, Peter Jäger.
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:
Lin Y, Li S, Jäger P (2018) Tetrablemmidae, a spider family newly recorded from Cambodia (Arachnida, Araneae). ZooKeys 777: 43-55. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.777.24917
|
The family Tetrablemmidae O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1873 is reported from Cambodia for the first time. Two species belonging to the genus Tetrablemma O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1873 are documented as new to science: Tetrablemma kepense sp. n. (male, female) from Kep Province and Tetrablemma sokense sp. n. (male, female) from Battambang Province. Diagnoses, morphological descriptions, and comparative illustrations are provided.
Haplogynae , Indochina, new species, taxonomy, tetrablemmids
The family Tetrablemmidae O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1873 is a less well-known spider group compared with those medium to large spiders in subtropical and tropical regions. The type genus, Tetrablemma O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1873 contains 27 species (
Several specimens of armored spiders found in a cave and the leaf litter in Cambodia were examined, belonging to two species. Here they are described as Tetrablemma kepense sp. n. and T. sokense sp. n. Both species represent the first report of the family Tetrablemmidae from Cambodia.
All type specimens were acquired by manual collection and preserved in 75% denatured ethanol solution, and are deposited in the Senckenberg Research Institute, Frankfurt, Germany (
Specimens were examined and measured under an Olympus SZX7 stereomicroscope. Further details were studied under an Olympus BX43 compound microscope. Male palp and female genitalia were examined and photographed after they were dissected and detached from the spiders’ bodies. To reveal the configuration of spermathecae and the course of the spermophor in the palpal bulb, they were treated in lactic acid and embedded in Hoyer’s solution before taking photos. Photographs were taken with a Canon EOS 60D wide zoom digital camera (8.5 megapixels) mounted on an Olympus BX43 compound microscope. Images were combined using Helicon Focus 3.10 software (
All measurements in the text or figures are given in millimeters. Leg measurements are provided as following: total length (femur, patella, tibia, metatarsus, and tarsus). Abbreviations used in figures are as follows:
CH cheliceral horn;
CP central process;
Cy palpal cymbium;
E embolus;
EF epigynal fold;
EP epigynal pit;
Et embolic tip;
IVP inner vulval plate;
PA preanal scutum;
Pb palpal bulb;
POG postgenital scutum;
Sp spermophor;
SR seminal receptacle;
Ti palpal tibia;
VD vulval duct;
VS vulval stem.
References to figures in the cited papers are listed in lowercase (figure or figs); figures from this paper are noted with an initial capital (Figure or Figs).
Tetrablemma medioculatum O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1873 from Sri Lanka (see
The gender of Tetrablemma is neuter, therefore two species names described previously are amended (see below). The ending “-ensis” denotes a place, a locality or a country. It forms an adjective with two endings: “-ensis” for genera masculine or feminine in gender, and “-ense” for genera neuter in gender.
Twenty-seven species were known before the current study: T. alaus Burger, Harvey & Stevens, 2010, T. alterum Roewer, 1963, T. benoiti (Brignoli, 1978), T. brevidens Tong & Li, 2008, T. brignolii Lehtinen, 1981, T. deccanense (Tikader, 1976), T. extorre Shear, 1978, T. helenense Benoit, 1977, T. loebli Bourne, 1980, T. magister Burger, 2008, T. manggarai Lehtinen, 1981, T. marawula Lehtinen, 1981, T. mardionoi Lehtinen, 1981, T. medioculatum O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1873, T. medioculatum cochinense Lehtinen, 1981, T. medioculatum gangeticum Lehtinen, 1981, T. menglaense Lin & Li, 2014 (species epithet corrected, original published as T. menglaensis), T. namkhan Lin, Li & Jäger, 2012, T. nandan Lin & Li, 2010, T. okei Butler, 1932, T. phulchoki Lehtinen, 1981, T. rhinoceros (Brignoli, 1974), T. samoense Marples, 1964, T. thamin Labarque & Grismado, 2009, T. viduum (Brignoli, 1974), T. vietnamense Lehtinen, 1981, T. ziyaoense Lin & Li, 2014 (species epithet corrected, original published as T. ziyaoensis).
Angola, Australia, Cambodia, China, St. Helena, India, Laos, Indonesia, Micronesia, Myanmar, Nepal, Queensland, Samoa, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, Trinidad, Victoria and Vietnam. These previously described species live mainly in the forest litter or in caves.
Holotype ♂ (
The specific name refers to the type locality; adjective.
With the exception of T. marawula Lehtinen, 1981, T. brevidens Tong & Li, 2008, T. thamin Labarque & Grismado, 2009, and T. ziyaoense Lin & Li, 2014, this new species can be distinguished from other congeners by the lack of modified teeth or tubercle on the clypeus or the ocular area in both sexes, the embolus furcated at proximally 1/3 position, the extra-long inner vulval plate nearly 3 × as long as the central process (Figs
Male (holotype). Measurements: total length 1.08; carapace 0.42 long, 0.37 wide, 0.34 high; abdomen 0.70 long, 0.58 wide, 0.35 high; clypeus 0.14 high; sternum 0.28 long, 0.29 wide. Length of legs: I 1.29 (0.43, 0.12, 0.32, 0.20, 0.22); II 1.22 (0.40, 0.11, 0.30, 0.20, 0.21); III 1.08 (0.33, 0.11, 0.25, 0.19, 0.20); IV 1.38 (0.45, 0.12, 0.36, 0.23, 0.22).
Prosoma (Figure
Palp (Figure
Female (one paratype). Measurements: total length 1.16; carapace 0.44 long, 0.38 wide, 0.34 high; abdomen 0.72 long, 0.61 wide, 0.37 high; clypeus 0.13 high; sternum 0.28 long, 0.30 wide. Length of legs: I 1.26 (0.42, 0.12, 0.31, 0.20, 0.21); II 1.19 (0.40, 0.11, 0.29, 0.19, 0.20); III 1.09 (0.34, 0.11, 0.26, 0.18, 0.20); IV 1.34 (0.44, 0.12, 0.35, 0.22, 0.21).
Prosoma (Figure
Epigyne and vulva (Figure
Forest leaf litter.
Known only from the type locality (Figure
Tetrablemma kepense sp. n., male holotype (A–D) and female paratype (E–G). A, B, D left palp C embolic tip E genital area (untreated) F–G cleared vulva (lactic acid-treated). A prolateral B, C frontal D retrolateral E, F ventral G dorsal. Abbreviations: CP = central process; Cy = palpal cymbium; E = embolus; EF = epigynal fold; EP = epigynal pit; Et = embolic tip; IVP = inner vulval plate; PA = preanal scutum; Pb = palpal bulb; POG = postgenital scutum; Sd = spermophor; SR = seminal receptacle; Ti = palpal tibia; VD = vulval duct; VS = vulval stem. Scale bars: A, B, D–G 0.2 mm, C 0.05 mm.
Holotype ♂ (
The specific name refers to the type locality; adjective.
This new species can be distinguished from other congeners with the exception of T. loebli Bourne, 1980 and T. nandan Lin & Li, 2010 by the protruding ocular area of carapace and the vestigial four eyespots in both sexes, the exceptionally slender bulb, and the absence of an epigynal fold in the female vulva (Figs
Male (holotype). Measurements: total length 1.48; carapace 0.53 long, 0.50 wide, 0.48 high; abdomen 1.07 long, 0.60 wide, 0.53 high; clypeus 0.15 high; sternum 0.31 long, 0.29 wide. Length of legs: I 1.42 (0.47, 0.13, 0.35, 0.24, 0.23); II 1.35 (0.44, 0.12, 0.34, 0.23, 0.22); III 1.15 (0.36, 0.11, 0.27, 0.20, 0.21); IV 1.44 (0.49, 0.12, 0.37, 0.23, 0.23).
Prosoma (Figure
Palp (Figure
Tetrablemma sokense sp. n., male holotype (A–C) and female paratype (D–F). A–C left palp D genital area (untreated) E, F cleared vulva (lactic acid-treated). A prolateral B frontal C retrolateral D–E ventral F dorsal. Abbreviations: CP = central process; Cy = palpal cymbium; E = embolus; EP = epigynal pit; Et = embolic tip; IVP = inner vulval plate; PA = preanal scutum; Pb = palpal bulb; POG = postgenital scutum; Sd = spermophor; SR = seminal receptacle; Ti = palpal tibia; VD = vulval duct; VS = vulval stem. Scale bars: 0.2 mm.
Female (one paratype). Measurements: total length 1.52; carapace 0.55 long, 0.49 wide, 0.47 high; abdomen 1.03 long, 0.67 wide, 0.60 high; clypeus 0.14 high; sternum 0.32 long, 0.28 wide. Length of legs: I 1.39 (0.46, 0.12, 0.37, 0.23, 0.21); II 1.30 (0.42, 0.12, 0.33, 0.22, 0.21); III 1.18 (0.37, 0.11, 0.28, 0.22, 0.20); IV 1.45 (0.48, 0.12, 0.38, 0.24, 0.23).
Prosoma (Figs
Epigyne and vulva (Figure
Cave. The cave entrance was ca. 80 altitudinal meters above the ground at an isolated limestone hill. Almost under every stone only one spider was found; silken strands used by the spiders may be the reason for this territoriality (Figure
The manuscript benefitted greatly from comments by Mark S. Harvey (Welshpool, Australia), Christo Deltshev (Sofia, Bulgaria), Yanfeng Tong (Shenyang, China), and Charles E. Griswold (San Francisco, USA). We are grateful to Jeremy A. Miller (Leiden, Netherlands), the subject editor of this manuscript for his editorial efforts. This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC-31772410, 31750002, 31530067).