Male (Fig. 1, Fig. 2C, D, F and G). Total length 7.89. Carapace 4.01 long, 3.16 wide. Abdomen 3.96 long, 2.36 wide. Eye sizes and interdistances: AME 0.89, ALE 0.53, PLE 0.49, AERW 2.89, PERW 2.71, EFL 1.78. Legs measurements: I 9.93 (3.01, 3.90, 2.01, 1.01), II 9.06 (2.90, 3.50, 1.65, 1.01), III 10.16 (3.30, 3.50, 2.35, 1.01), IV 10.32 (3.20, 3.50, 2.61, 1.01). Carapace red-brown to dark brown, cephalic region bearing a longitudinal, broad, blue-violet band of hairs centrally and a red-brown irregular area anteriorly on thorax, covered with dense, pale and golden hairs. Fovea dark, longitudinal. Chelicerae dark brown, with 2 promarginal and 1 retromarginal teeth. Endites paler than chelicerae, with pale antero-inner margins. Labium somewhat linguiform. Sternum about 1.5 times longer than wide, covered with dark hairs. Legs pale yellow to dark, spinose. Abdomen oval, dorsum brown, mottled, with a pair of longitudinal, marginal stripes and an irregular, anteromedially located yellow patch, followed by three sub-triangular patches and two transverse streaks, covered with dark thin hairs; venter pale yellow laterally, with a broad dark brown patch bearing a pair of dotted lines centrally.

Figure 1.  

Male palp of Pancorius lui sp. nov., holotype. A prolateral; B retrolateral; C ventral; D dorsal. Scale bars: 0.2. Abbreviations：E embolus; EF embolic flange; PL posterior lobe; RTA retrolateral tibial apophysis; SD sperm duct.

Figure 2.  

Pancorius lui sp. nov., female paratype and male holotype. A epigyne, ventral; B vulva, dorsal; C male habitus, dorsal; D ditto, ventral; E female habitus, dorsal; F male carapace, frontal; G male chelicera, posterior. Scale bars: A, B, G (0.2); C–F (1). Abbreviations: AS anterior chamber of spermatheca; CD copulatory duct; CO copulatory opening; FD fertilisation duct; MS median septum; PS posterior chamber of spermatheca.

Palp (Fig. 1A–D): tibia short, wider than long; RTA about 1.5 times longer than tibia length, broadened anteromedially, strongly sclerotised at distal half, with two small, triangular sub-apical processes in retrolateral view; bulb swollen, with tapered posterior lobe extending downwards in ventral view; embolus flat, strongly sclerotised, originating from the antero-prolateral portion of bulb, curved medially and tapering at distal half to a pointed tip directed towards about 1 o’clock position, with small, lamellar flange medially.

Female (Fig. 2A, B and E). Total length 9.01. Carapace 4.14 long, 3.29 wide. Abdomen 4.62 long, 3.10 wide. Eye sizes and inter-distances: AME 0.95, ALE 0.55, PLE 0.49, AERW 2.91, PERW 2.81, EFL 1.81. Legs measurements: I 8.55 (2.50, 3.25, 1.95, 0.85), II 7.66 (2.40, 3.01, 1.40, 0.85), III 9.15. (2.85, 3.30, 2.15, 0.85), IV 9.50 (3.00, 3.30, 2.35, 0.85). Habitus (Fig. 2E) similar to that of male, except darker in colour and lacking blue-violet band of hairs centrally on cephalic region.

Epigyne (Fig. 2A and B): wider than long, with large, sub-trapeziform atrium having a narrow median septum; copulatory opening slit-shaped, separated from each other; copulatory duct very short, thick, connected to the posterior chamber of spermatheca; spermatheca divided into two oval chambers; fertilisation duct originating from the antero-inner edge of anterior chamber of spermatheca, anterolaterally extending.

The male of this new species closely resembles that of Pancorius submontanus Prószyński, 1992 from India and Japan in having similar palpal structure, but differs in the RTA, which is longer than the tibia and acutely narrowed distally in retrolateral view (Fig. 1B) (vs. about half the tibia length and tapered in P. submontanus; Prószyński 1992: fig. 117). The female of this species can be distinguished from its congeners by lacking a distinct epigynal hood and having a median septum (see Metzner 2022). The male of this new species also somewhat resembles that of Evarcha lata Kanesharatnam & Benjamin, 2021 from Sri Lanka in having flat embolus and similarity-shaped RTA, but differs in the short palpal tibia, swollen bulb and the presence of triangular sub-apical processes of RTA (Figs. 1A–D) (vs. much longer palpal tibia, flat bulb and lacking sub-apical process of RTA in E. lata; Kanesharatnam and Benjamin 2021: figs. 15e, f and 17c–e).

The specific epithet is a patronym, after Mr. Qianle Lu (Shenzhen, China) who helped us in collecting numerous specimens of jumping spiders; noun in genitive case.

Known only from the type locality in Guizhou, China (Fig. 3).

Figure 3.  

The type locality of Pancorius lui sp. nov.

The generic placement is due to the presence of a series of similar features with other Pancorius species, such as the band of hairs centrally on eye field, the embolic flange, the slit-shaped copulatory opening and the two-chambered spermatheca. However, this species lacks an epigynal hood and possesses a median septum, which are in contrast with what has been documented in the congeners. Therefore, the generic position of this species may need further confirmation.