Biodiversity Data Journal : Taxonomy & Inventories
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Taxonomy & Inventories
Two new species of the genus Macrothele Ausserer, 1871 (Araneae, Macrothelidae) from China
expand article infoYaying Wu‡,§, Zhimin Li|, Yan Yang, Zizhong Yang‡,§
‡ Yunnan Provincial Key Laboratory of Entomological Biopharmaceutical R&D, Dali University, Yunnan Dali, China
§ National-Local Joint Engineering Research Center of Entomoceutics, Dali University, Yunnan Dali, China
| Administration of Nangunhe National Nature Reserve, Yunnan, Cangyuan, China
¶ Yunnan Provincial Science and Technology, Yunnan Kunming, China
Corresponding author: Zizhong Yang (yangzzh69@163.com)
Academic editor: Stuart Longhorn
Received: 28 Jul 2022 | Accepted: 25 Oct 2022 | Published: 01 Nov 2022
© 2022 Yaying Wu, Zhimin Li, Yan Yang, Zizhong Yang
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: Wu Y, Li Z, Yang Y, Yang Z (2022) Two new species of the genus Macrothele Ausserer, 1871 (Araneae, Macrothelidae) from China. Biodiversity Data Journal 10: e90967. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.10.e90967
ZooBank: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:3AC90F36-2F71-4CE8-91F9-25B80211879E
 Open Access

Abstract

Background

The family Macrothelidae Simon, 1892 belongs to the infraorder Mygalomorphae, currently contains two genera and 47 described species, from South Europe, South, and East Southeast Asia, Central, West, and North Africa.

New information

Two new species of the funnel-web spider genus Macrothele Ausserer, 1871 from Yunnan Province, China are described: Macrothele washanensis Wu & Yang, sp. n. (♂♀), and M. wuliangensis Wu & Yang, sp. n. (♂♀). Detailed descriptions, diagnostic illustrations and distribution map are provided. All specimens are deposited in the Institute of Entomoceutics Research, Dali University (DUIER).

Keywords

mygalomorph, Macrothelidae, taxonomy, morphology, new species

Introduction

The spider family Macrothelidae Simon 1892 is an important spider group in the infraorder Mygalomorphae. They usually build funnel webs using crevices and cavities in slopes, occasionally build web in surface deciduous layers. So far, the family has 47 species of two genera reported worldwide (World Spider Catalog 2022), of which 29 species are known from China (Pocock 1901, Saitô 1933, Hu and Li 1986, Shimojana and Haupt 1998, Song et al. 1999, Zhu et al. 2000, Zhu and Song 2000, Xu and Yin 2001, Xu et al. 2002, Li and Zha 2013, Shi et al. 2018, Yang et al. 2018, Yang et al. 2019, Wang et al. 2019, Tang et al. 2020, Chen et al. 2020, Lin et al. 2021, Tang et al. 2022).

We are carrying out a systematic investigation on the Chinese fauna of Macrothelidae and have collected a lot of specimens from Yunnan Province. During this study, two new species have been discovered and described here: Macrothele washanensis Wu & Yang, sp. n. and M. wuliangensis Wu & Yang, sp. n.

Materials and methods

Specimens were examined and measured with Olympus SZX16 and Leica M205A stereo-microscopes and an Olympus CX33 compound microscope. All specimens examined were preserved in 80% ethanol. The left male palps were examined after dissection and removal from the specimens, and the female genitalia were treated in 10% NaOH for 24 hours to dissolve tissue and examine the vulvae. The distribution map was produced by ArcMap software (version 10.8).

All type specimens are deposited in Institute of Entomoceutics Research, Dali University (DUIER). All measurements are in millimeters. Palp and leg measurements are given as: palp total length (femur, patella + tibia, tarsus); leg total length (femur, patella + tibia, metatarsus, tarsus). Abbreviations used are: ALE = anterior lateral eyes; AME = anterior median eyes; PLE = posterior lateral eyes; PME = posterior median eyes; PMS = posterior median spinnerets; PLS = posterior lateral spinnerets; basal haematodocha = BH; embolus = E ; CD = copulatory ducts；T = terminus of receptacula.

Taxon treatments

Macrothele washanensis Wu & Yang, sp. n.

Materials   Download as CSV 
Holotype:
  1. scientificName:
    Macrothele washanensis
    ; order:
    Araneae
    ; family:
    Macrothelidae
    ; genus:
    Macrothele
    ; country:
    China
    ; stateProvince:
    Yunnan
    ; county:
    Cangyuan county
    ; municipality:
    Lincang
    ; verbatimLatitude:
    23°14′5′′N
    ; verbatimLongitude:
    99°17′48′′E
    ; year:
    2021
    ; month:
    5
    ; day:
    10
    ; individualCount:
    1
    ; sex:
    male
    ; lifeStage:
    adult
    ; recordedBy:
    Zizhong Yang, Yongming You and Jiasen Wei
    ; institutionCode:
    DUIER-MWa11
    ; occurrenceID:
    D04682CE-CED5-56AC-A410-7702384D544D
Paratype:
  1. scientificName:
    Macrothele washanensis
    ; order:
    Araneae
    ; family:
    Macrothelidae
    ; genus:
    Macrothele
    ; country:
    China
    ; stateProvince:
    Yunnan
    ; county:
    Cangyuan county
    ; municipality:
    Lincang
    ; verbatimLatitude:
    23°14′5′′N
    ; verbatimLongitude:
    99°17′48′′E
    ; year:
    2021
    ; month:
    5
    ; day:
    10
    ; individualCount:
    5
    ; sex:
    2 males, 3 females
    ; lifeStage:
    adult
    ; recordedBy:
    Zizhong Yang, Yongming You and Jiasen Wei
    ; institutionCode:
    DUIER-MWa21-MWa25
    ; occurrenceID:
    591EC1BF-750A-582E-9048-CB6B879AA1AE
Other materials:
  1. scientificName:
    Macrothele washanensis
    ; order:
    Araneae
    ; family:
    Macrothelidae
    ; genus:
    Macrothele
    ; country:
    China
    ; stateProvince:
    Yunnan
    ; county:
    Gengma county
    ; municipality:
    Lincang
    ; locality:
    Mengjian Town
    ; verbatimLatitude:
    23°43'0.772″N
    ; verbatimLongitude:
    99°20'14.784"E
    ; year:
    2017
    ; month:
    9
    ; day:
    15
    ; individualCount:
    6
    ; sex:
    4 males, 2 females
    ; lifeStage:
    2 males juveniles, 2 females juveniles
    ; recordedBy:
    Zizhong Yang, Chenggong Li and Wenjie Zhang
    ; institutionCode:
    DUIER-MWa26-MWa211
    ; occurrenceID:
    1CB3C2AB-A8F3-597A-B327-116255DB7C73
  2. scientificName:
    Macrothele washanensis
    ; order:
    Araneae
    ; family:
    Macrothelidae
    ; genus:
    Macrothele
    ; country:
    China
    ; stateProvince:
    Yunnan
    ; county:
    Gengma county
    ; municipality:
    Lincang
    ; locality:
    Lixin village
    ; verbatimLatitude:
    23º15′31.90″N
    ; verbatimLongitude:
    99º17′22.45″E
    ; year:
    2018
    ; month:
    7
    ; day:
    25
    ; individualCount:
    23
    ; sex:
    females
    ; lifeStage:
    22 females juveniles
    ; recordedBy:
    Zizhong Yang, Chenggong Li and Wenjie Zhang
    ; institutionCode:
    DUIER-MWa212-MWa234
    ; occurrenceID:
    C8434D9A-AFE5-5421-BEB6-35D4F206CE28

Description

Male (holotype, DUIER-MWa11, Fig. 1). Total length 24.56: cephalothorax 10.89 long, 6.98 wide; opisthosoma 8.14 long, 5.64 wide. Carapace dark, gray hairs. Fovea concave. Both eye rows recurved. Eye sizes and inter-distances: AME 0.55, ALE 0.64, PME 0.48, PLE 0.49; ALE-AME 0.14, AME-AME 0.17, ALE-PLE 0.18, PLE-PME 0.07, PME-PME 0.88. Eye area 1.11 long, 2.21 wide. Chelicerae black, with 15 stout promarginal teeth, 13 small retromarginal teeth, and 15 tiny teeth within fang furrow (Fig. 1F). Labium and maxillae chestnut, with grey bristles and patch of cuspules on anterior half part (Fig. 1K); maxillae area length 2.58, and cuspules area length 1.45. Sternum with three pairs of sigilla (Fig. 1J). Palp: tibia grey, 4.34 long, with four long prolateral spines (Fig. 1G), palpal trochanter without lyral spines; embolus 4.76 long, apex curved and hook shaped (Fig. 1B-E).

Figure 1.  

Macrothele washanensis sp. n., male holotype. A. Male body, dorsal view; B. Embolus, prolateral view; C. Same, ventral view; D. Same, retrolateral view; E. Same, the end; F. Left chelicerae, ventral view; G. Left palp tibia, prolateral view; H. Same, dorsal view; I. Same, retrolateral view; J. Sternum; K. Maxillae and labium.

Leg spines. I: femur with 1 prolateral near base; patella 2 prolateral distally; tibia 2 prolateral, 2 retrolateral, 9 ventral (Fig. 2A); metatarsus with 19 ventral spines (Fig. 2B), and two comb-like organs near distad, among them, prolateral with 2 spines, retrolateral with 3 spines (Fig. 3A-B); tarsus with 3 prolateral and 3 retrolateral. II: femur 1 prolateral near distad; patella 2 prolateral; tibia 1 prolateral, and 3 ventral, 1 spine near distad, 2 near basal (Fig. 2C); metatarsus with 1 prolateral, 10 ventral (Fig. 2D), two comb-like organs near distad, among them, prolateral with 3 spines, retrolateral with 4 spines (Fig. 3C-D); tarsus with 6 prolateral, 6 retrolateral. III: femur 1 prolateral and 1 retrolateral; patella 2 prolateral, 1 retrolateral; tibia 3 prolateral, 2 retrolateral, and 3 ventral; metatarsus 2 ventral, 4 prolateral, 3 retrolateral, two comb-like organs near distad, among them, prolateral with 3 spines, retrolateral with 4 spines (Fig. 3E-F); tarsus with 4 prolateral, 5 retrolateral. IV: femur 1 prolateral and retrolateral near distal end; patella with 2 prolateral, 1 retrolateral; tibia with 2 prolateral, 1 retrolateral, 3 ventral near distal end; metatarsus with 2 dorsal, 3 prolateral, 3 retrolateral, 7 ventral, and two comb-like organs near distad, among them, prolateral with 3 spines, retrolateral with 5 spines (Fig. 3G-H); tarsus with 7 prolateral, 6 retrolateral.

Figure 2.  

Macrothele washanensis sp. n., male holotype, left leg. A. Tibia I, ventral view; B. Metatarsus I, ventral view; C. Tibia II, ventral view; D. Metatarsus II, ventral view.

Figure 3.  

Macrothele washanensis sp. n., male holotype, comb-like organs. A. Metatarsus I, prolateral comb-like organs; B. Same, retrolateral comb-like organs; C. Metatarsus II, prolateral comb-like organs; D. Same, retrolateral comb-like organs; E. Metatarsus III, prolateral comb-like organs; F. Same, retrolateral comb-like organs; G. Metatarsus IV, prolateral comb-like organs; H. Same, retrolateral comb-like organs.

Measurements of palp and legs: palp: 9.63 (2.28, 6.12, 1.23); I: 22.79 (6.14, 7.66, 5.58, 3.41); II: 25.80 (6.72, 8.75, 6.84, 3.49); III: 24.69 (6.14, 7.89, 6.93, 3.73); IV: 29.75 (7.37, 9.35, 8.68, 4.35). Leg formula: 4231.

Abdomen gray brown, hairy. Spinnerets, PMS one segment, 1.87 long, 0.48 wide, PMS-PMS 0.78; PLS three segments, PLS 10.65 long (3.20, 3.19, 4.26).

Female (DUIER-MWa21, Fig. 4). Total length 28.39 : cephalothorax 11.67 long, 6.66 wide; opisthosoma 9.11 long, 6.54 wide. Eye sizes and inter-distances: AME 0.52, ALE 0.71, PME 0.50, PLE 0.51; AME-AME 0.26, ALE-AME0.24, ALE-PLE 0.12, PME-PME 0.91, PLE-PME 0. Eye area 1.13 long, 2.24 wide. Chelicerae brown, with 15 stout promarginal teeth, 12 small retromarginal teeth, and 13 tiny teeth within fang furrow (Fig. 4B). Labium and maxillae dark yellow, with dark brown bristles and patch of cuspules on anterior half part (Fig. 4C); maxillae area length 2.34, and cuspule area length 1.58. Sternum with three pairs of sigilla (Fig. 4D); palpal trochanter without lyral spines.

Figure 4.  

Macrothele washanensis sp. n., female paratype. A. Female, body, dorsal view; B. Left chelicerae, ventral view; C. Maxillae and labium; D. Sternum.

Leg spines. I: femur with 1 prolateral near distad; patella 1 prolateral; tibia with 1 prolateral; metatarsus with 7 ventral, and two comb-like organs near distad, prolateral with 3 spines, retrolateral with 2 spines (Fig. 5A-B); tarsus with 3 prolateral, 4 retrolateral. II: femur 1 prolateral near distad; patella 2 prolateral; tibia 1 prolateral, 2 ventral; metatarsus 1 prolateral, 6 retrolateral, and two comb-like organs near distad, among them, prolateral with 3 spines, retrolateral with 4 spines (Fig. 5C-D); tarsus with 5 prolateral, 3 retrolateral. III: femur with 1 dorsal; patella 2 prolateral and 1 retrolateral; tibia 3 prolateral, and 2 retrolateral, 3 ventral distally; metatarsus with 2 dorsal, 5 prolateral, 4 retrolateral, 6 ventral, and two comb-like organs near distad, among them, prolateral with 3 spines, retrolateral with 3 spines (Fig. 5E-F); tarsus with 5 prolateral, 6 retrolateral. IV: femur 1 prolateral near distad, 1 retrolateral; patella 2 prolateral, 1 retrolateral; tibia 3 prolateral, and 2 retrolateral, 3 ventral near distad; metatarsus with 2 dorsal, 3 prolateral, 4 retrolateral, 7 ventral, and two comb-like organs near distad, prolateral with 3 spines, retrolateral with 6 spines (Fig. 5G-H); tarsus with 9 prolateral, 7 retrolateral.

Figure 5.  

Macrothele washanensis sp. n., female paratype. A. Metatarsus I, prolateral comb-like organs; B. Same, retrolateral comb-like organs; C. Metatarsus II, prolateral comb-like organs; D. Same, retrolateral comb-like organs; E. Metatarsus III, prolateral comb-like organs; F. Same, retrolateral comb-like organs; G. Metatarsus IV, prolateral comb-like organs; H. Same, retrolateral comb-like organs.

Measurements of palp and legs: palp: 12.07 (3.07, 4.80, 4.20); I: 20.65 (5.80, 7.47, 4.85, 2.53); II: 21.99 (5.81, 7.92, 5.33, 2.93); III: 22.24 (5.39, 7.25, 6.33, 3.27); IV: 25.37 (6.24, 8.35, 7.54, 3.24). Leg formula: 4321.

Receptacula apically teardrop shaped, the ratio of the length of the T to the length of the CD is almost 1:6 (Fig. 6A-B). Spinnerets: PMS one segment, PMS 2.78 long, 0.58 wide, PMS-PMS 1.63; PLS three segments, PLS 11.11 long (2.91, 3.75, 4.45).

Figure 6.  

Macrothele washanensis sp. n., female paratype. A-B. Genitalia, Cangyuan county.

Figure 7.  

Macrothele washanensis sp. n. A. Spider shelter and spiders; B. Living female; C. Female spider with eggs.

Figure 8.  

Macrothele wuliangensis sp. n., male holotype. A. Male body, dorsal view; B. Embolus, prolateral view; C. Same, ventral view; D. Same, retrolateral view; E. Same, the end; F. Left chelicerae. ventral view; G. Left palp tibia, prolateral view; H. Same, dorsal view; I. Same, retrolateral view; J. Sternum; K. Maxillae and labium.

Figure 9.  

Macrothele wuliangensis sp. n., male holotype, left leg. A. Tibia I, ventral view; B. Metatarsus I, ventral view; C. Tibia II, ventral view; D. Metatarsus II, ventral view.

Figure 10.  

Macrothele wuliangensis sp. n., male holotype. A. Metatarsus I, prolateral comb-like organs; B. Same, retrolateral comb-like organs; C. Metatarsus II, prolateral comb-like organs; D. Same, retrolateral comb-like organs; E. Metatarsus III, prolateral comb-like organs; F. Same, retrolateral comb-like organs; G. Metatarsus IV, prolateral comb-like organs; H. Same, retrolateral comb-like organs.

Figure 11.  

Macrothele wuliangensis sp. n., female paratype. A. Female, body, dorsal view; B. Left chelicerae, ventral view; C. Maxillae and labium; D. Sternum.

Figure 12.  

Macrothele wuliangensis sp. n., female paratype. A. Metatarsus I, ventral comb-like organs; B. Same, prolateral comb-like organs; C. Metatarsus II, retrolateral comb-like organs; D. Same, prolateral comb-like organs; E. Metatarsus III, retrolateral comb-like organs; F. Same, prolateral comb-like organs; G. Metatarsus IV, retrolateral comb-like organs; H. Same, prolateral comb-like organs.

Figure 13.  

M. wuliangensis sp. n. A. Genitalia, paratype, Jingdong county; B. Same, Zhenyuan county Bollie River; C. Same, Jingdong county; D. Jingping Town, juvenile female; E. Same, juvenile genitalia; F. Zhenyuan county Bollie River, juvenile genitalia.

Figure 14.  

Macrothele wuliangensis sp. n. A Microhabitat; B Spider shelter; C Web; D Living female.

Diagnosis

Males of Macrothele washanensis sp. n. resemble M. arcuata Tang, Zhao & Yang, 2020 by having similar bulb shape, but they can be distinguished by the BH no protrusion in prolateral view, embolus tapers from base to apex, and hook-shaped, the ratio of the length of the BH to the length of the E is almost 1 : 4 (Fig. 1B-E); the four tibial spines visible in prolateral view (Fig. 1G-I); tibia I with nine spines visible in ventral view, tibia II straight, with three ventral spines (Fig. 2) (vs tibia with three prolateral spines, and three ventral spines, embolus with visible protrusion, joint of embolus and bulb is strongly bent, embolus needle shaped, the ratio of the length of the BH to the length of the E is almost 1 : 5; tibia I with 26 spines, tibia II with retrolateral bend and 15 ventral spines in M. arcuata). Females of M. washanensis sp. n. can be differentiated from M. arcuata by the receptacula apically teardrop shaped, the ratio of the length of the T to the length of the CD is almost 1 : 6 (Fig. 6) (vs copulatory duct long, shape of the English letter “G”; receptacula apically oval, the ratio of the length of the T to the length of the CD is almost 1 : 8 in M. arcuata).

Etymology

The species epithet is a noun in apposition referring to the type locality.

Distribution

China, Yunnan Province (Cangyuan, Gengma) (Fig. 15)

Figure 15.  

Distribution records of the Macrothele in Yunnan Province. 1. M. bannaensis Xu & Yin, 2001; 2. M. cangshanensis Yang et al., 2018; 3. M. undata Tang, Zhao & Yang, 2020; 4. M. jinlin Yang et al., 2018; 5. M. jingzhao Chen, Jiang & Yang, 2020; 6. M. multispine Wang, Li & Yang, 2019; 7. M. sanheensis Tang, Zhao & Yang, 2020 ; 8. M. yani Xu, Yin & Griswold, 2002, Shi et al. 2018; 9. M. yongshengensis Yang, Zhao & Yang, 2019; 10. M. menglunensis Li & Zha, 2013; 11. M. yunlingensis Yang, Zhao & Yang, 2019; 12. M. arcuata Tang, Zhao & Yang, 2020; 13. M. yunnanica Zhu & Song, 2000; 14. M. washanensis sp. n.; 15. M. wuliangensis sp. n.

Ecology

Spinning large funnel web on crevices. Female often stays in the entrance of funnel tube, when the sheet part of funnel web was hit by other animals, she quickly rush out, to catch the prey, or attack the enemy (Fig. 7B). If the male of the same species comes, releasing some chemical clue or sending vibration via the web, female accepted the clue and walk out for further communication and copulation (Fig. 7A). After some days of copulation, female will lay several dozens of eggs, packaged in a silk-sac, then carried it under her ventral side with cheliceral fang (Fig. 7C).

Variation

Male (holotype and two male paratypes, n = 3): total length 23.30-24.56; maxillary cuspules 220-269, labial cuspules 53-59. Female (paratypes, n = 3): total length 23.43-28.39; maxillary cuspules 260-297, labial cuspules 61-70.

Macrothele wuliangensis Wu & Yang, sp. n.

Materials   Download as CSV 
Holotype:
  1. scientificName:
    Macrothele wuliangensis
    ; order:
    Araneae
    ; family:
    Macrothelidae
    ; genus:
    Macrothele
    ; country:
    China
    ; stateProvince:
    Yunnan
    ; county:
    Jingdong county
    ; municipality:
    Puer
    ; verbatimLatitude:
    24°31ʹ38ʺN
    ; verbatimLongitude:
    100°47ʹ47ʺE
    ; year:
    2019
    ; month:
    5
    ; day:
    28
    ; individualCount:
    1
    ; sex:
    male
    ; lifeStage:
    adult
    ; recordedBy:
    Zizhong Yang
    ; institutionCode:
    DUIER-MWl11
    ; occurrenceID:
    C1EDAD90-9A3D-5884-A92F-7FE5C002F5FF
Paratype:
  1. scientificName:
    Macrothele wuliangensis
    ; order:
    Araneae
    ; family:
    Macrothelidae
    ; genus:
    Macrothele
    ; country:
    China
    ; stateProvince:
    Yunnan
    ; county:
    Jingdong county
    ; municipality:
    Puer
    ; verbatimLatitude:
    24°31ʹ38ʺN
    ; verbatimLongitude:
    100°47ʹ47ʺE
    ; year:
    2019
    ; month:
    5
    ; day:
    28
    ; individualCount:
    18
    ; sex:
    2 males, 16 females
    ; lifeStage:
    10 adults, 8 females juveniles
    ; recordedBy:
    Dasong Yang, Yani Tang, Ying Wang and Lei Tao
    ; institutionCode:
    DUIER-MWl21-MWl218
    ; occurrenceID:
    751DC632-5A7E-5A49-87A8-7BF2EF11204E
Other materials:
  1. scientificName:
    Macrothele wuliangensis
    ; order:
    Araneae
    ; family:
    Macrothelidae
    ; genus:
    Macrothele
    ; country:
    China
    ; stateProvince:
    Yunnan
    ; county:
    Zhenyuan county
    ; municipality:
    Puer
    ; locality:
    Bollie River
    ; verbatimLatitude:
    23°52.536′N
    ; verbatimLongitude:
    101°08.416′E
    ; year:
    2010
    ; month:
    7
    ; day:
    22
    ; individualCount:
    4
    ; sex:
    1male, 3 females
    ; lifeStage:
    adult
    ; recordedBy:
    Zizhong Yang and Ping Feng
    ; institutionCode:
    DUIER-MWl219-MWl222
    ; occurrenceID:
    7AFC9F9E-108B-5934-A860-66DB903D504F
  2. scientificName:
    Macrothele wuliangensis sp. n.
    ; order:
    Araneae
    ; family:
    Macrothelidae
    ; genus:
    Macrothele
    ; country:
    China
    ; stateProvince:
    Yunnan
    ; county:
    Zhenyuan county
    ; municipality:
    Puer
    ; locality:
    Gucheng Town
    ; verbatimLatitude:
    23º29’52.5″N
    ; verbatimLongitude:
    101º10’33.8″E
    ; year:
    2017
    ; month:
    3
    ; day:
    7
    ; individualCount:
    4
    ; sex:
    4 females
    ; lifeStage:
    3 juveniles
    ; recordedBy:
    Zizhong Yang and Chenghong Li
    ; institutionCode:
    DUIER-MWl223-MWl226
    ; occurrenceID:
    2CC9FE88-81E8-5AF1-A744-DEBCB84A7DA8
  3. scientificName:
    Macrothele wuliangensis
    ; order:
    Araneae
    ; family:
    Macrothelidae
    ; genus:
    Macrothele
    ; country:
    China
    ; stateProvince:
    Yunnan
    ; county:
    Jingdong county
    ; municipality:
    Puer
    ; locality:
    Jingping Town
    ; verbatimLatitude:
    24º34’52.4″N
    ; verbatimLongitude:
    100º46’35.9″E
    ; year:
    2018
    ; month:
    9
    ; day:
    14
    ; individualCount:
    13
    ; sex:
    13 females
    ; lifeStage:
    8 adults, 5 juveniles
    ; recordedBy:
    Zizhong Yang and Wanping Li and Shengshuai Liu
    ; institutionCode:
    DUIER-MWl236-MWl248
    ; occurrenceID:
    BF23457D-A6A1-5987-B572-D3BF4C5DF46E

Description

Male (holotype, DUIER-MWl11, Fig. 8). Total Length 22.52: cephalothorax 11.43 long, 7.49 wide; opisthosoma 8.49 long, 4.97 wide. Carapace dark chestnut, gray hairy. Fovea concave. Both eye rows recurved. Eye sizes and inter-distances: AME 0.47, ALE 0.62, PME0.45, PLE 0.50; ALE-AME 0.15, AME-AME 0.31, ALE-PLE 0.22, PLE-PME 0.05, PME-PME 0.95. Eye area 1.15 long, 2.28 wide. Chelicerae dark, with 13 stout promarginal teeth, 15 small retromarginal teeth, 17 tiny teeth with fang furrow (Fig. 8F). Labium and maxillae chestnut, with dark brown bristles and patch of cuspules on anterior half part (Fig. 8J); maxillae area length 3.30, cuspules area length 1.48. Sternum chestnut, and with three pairs of sigilla (Fig. 8K). Palp: tibia yellow, 4.34 long，with one long and two stout prolateral spines, two stout dorsal spines (Fig. 8G-I), palpal trochanter without lyral spines; embolus terminal end curved, 4.76 long. (Fig. 8E)

Leg spines. I: femur with 1 dorsal near distad; tibia 2 prolateral, 3 retrolateral, 10 ventral (Fig. 9A) metatarsus with 16 ventral, 12 ventral on near based (Fig. 9B), and two comb-like organs near distad, among them, prolateral with 2 spines, retrolateral with 3 spines (Fig. 10A-B); tarsus 3 prolateral, 4 retrolateral. II: femur with 2 dorsal; patella 2 prolateral; tibia 1 prolateral, 7 ventral (Fig. 9C); metatarsus with 1 prolateral, 7 ventral (Fig. 9D), and two comb-like organs near distad, prolateral with 2 spines, retrolateral with 3 spines (Fig. 10C-D); tarsus 4 prolateral, 4 retrolateral. III: patella 2 prolateral, 1 retrolateral; tibia 3 prolateral, 1 retrolateral, 4 ventral; metatarsus 2 dorsal, 4 prolateral, 2 retrolateral, 7 ventral, and two comb-like organs near distad, among them, prolateral with 3 spines, retrolateral with 2 spines (Fig. 10E-F); tarsus with 7 prolateral, 5 retrolateral. IV: femur with 1 dorsal near basad; patella 2 prolateral, 1 retrolateral; tibia 2 prolateral, 2 retrolateral, 4 ventral; metatarsus 1 dorsal, 4 prolateral, 3 retrolateral, 7 ventral, and two comb-like organs near distad, among them, prolateral with 3 spines, retrolateral with 5 spines (Fig. 10G-H); tarsus with 7 prolateral, 7 retrolateral.

Measurements of palp and legs: palp: 12.30 (5.07, 6.22, 1.01); I: 22.44 (6.04, 7.81, 5.82, 2.77); II: 23.40 (6.09, 7.67, 6.29, 3.35); III: 22.77 (5.99, 7.38, 6.06, 3.34); IV: 27.76 (6.99, 8.75, 8.44, 3.58). Leg formula: 4231.

Abdomen black, hairy. Spinnerets: PMS one segment, 1.84 long, 0.45 wide, PMS-PMS 0.86; PLS three segments, PLS 10.35 long (3.29, 3.55, 3.51).

Female (DUIER-MWl21, Fig. 11). Total length 26.86: cephalothorax 8.95 long, 6.77 wide; opisthosoma 8.92 long, 5.18 wide. Eye sizes and inter-distances: AME 0.58, ALE 0.70, PME 0.50, PLE 0.56; AME-AME 0.17, ALE-AME 0.13, ALE- PLE 0.16, PLE-PME 0.03, PME-PME 0.99. Eye area 1.20 long, 2.50 wide. Chelicerae chestnut, with 15 stout promargin teeth, 12 small retromarginal teeth, 10 tiny teeth with fang furrow (Fig. 11B). Labium and maxillae lightly yellow, with dark brown bristles and patch of cuspules on anterior half part (Fig. 11C); maxillae area length 3.49, cuspules area length 2.15. Sternum yellow, with three pairs of sigilla (Fig. 11D); palpal trochanter without lyral spines.

Leg spines. I: patella with 1 prolateral; tibia 2 ventral; metatarsus 6 ventral, and two comb-like organs near distad, ventral with 2 spines, prolateral with 2 spines (Fig. 12A-B); tarsus 6 prolateral, 5 retrolateral. II: patella 1 prolateral; tibia 1 prolateral, 2 ventral; metatarsus 1 prolateral, 7 ventral, and two comb-like organs near distad, retrolateral with 2 spines, prolateral with 2 spines (Fig. 12C-D); tarsus 5 prolateral spines, 5 retrolateral. III: patella 2 prolateral, 1 retrolateral; tibia 4 prolateral, 2 retrolateral, 4 ventral distally; metatarsus 3 dorsal, 5 prolateral, 3 retrolateral, 8 ventral, and two comb-like organs near distad, among them, retrolateral with 2 spines, prolateral with 2 spines (Fig. 12E-F); tarsus 8 prolateral, 7 retrolateral. IV: patella 1 prolateral near distally, 1 retrolateral; tibia 2 prolateral, 2 retrolateral, 2 ventral distal; metatarsus 2 dorsal, 4 prolateral, 5 retrolateral, 8 ventral, and two comb-like organs near distad, among them, retrolateral with 4 spines, prolateral with 2 spines (Fig. 12G-H); tarsus with 9 prolateral, 8 retrolateral.

Measurements of palp and legs: palp: 13.52 (4.54, 4.91, 4.07); I: 18.86 (5.46, 6.58, 4.19, 2.63); II: 21.53 (6.77, 7.25, 4.86, 2.65); III: 23.00 (6.55, 8.33, 5.13, 2.99); IV: 23.33 (5.78, 8.51, 6.28, 2.76). Leg formula: 4321.

Apically teardrop shaped receptacula bent inwards apically, the ratio of the length of the T to the length of the CD is almost 1 : 5 (Fig. 13). Spinnerets: PMS one segment, 1.94 long, 0.59 wide, PMS-PMS 1.05; PLS three segments, 12.00 long (3.33, 3.94, 4.73).

Diagnosis

Males of Macrothele wuliangensis sp. n. resemble M. washanensis sp. n. by having similar palpal bulb morphology, but they can be distinguished by having spines in prolateral and dorsal views of palpal tibia and similar palpal bulb morphology, females of the new species are similar to others by the apically teardrop shaped receptacula bent inwards apically. Males of M. wuliangensis sp. nov. can be distinguished from M. washanensis sp. n. having five tibial spines visible in prolateral view, two tibial spines visible in dorsal view (Fig. 8G-I); tibia I has 10 ventral spines with six arranged in three pairs, tibia II has 7 ventral spines (Fig. 9) (vs four tibial spines visible in prolateral view, 0 dorsal spines; tibia I with nine spines visible in ventral view, tibia II has 3 ventral spines in M. washanensis sp. n.). Females of M. wuliangensis sp. n. can be differentiated from M. washanensis sp. n. by the ratio of the length of the T to the length of the CD is almost 1:5 (Fig. 13) (the ratio of the length of the T to the length of the CD is almost 1 : 6 in M. washanensis sp. n.).

Etymology

The specific name refers to the type locality and is a noun in apposition.

Distribution

China, Yunnan Province (Jingdong, Zhenyuan) (Fig. 15)

Ecology

These spiders usually live in the gap between high rocks and soil (Fig. 14A). They use the natural gap to form a web (Fig. 14B). The web is obvious, funnel shaped, and there are many gaps (Fig. 14C). The spiders usually stay at the hole and wait for the appearance of prey. Generally, the female is large (Fig. 14D).

Variation

Male (holotype and two male paratypes, n = 3): total length 22.05-22.63; maxillary cuspules 210-330, labial cuspules 57-79. Female (paratypes, n = 16): total length 19.27-26.86; maxillary cuspules 219-354, labial cuspules 61-84.

Discussion

Morphologically, the two new species described is different from that of other species. In addition, the interspecific genetic distance was calculated. In Table 1, the intraspecific genetic distance of the M. wuliangensis sp. n. is 0.0053, less than 0.02, and the interspecific genetic distance between the M. wuliangensis sp. n. and other species is 0.0613-0.5489; The interspecific genetic distance between M. washanensis sp. n. and other species is 0.0613-0.5832. The females and males of two new species are collected from the same location, therefore, we consider that the two new species proposed are effective.

Table 1.
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Interspecific genetic distance of two new species based on the p-distance mode.

GenBank number

Species

M. yani

M. wuliangensis sp. n.

 M. wuliangensis sp. n.

M. washanensis sp. n.

M. jinlin

MW868388

M. yani

OP003884

M. wuliangensis sp. n.

0.1839

MW847615

M. wuliangensis sp. n.

0.1891

0.0053

OP484957

M. washanensis sp. n.

0.2119

0.0630

0.0613

MW850365

M. jinlin

0.5849

0.5849

0.5814

0.5832

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (32160113) the Key Project on Applied Basic Research of Yunnan Provincial Department of Science and Technology (2016FA012), the Special Program of Science and Technology of Yunnan Province (202002AA100007).

We are grateful to Dasong Yang, Yani Tang, Yongming You, Wanping Li, Shengshuai Liu, Ping Feng, Jiasen Wei Chenggong Li and Wenjie Zhang for collecting the specimens. Also thanks Dr. Luyu Wang for taking photos of the specimens, and Dr. Junxia Zhang for editing the manuscript.

References

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