Modisimus berac Huber & Fischer & Astrin 2010, SP. NOV.

MODISIMUS BERAC HUBER SP. NOV.

(Figs 15, 36, 59, 81, 188, 189, 201)

Type: Male holotype from broadleaf forest patch (‘Berac’, 18°19.7 ′ N, 72°17.7 ′ W), La Visite N. P., Dept Sud-Est, Haiti, 1580 m a.s.l., domed sheet connected to underside of green fern leaves, 27 November 2007 (B.A. Huber), in ZFMK (Haiti 23a).

Etymology: The species name refers to the type locality; it is used as a noun in apposition.

Diagnosis: Medium-sized, pale-greenish, long-legged species, with six eyes, distinguished from close relatives (M. palvet sp. nov. and M. miri sp. nov.) by pair of distinct dark epigynal sclerites (Fig. 59); further distinguished from M. palvet sp. nov. by the pattern of club-shaped modified hairs on male chelicerae (Fig. 188), slightly stronger bulbal apophysis, distally curved towards prolateral, and slightly shorter dorsal cymbium projection; distinguished from M. miri sp. nov. by absence of apophyses above fang joints.

Male (holotype): Total length, 2.0; carapace width, 0.8. Leg 1: 20.3, (4.8 + 0.3 + 4.9 + 7.9 + 2.4); tibia 2, 3.2; tibia 3, 2.2; tibia 4, 2.5. Tibia 1 L/d: 65. Habitus as in Figure 36, carapace pale ochre-yellow to whitish, clypeus with wide brown distal margin, sternum whitish; legs pale ochre-yellow, with darker patella area and tibia–metatarsus joints; abdomen pale greenish grey with black spot dorsally (smaller and more posterior than in Fig. 36), ventrally monochromous. Ocular area slightly elevated; thoracic furrow distinct but shallow. PME–PME, 125 Mm; PME diameter, 70 Mm; PME–ALE, 70 Mm; no AME. Sternum slightly wider than long (0.6/0.55), unmodified. Chelicerae with around eight cone-shaped modified hairs on each side (Fig. 188). Palps very similar to M. palvet sp. nov. (cf. Fig. 185), but slightly larger, with slightly shorter dorsal projection on cymbium, and bulbal apophysis stronger and strongly bent towards prolateral distally. Two long spines on each femur 1, many short vertical hairs on all femora; curved hairs on tibiae and metatarsi 1–3; retrolateral trichobothrium on tibia 1 at 7%; prolateral trichobothrium missing on tibia 1, present on all other tibiae; tarsus 1 with ~30 pseudosegments.

Variation: One male with large anterior black spots dorsally on abdomen (Fig. 36). Tibia 1 in three other males: 5.4, 5.4, and 5.7.

Female: In general similar to male, but paler, without darker clypeus margin, spots on abdomen variable (from monochromous to three large black spots; same in juveniles). Tibia 1 in nine females: 3.8–4.5 (mean 4.1). Epigynum, simple externally, with distinctive pair of black spots (Fig. 59); dorsal view as in Figures 81, 189.

Distribution: Known from type locality only (Fig. 201).

Material examined: Haiti: Dept Sud-Est, La Visite N. P., 1♂, holotype above; same data, 3♂, 9♀ and six juveniles (ZFMK, Haiti 23); same data, 4♂, 1♀ and one juvenile in pure ethanol (ZFMK, Haiti 69).