Crossopriza miskin Huber 2022, sp. nov.

Crossopriza miskin sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 6AED4DF0-17D0-485D-8959-71FF61131A34

Figs 353A, 698–701, 706–725

Diagnosis

Easily distinguished from known congeners by details of male palp (Figs 711–713, 716; procursus tip very simple, without ventral sclerite; distal bulbal sclerite with distinctive set of prolateral apophyses); also by male chelicerae (Figs 714–715; two pairs of apophyses in distinctive positions), and by female genitalia (Figs 719–720, 722; epigynum semicircular with large pockets close to median line; pore plates wide apart; ventral arc with elongate median modification); from most known congeners also by small body size (carapace width ~1.0–1.1) and by shape of abdomen (Figs 698–701; pointed elongation above spinnerets).

Etymology

The species name refers to the type locality; noun in apposition.

Type material

Holotype OMAN – Ad Dhahira • ♂; near Miskin (between Ibri and Rusdaq); 23.496° N, 56.838° E; 660 m a.s.l.; under rocks; 25 Mar. 2017; B.A. Huber leg.; ZFMK Ar 22445.

Other material examined

OMAN – Ad Dhahira • 2 ♀♀; same collection data as for holotype; ZFMK Ar 22446 • 1 ♀ (in pure ethanol); same collection data as for holotype; ZFMK Om 36. – Al Batinah South • 1 ♂, 3 ♀♀, 1 juv.; wadi near Fasah; 23.303° N, 57.328° E; 660 m a.s.l.; 26 Mar. 2017; B.A. Huber leg.; under rocks; ZFMK Ar 22447 • 2 ♀♀ (in pure ethanol); same collection data as for preceding; ZFMK Om 39. – Ad Dakhiliya • 1 ♀, 1 juv.; between Al Rawda and Al Hayema; 22.880° N, 57.293° E; 690 m a.s.l.; 17 Feb. 2018; B.A. Huber leg.; ZFMK Ar 22448 • 2 juvs (in pure ethanol); same collection data as for preceding; ZFMK Om 114.

Description

Male (holotype)

MEASUREMENTS. Total length 3.0, carapace width 1.05. Distance PME–PME 60 µm; diameter PME 80 × 100 µm; distance PME–ALE 30 µm; diameter AME 70 µm; distance AME–AME 30 µm. Leg 1: 23.2 (6.5 + 0.4 + 6.2 + 8.4 + 1.7), tibia 2: 3.8, tibia 3: 2.7, tibia 4: 3.5; tibia 1 L/d: 59; femora 1–4 diameters: 0.17, 0.14, 0.13, 0.14.

COLOR (in ethanol). Carapace ochre-yellow, with slightly darker median band including ocular area; clypeus not darkened; sternum ochre-yellow with brown speckles; legs ochre-yellow, without darker rings, with black spots (rather than lines) on femora and (few) on tibiae (cf. Figs 709–710); abdomen pale gray, with dark lines around heart area and posterior median mark; ventrally with distinct black pattern (disrupted median band).

BODY. Habitus as in Figs 698–699. Ocular area slightly raised. Shallow but wide thoracic pit and pair of furrows diverging from pit toward posterior margin. Clypeus unmodified, only rim slightly more sclerotized than in female. Sternum wider than long (0.75/0.60), unmodified. Abdomen strongly elongated and pointed above spinnerets.

CHELICERAE. As in Figs 714–715, with pair of frontal distal apophyses provided with one large modified cone-shaped hair each, and pair of lateral apophyses directed towards lateral; distance between tips of modified hairs 85 µm; lateral stridulatory ridges barely visible in dissecting microscope.

PALPS.As in Figs 706–708; coxa with rounded retrolateral hump; trochanter barely modified; femur distally strongly widened, with rounded ventral protrusion, proximally with prolateral stridulatory pick, without retrolateral transversal line, without retrolateral proximal process; femur-patella joints shifted toward prolateral side; tibia-tarsus joints slightly shifted toward retrolateral side; tarsus without macrotrichia; procursus straight, prolateral proximal hump set with numerous long hairs, long dorsal hairs not curved, procursus tip (Figs 711–713) very simple, without (or with strongly reduced) ventral sclerite; genital bulb (Figs 716–718) with simple basal sclerite connected to distal (main) sclerite, sperm duct opening not seen; distal sclerite with retrolateral ridge and distinctive set of prolateral apophyses and ridges.

LEGS. Femur 1 with single row of ~20 ventral spines; without curved hairs; few vertical hairs; retrolateral trichobothrium of tibia 1 at 4%; prolateral trichobothrium absent on tibia 1, present on other leg tibiae; tarsi without regular pseudosegments (except for 2–3 at tip).

Male (variation)

Tibia 1 in second male: 6.2.

Female

In general similar to male (Figs 700–701) but without spines on legs, apparently without stridulatory files on chelicerae, and with stridulatory organ consisting of pair of weakly sclerotized but distinct processes posteriorly on carapace and pair of barely visible plates anteriorly on abdomen. Tibia 1 in six females: 4.1–4.9 (mean 4.4). Epigynum as in Figs 721–722, small relative to abdomen, main epigynal plate semicircular, weakly protruding; with pair of distinct pockets close together (25 µm apart); internal sclerotized arc and median anterior structure visible in uncleared specimens; posterior plate short but wide. Internal genitalia (Figs 719–720, 723–725) with large pore plates wide apart and converging anteriorly, dorsal arc simple, ventral arc with elongate median modification (pouch?) of unknown function.

Natural history

All specimens were found on the undersides of rocks on the ground, where they were extremely well camouflaged and barely visible unless they moved. However, small parts of the webs usually extended from below the rock, indicating the presence of a spider. In all localities, the species lived in close proximity with Artema bahla Huber, 2019; both species were sometimes found on a single rock, only 10–20 cm apart.

Distribution

Known from several localities in north-eastern Oman (Ad Dhahira, Al Batinah South, Dakhiliya) (Fig. 353A).