Argiope beibeng Mi & Wang, sp. nov.

Materials

Type status: Holotype. Occurrence: recordedBy: Xiaoqi Mi et al.; individualID: TRU- Araneidae - 315; sex: male; associatedSequences: PP 810205; occurrenceID: DC00441F-8EF7-5A10-AB5A-3171BB006A78; Location: country: China; stateProvince: Xizang Autonomous Region; county: Medog; locality: Beibeng Township, Jiangxin Village; verbatimElevation: ca 700 m; verbatimLatitude: 29 ° 13.70 ′ N; verbatimLongitude: 95 ° 8.04 ′ E; Identification: identifiedBy: Xiaoqi Mi; Event: samplingProtocol: hand collecting; year: 2023; month: 8; day: 17

Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: recordedBy: Xiaoqi Mi et al.; individualID: TRU- Araneidae - 316; individualCount: 1; sex: female; associatedSequences: PP 899059; occurrenceID: 7899DD6A-FBB9-5032-A69B-54FBB23F7FE7; Location: country: China; stateProvince: Xizang Autonomous Region; county: Medog; locality: Beibeng Township, Jiangxin Village; verbatimElevation: ca 700 m; verbatimLatitude: 29 ° 13.70 ′ N; verbatimLongitude: 95 ° 8.04 ′ E; Identification: identifiedBy: Xiaoqi Mi; Event: samplingProtocol: hand collecting; year: 2023; month: 8; day: 17

Description

Male (TRU- Araneidae - 315). Total length 2.35. Carapace 1.50 long, 1.35 wide; abdomen 1.60 long, 1.05 wide. Eye sizes and interdistances: AME 0.11, ALE 0.05, PME 0.10, PLE 0.08, AME – AME 0.05, AME – ALE 0.03, PME – PME 0.15, PME – PLE 0.15. Legs: I 5.70 (1.60, 1.80, 1.55, 0.75), II 5.40 (1.55, 1.70, 1.45, 0.70), III 2.95 (0.95, 0.90, 0.65, 0.45), IV 4.40 (1.45, 1.30, 1.05, 0.60). Carapace (Fig. 1 D, F) acutely narrowed in cephalic region and rounded in thorax region, pale with a longitudinal brown stripe medially and brown margins. Fovea depressed. Chelicerae (Fig. 1 E, F) yellowish brown, with four promarginal and three retromarginal teeth. Endites (Fig. 1 E) dark brown at base and pale on the inner side. Labium (Fig. 1 E) dark brown at base and pale at tip. Sternum (Fig. 1 E) heart-shaped, pale medially and dark brown laterally. Legs (Fig. 1 H – K) dark brown to greenish brown, with pale annuli, armed with macrosetae. Abdomen (Fig. 1 D – G) oval, yellowish green with four pairs of brown patches. Venter abdomen dark brown, with a pair of white patches median-laterally. Spinnerets dark brown.

Pedipalp (Fig. 2 A – D): patella with a long bristle; tibia swollen; paracymbium fingerlike; median apophysis boot shaped, with a fine dorsal spur near the distal end; conductor about equal length to median apophysis, broad and slightly curled; embolus tapered, curved to C-shaped in apical view.

Female (TRU- Araneidae - 316). Total length 5.80. Carapace 2.70 long, 2.20 wide; abdomen 3.40 long, 3.00 wide. Eye sizes and interdistances: AME 0.15, ALE 0.08, PME 0.13, PLE 0.10, AME – AME 0.13, AME – ALE 0.13, PME – PME 0.28, PME – PLE 0.30. Legs: I 10.55 (3.10, 3.45, 2.95, 1.05), II 9.80 (3.30, 3.15, 2.35, 1.00), III 6.15 (2.05, 1.85, 1.45, 0.80), IV 9.65 (3.25, 3.00, 2.50, 0.90). Carapace (Fig. 1 A) pear-shaped, pale yellow with brown radial markings. Fovea depressed. Chelicerae (Fig. 1 B, C) grayish yellow with four promarginal and three retromarginal teeth. Endites and labium (Fig. 1 B) dark at base and pale apically. Sternum (Fig. 1 B) heart-shaped, yellow with a wide longitudinal branched white band. Legs grayish brown with yellow annuli. Abdomen (Fig. 1 A – C) pentagonal, with a pair of anterio-lateral low humps, dorsum grayish brown with silver to pink spots. Venter abdomen grayish brown, with two pairs of white patches laterally and three pairs of white spots medially. Spinnerets grayish yellow.

Epigyne (Fig. 3 A – E) rimmed anteriorly and laterally; median septum narrowest at the middle part; posterior plate wide, about 2 / 3 the epigynal width; copulatory openings located on each side of the posterior plate in posterior view; copulatory ducts shorter than half the spermathecal length; spermathecae reniform, posterior end nearly touch, anterior end directed downward.

Diagnosis

The male of this species resembles A. anasuja Thorell, 1887 in having similar embolus, but differs in: 1) distal end of the median apophysis about equal width to pedipalp tibia (Fig. 2 A), versus about half the width of pedipalp tibia in A. anasuja (Levi 1983: fig. 172); and 2) distal end of the median apophysis partly covers the conductor in prolatertal view (Fig. 2 A), versus far away from the conductor in A. anasuja (Levi 1983: fig. 172). The female of this species resembles A. hoiseni Tan, 2018 in appearance, but differs in: 1) posterior plate about 2 / 3 width of the epigynum (Fig. 3 D), versus about 1 / 2 in A. hoiseni (Tan 2018: fig. 11); and 2) anterior end of spermathecae directed downward (Fig. 3 B), versus directed upward in A. hoiseni (Tan 2018: fig. 10).

Etymology

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

Distribution

China (Xizang) (Fig. 7).

Notes

Matching of male and female was justified by DNA barcoding.