Cicynethus subtropicalis Jocqué & Henrard 2018, comb. nov.

Cicynethus subtropicalis (Lawrence, 1952) comb. nov.

Figs 1 A–G, 2F–H, 15–19, 20A–B, 21

Chariobas subtropicalis Lawrence, 1952: 195, fig. 25 (descr. ♀).

Diagnosis

Both male and female of Cicynethus subtropicalis comb. nov. are recognized by the colour pattern of the legs and abdomen; the male palp is similar to that of C. floriumfontis, with the strongly protruding tegulum in which the sperm duct is visible on the prolateral side, but is distinguished by the shape of the RTA, with two ledges perpendicular to each other; the female by the details of the abdomen, with large atria and faint median septum emerging from the anterior margin of the posterior plate.

Material examined

Holotype

SOUTH AFRICA: ♀, Kwazulu-Natal Province, Kosi Bay, 28°58′ S, 32°49′ E, 1906, R. Toppin (NM 1161).

Other material

SOUTH AFRICA: Kwazulu-Natal Province: 1 ♂, Simangaliso Wetland Park, Mkhuze Game Reserve, 27°38′42″ S, 32°09′30″ E, pitfall trap, B13, 18 Jul. 2008, X. Combrink leg. (NCA 2016/842); 1 ♂, Ndumo Game Reserve, 26°53′37″ S, 32°15′18″ E, broadleaf woodland, sweepnet, 10 Feb. 2005, C. Haddad leg. (NCA 2008/4266); 1 ♂, deep sand forest, under tree bark, same collection data as for preceding but 11 Jan. 2007 (NCA 2007/3035); 1 ♀, Ndumo Game Reserve, 26°58′ S, 32°25′ E, on bush, 6 Dec. 2000, C. Haddad leg. (NCA 2005/1860); 1 ♂, Tembe Elephant Park, 27°02′56″ S, 32°25′20″ E, open woodland, searching shrub foliage, 9 Jan. 2009, C. Haddad leg. (NCA 2007/3203; drawings); 1 ♀, leaf litter, same collection data as for preceding but 21 Jan. 2002 (RMCA _ARA_ 211745; drawing; DNA extraction); 1 ♀, 1 juv., sweep grass and herbs, same collection data as for preceding but 12 Jan. 2002 (NCA 2007/3556; drawing); 2 ♀♀, Empangeni, 28°43′ S, 31°52′ E, bush, marshy ground, 17 May 1975, P. Reavell leg. (NCA 2000/438).

Description

Holotype (female, NMSA 1161)

MEASUREMENTS. Total length: 11.50. Carapace: length 4.97, width 2.70, height 1.42.

COLOUR (Fig. 15D). Carapace medium brown, reddish brown around fovea; chelicerae reddish brown, with distal antero-median pale patch; endites and labium pale yellow; sternum brownish yellow in front to pale yellow at the back; legs greyish yellow, stronger first pair reddish brown from P onwards; abdomen uniform grey with ill-defined darker median dorsal stripe ending in white longitudinal bar.

STERNUM (Fig. 16A). Elongated oval, 1.49 wide, 2.13 long. Precoxal sclerites at coxae II–IV.

EYES. ALE 0.15; AME 0.16; PLE 0.15; PME 0.13; ALE–AME 0.05; AME–AME 0.05; PLE–PME 0.16; PME–PME 0.10. Clypeus 0.33 high, with several long setae.

CHILUM. Poorly defined, two sclerites each 0.36 wide, 0.10 high.

LEGS SPINATION. Distal ventral spines Mt I: d3 sd1; Mt II: d3 sd1; Mt III: d2 sd1; Mt IV: d2 sd1–1.

EPIGYNE (Fig. 15A). With posterior, slightly procurved plate, in the middle produced into median septum, delimiting large atria; large dark area on either side.

Note

Since the holotype was collected more than 110 years ago, it is not surprising that is bleached. We therefore provide the description of a more recent female in addition to the description of a male.

Male (NCA 2016/842)

MEASUREMENTS. Total length: 10.37. Carapace: length 4.97, width 2.91, height 0.78.

COLOUR (Fig. 15A). Carapace reddish brown with darker median band in front of fovea, widening towards the front, reaching eye region; dark marginal bands with irregularly serrated median margin; chelicerae reddish brown with distal median part white; endites yellowish orange; labium reddish brown; sternum reddish brown with darker margins in anterior half; legs: all F yellow with distal dorsal extremity dark brown, remainder of first leg pair reddish brown; second pair with P brown, T yellow, Mt and t brown; third and fourth pairs with P yellow with brown sides, remainder yellow to slightly orange on Mt and t; abdomen base colour cream; dorsum with three dark stripes, the median one divided by thin white line anteriorly and by large white bar in posterior third; venter with white mottling; spinnerets yellow.

STERNUM. Elongated oval, 1.56 wide, 2.13 long. Precoxal sclerites absent.

CHILUM. Poorly defined, two sclerites each 0.08 high, 0.30 wide.

EYES. ALE 0.20; AME 0.16; PLE 0.20; PME 0.16; ALE–AME 0.07; AME–AME 0.07; PLE–PME 0.16; PME–PME 0.10. Clypeus 0.33 high, with several long setae.

LEG MEASUREMENTS.

LEGS. With numerous long, hinged hairs. All Mt with four distal ventral spines in a series 1–2–1 with central ones closely set behind each other.

MALE PALP (Figs 18 A–I, 19A–D). RTA large, tapered to extremity with two ledges, one transverse, rounded, the other one perpendicular to that, bluntly pointed; cymbium short, with two distal spines; tegulum strongly protruding, sperm duct on prolateral side narrowed before entering strongly curved embolus; MA slightly curved, pointing outward.

Female (NCA 2005/1860)

MEASUREMENTS. Total length: 14.41. Carapace: length 5.98, width 3.20, height 1.42.

COLOUR (Figs 15E, 16 B–C). Very similar to colour of male.

STERNUM. Elongated oval, 1.63 wide, 2.56 long. All coxae with precoxal sclerites.

CHILUM. Poorly defined, two sclerites, each 0.10 high, 0.31 wide.

EYES. ALE 0.21; AME 0.25; PLE 0.18; PME 0.16; ALE–AME 0.12; AME–AME 0.10; PLE–PME 0.25; PME–PME 0.13. Clypeus 0.38 high, with several long setae.

LEG MEASUREMENTS.

LEGS. Without hinged hairs. All Mt with four distal ventral spines in a series 1–2–1 with central ones closely set behind each other.

EPIGYNE (Fig. 17B). With wide posterior plate slightly procurved, in the middle produced into faint median septum delimiting large atria; large dark area on each side.

Variation

The colour of the live specimen (Fig. 15 A–B) is quite aberrant from what is observed in specimens kept in ethanol (Fig. 15 C–G). The carapace of the live specimen is almost uniform dark brown except for a small paler patch at the posterior margin, whereas in all the preserved specimens there is a clear pattern composed of three dark bands interrupted by stretches of medium brownish orange. Also, the abdominal pattern is somewhat different: the dorsolateral dark bands are less pronounced than in the collection specimens. Considering the locality where the live specimen was photographed, we assume that its colour pattern falls within the variation observed in the species, with the characteristic contrasting white posterior stretch of the median abdominal band (Fig. 15 A–G). The epigyne is also subject to quite some variation, as shown in the pictures (Fig. 17 A–F) and in the interpretation in the drawings (17G–H). Details of the male palp also vary to some extent. The inclination of the palp may lead to rather different observations and interpretations, mainly in connection with the details of the RTA apex (Figs 18B, E, G, 19B, D) and the curvature of the median apophysis (Figs 18A, C, F, 19A, C). The distal swelling of the MA (Figs 18C, 19A) seems absent in Figs 18F and 19C, but this is merely the result of the inclination at which the specimens is photographed or drawn.

The female specimens from Empangeni (2000/438) have an epigyne in which the contours of the dark internal structure (Fig. 17 E–F) look slightly different from those of the other specimens (Fig. 17 A–D). However, since the colour pattern of all these specimens is similar and in the absence of males with different palps, we have refrained from describing another new species based on only two specimens.

Distribution

Known from several localities near the type locality in Kwazulu-Natal Province, South Africa (Fig. 21).

Systematic notes

Cicynethus acanthopus Simon, 1910, only known from a subadult female (Fig. 20 E–F) from Namibia, is aberrant in many respects (see Jocqué 1991): the shape and the setation of the carapace, the shape of the labium, the height of the clypeus and the leg spination. All these characters point in the direction of another genus, not yet identified. We therefore consider C. acanthopus as ‘species incertae sedis ’.

Cicynethus hongfuchui Barrion, Barrion-Dupo & Heong, 2013 is not a member of Cicynethus and most probably an elongated species of Storenomorpha Simon, 1884. In that genus, the posterior eye row is strongly recurved, whereas it is clearly procurved in Cicynethus. The colour pattern and number of spines on the legs, very few in Cicynethus, also point to Storenomorpha. One character mentioned by Barrion et al. (2013: 45), “maxillae yellow except short black serrula”, is puzzling because one of the synapomorphies of the family Zodariidae is the absence of a serrula. We here present the new combination Storenomorpha hongfuchui (Barrion, Barrion-Dupo & Heong, 2013) comb. nov.