Scytodes tapuia Rheims & Brescovit, 2009, new species

Scytodes tapuia new species

Figs. 16–21

Type material: Holotype: male from Gruta Coluna, Dianópolis [11°42' S; 46°44' W], Tocantins, Brazil, 4–9 December 2007, R. Andrade, deposited in IBSP 97630.

Paratypes: BRAZIL. Tocantins: Dianópolis [11°42' S; 46°44' W] (Gruta Coluna), 1Ƥ, 4–9 December 2007, R. Andrade (IBSP 97630); (Gruta N.A.), 1Ƥ 4–9 December 2007, F. Pellegatti-Franco (IBSP 97608); (Gruta Fenda II), 1Ƥ, 4–9 December 2007, F. Pellegatti-Franco (IBSP 97600); (Gruta Pescador), 1Ƥ, 4–9 December 2007, F. Pellegatti-Franco (IBSP 97597).

Etymology. The specific name is a noun in apposition and refers to the first name of the village that later became the city of Dianópolis. The name was given in honour of the Tapuia Indians who first discovered the presence of gold in the region and later became responsible for it's extraction.

Diagnosis. Males of Scytodes tapuia n.sp. are distinguished from the remaining Neotropical Scytodes by the palp with short and ventrally pointed sclerotized process, short, retrolateral keel (Figs. 17–18) and the prolateral fold of the distal region of the bulb (Fig. 17, 19). Females are distinguished by the epigynum with ridged positioning ridges anterior to the epigastric furrow and lateral to the epigynal pouch (Fig. 20).

Description. Male (Holotype, IBSP 97630). Carapace orange with brown pattern as shown on Fig. 16. Chelicerae slightly lighter than carapace with dorsal, longitudinal brown stripe. Pedipalps orange. Labium and endites pale yellow. Sternum pale yellow with slightly darker margins. Legs orange. Patella I–IV and tibia I–IV distally brown. Abdomen gray with black pattern (Fig. 16). Total length 3.2. Carapace slightly domed, 1.8 long, 1.6 wide. Eye diameters: PME 0.12, ALE 0.14, PLE 0.14. Lateral eyes on a tubercle. Chelicerae with subapical hyaline keel and five stridulatory ridges. Labium 0.16 long, 0.20 wide. Sternum 0.90 long, 0.72 wide. Leg measurements: I: femur 2.7, patella 0.5, tibia 2.6, metatarsus 3.1, tarsus 0.5, total 9.4; II: 2.2, 0.4, 1.9, 2.3, 0.5, 7.3; III: 1.2, 0.3, 1.3, 1.4, 0.4, 4.6; IV: 1.9, 0.4, 1.9, 2.0, 0.4, 6.6. Palpal femur with stridulatory pick short and stout on slightly projected socket. Cymbium with pair of strong distal spines (Figs. 17–18). Bulb 0.54 long, strongly constricted at the middle. Distal region prolaterally folded with a subdistal, prolateral sclerotized process (Fig. 17) and a short retrolateral keel (Figs. 18–19). Abdomen 1.4 long, 1.3 wide, covered with slender hairs.

Female (Paratype, IBSP 97597). Coloration pattern as in male. Total length 3.8. Carapace domed, 2.0 long, 1.6 wide. Eye diameters: PME 0.10, ALE 0.10, PLE 0.12. Lateral eyes on a tubercle. Chelicerae as in male. Labium 0.18 long, 0.20 wide. Sternum 0.92 long, 0.78 wide. Leg measurements: I: femur 2.1, patella 0.4, tibia 2.0, metatarsus 2.3, tarsus 0.5, total 7.3; II: 1.8, 0.5, 1.6, 1.9, 0.5, 6.3; III: 1.2, 0.4, 1.1, 1.2, 0.4, 4.3; IV: 1.8, 0.5, 1.7, 1.8, 0.5, 6.3. Palpal femur as in male. Epigynum with ridged positioning ridges set above the epigastric furrow and lateral to the epigynal pouch (Fig. 20). Vulva with small, oval spermathecae on very long stalks, adjacent to rounded hyaline pockets with no apparent sclerotized areas (Fig. 21). Abdomen 1.8 long, 1.8 wide, as in male.

Variation. Four females: total length 3.5–3.8; carapace 1.7–2.0; femur I 1.8–2.1.

Distribution. Cerrado. Only known from the type locality, in the central-western state of Tocantins.