Wadicosa daliensis Yin, Peng & Zhang, 1997

Wadicosa daliensis Yin, Peng & Zhang, 1997 View in CoL

( Figs. 32–53 View Figs View Figs View Figs View Figs )

W. daliensis Yin et al., 1997: 99 View in CoL , fig. 1–6, male and female.

See the full list of references in WSC (2024).

Material examined. 7 males, 3 females ( FEFU), LAOS, Vientiane Prov., env. of Nam-Lik Eco-Village , 18°36′53.18″N 102°24′31.87″E, hand picking and pitfall traps at river and lake banks, along roads, coll. M.M. Omelko, 7–25 November 2013 GoogleMaps ; 1 male, same place and collector, 4–9 June 2016; 9 males, 1 female ( FEFU), same place and collector, 14 June–25 July 2017 .

Diagnosis. By general appearance, palp and structure of its copulatory organs (shape of tegulum, tegular apophysis, embolus, fovea, and receptacle) Wadicosa daliensis is closely related to W. fidelis and W. okinawensis ( Tanaka, 1985) . Males of W. daliensis may be differentiated from W. fidelis by: 1) a large posterior retrolateral process of tegulum (PP; vs. small, cf. Figs. 41–43 View Figs and figs. 1, 12 in Kronestedt & Zyuzin (2009)), 2) tegular apophysis (TA) strongly curved, widened medially in ventral view (vs. slightly curved, widened distally, cf. Figs. 39, 42 View Figs and fig. 1 in Kronestedt & Zyuzin (2009)); from W. okinawensis by: 1) dark carapace and abdomen coloration (vs. very light, cf. Figs. 32, 34 View Figs and figs. 69A in Wang et al. (2021)), 2) serrated retrolateral edge of tegulum (Ed; vs. smooth, cf. Fig. 43 View Figs and Figs. 69D, 70B in Wang et al. (2021)). Females of W. daliensis can be differentiated from those of W. fidelis by U-shaped receptacles (vs. rounded, cf. Fig. 51 View Figs and fig. 17 in Kronestedt & Zyuzin (2009)); from W. okinawensis by: 1) septal base (SB) width/height ratio ca. 2.9 (vs. 2.1, cf. Fig. 49–50 View Figs and fig. 69G in Wang et al. (2021)), 2) oval foveolae (Fv) (vs. almost round, cf. Figs. 49–50 View Figs and fig. 69G in Wang et al. (2021)).

Description. Male ( Figs. 32–34 View Figs ). Total length 5.41. Carapace 3.01 long, 2.29 wide. Opisthosoma 2.42 long, 1.67 wide. Colouration. Carapace dark brown covered with more or less dense (cf. Figs. 32 and 34 View Figs ) white setae, with yellow, star-like median band, eye field black. Lateral bands brown, indistinct, divided into several spots. Fovea thin, dark brown. Clypeus black, chelicerae dark brown, labium black. Endites dark brown with yellow outer edges. Sternum black with indistinct brown spots.

Eye sizes and interdistances: AME 0.14, ALE 0.11, PME 0.33, PLE 0.26; AME–AME 0.10, AME–ALE 0.03, PME– PME 0.33, PME–PLE 0.35, AME–PME 0.10, ALE–PME 0.09; clypeus height 0.22.

Palpal femur black with yellow distal part; patella and tibia yellow covered with white setae; cymbium black with white setae proximally. For palp and legs measurements see Table 7. Coxae I–II dark grey, III–IV yellow; femora I dark brown dorsally and laterally, brown ventrally, II–IV light brown with grey annulation; patellae I–IV light brown; tibiae and metatarsi I–IV light brown with poorly visible greyish annulation; tarsi I–IV light brown. For leg spination see Table 8.

Dorsal part of the opisthosoma grey with dark brown cardiac mark and series of yellow spots. In some specimens these spots large, merging with each other (cf. Figs. 32 and 34 View Figs ). Lateral sides of the opisthosoma greyish with lots of yellow spots. Ventral part light brown with 4 sub-longitudinal lines consisting of tiny dark brown spots. Spinnerets light brown.

Palp as shown in Figs. 37–48 View Figs View Figs . Tibia 1.6 times longer than wide. Cymbium 1.5 times longer than bulb and 1.5 times longer than tibia. Tegulum (Te) with heavily sclerotised lanceolate posterior retrolateral process (PP), conical anterior process (AP); retrolaterally with serrated edge (Ed). Subtegulum (St) prolaterally positioned, partly hidden by large shell-like cuticular cover (CC). Tegular apophysis (TA) consists of two branches. Upper branch (UB) long, crescent-like in ventral view, strongly flattened in anterior view, with triangular extension (AE) medially. UB proximally covered with tiny spinulae barely visible in light microscope. Lower branch (LB) small, triangular. Conductor (Co) large, heavily sclerotised with hook-shaped tip in retrolateral view. Embolus (Em) long, forming large bend over tegular apophysis. Apical part of embolus widened, semi-transparent; embolic tip acute.

Female ( Figs. 35–36 View Figs ). Total length 6.04. Carapace 2.88 long, 2.36 wide. Opisthosoma 3.13 long, 2.09 wide. Colouration. Carapace and opisthosoma like in male but somewhat lighter, white setae less visible. Clypeus and chelicerae light brown.

Eye sizes and interdistances: AME 0.16, ALE 0.11, PME 0.33, PLE 0.28; AME–AME 0.10, AME–ALE 0.04, PME– PME 0.31, PME–PLE 0.39, AME–PME 0.12, ALE–PME 0.11; clypeus height 0.26.

All segments of palp light brown. For palp and legs measurements see Table 9. Coxae I–IV yellowish. femora I–IV dorsally and laterally light brown with grey annulation, ventrally yellow; patellae I–IV light brown; tibiae and metatarsi I–IV light brown with poorly visible annulation; tarsi I–IV light brown. For leg spination see Table 10.

Lateral sides of the opisthosoma yellow with tiny grey spots. Ventral part yellow. Spinnerets light brown.

Epigyne as shown in Figs. 49–51 View Figs . Fovea (Fo) ca. 2.2 times wider than long. Receptacles (Re) long, turned U-shaped. Septum (Se) triangular with wide base (SB) and short, poorly visible stem (SS). Foveolae (Fv; pockets) oval, ca. 2 times longer than wide, with large hoods (Ho).

Notes. As mentioned above, one of the species closest to Wadicosa daliensis is W. okinawensis . This species was described from southern Japan (Nansei islands; Tanaka (1985)) and later found in China (Hainan; Wang et al. (2021)). The original black and white drawings of the copulatory organs of W. okinawensis are highly schematic, and the colour photographs are of small size ( Chikuni, 1989), making a careful comparison of the photos of my specimens of W. daliensis with the images of W. okinawensis from Japan impossible. For this reason, I only compare them with photos of W. okinawensis from China. However, live photographs of W. okinawensis from China differ significantly from those from Japan (cf. Figs. 2E–F in Wang et al. (2021) and fig. 35 in Chikuni (1989)). Additionally, noticeable differences exist in the structure of the female epigyne, such as the varying shape of the fovea and foveolae (pockets) (cf. fig. 69G in Wang et al. (2021) and fig. 35 in Chikuni (1989)). In my opinion, the spiders identified from China as W. okinawensis are likely not conspecific with those from Japan and may possibly be described as a new species in the future.

Distribution. China (Guangdong, Hainan, Yunnan Provinces), Laos (new record; Figs. 52–53 View Figs ).