Ryuthela iheyana, ONO, 2002

RYUTHELA IHEYANA ONO, 2002 View in CoL

Ryuthela iheyana Ono, 2002, p. 52 View in CoL , figs 1–3 (description of female); Ono, 2009, p. 80, figs 1, 7–8; Tanikawa, 2013a, p. 34, figs 2D–F, 3D–F, 4D–F, 5, 6A–E (description of male).

Holotype: Female deposited at NSMT (NSMT-Ar 5185), from Mt. Gayozan, NE slope, 50 m a.s.l., Iheyajima island, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, 20 January 1998, by H. Ono; examined.

Other material examined: Male (XUX-2014-067) and female (XUX-2014-068), collected at forest trail, Mt. Koshi dake, Iheyajima island, Okinawa Prefecture,

Japan, 27.04°N, 127.97°E, 10 May 2014, by D. Li and B. Wu GoogleMaps .

Diagnosis: Male R. iheyana can be distinguished from R. motobu sp. nov. by the straight contrategulum spine and the narrower marginal apophysis of tegulum and from all other Ryuthela species by the short and straight contrategulum spine ( Fig. 12D–F, J) and the rather sharp distal part of contrategulum ( Fig. 12E, G), as well as the wider and blunt terminal apophysis of tegulum ( Fig. 12F, J). Females of R. iheyana can be distinguished from R. sasakii and R. nishihirai s.s. by the bar-shaped receptacular cluster ( Fig. 12A–C). Ryuthela iheyana can also be diagnosed from all other Ryuthela species by the following unique nucleotide substitutions in the standard DNA barcode alignment: G (2), G (5), G (32), C (68), A (95), T (107), C (112), T (199), T (217), G (307), C (373), T (388), C (397), T (580), C (586). Description: Male. Carapace and opisthosoma light brown; tergites dark brown; sternum narrow, nearly twice as long as wide; a few long pointed hairs running over ocular mound in a longitudinal row; chelicerae robust with promargin of cheliceral groove with 11 vestigial denticles of variable size; legs with strong hairs and spines; opisthosoma with 12 tergites, close to each other, the first 2–5 larger and the fifth largest; 7 spinnerets. Measurements: BL 9.40, CL 4.80, CW 4.00, OL 5.20, OW 3.70; ALE> PLE> PME> AME; leg I 14.05 (3.90 + 1.70 + 2.75 + 3.70 + 2.00), leg II 14.45 (3.78 + 1.75 + 2.85 + 4.07 + 2.00), leg III 15.53 (3.70 + 1.70 + 2.88 + 4.75 + 2.50), leg IV miss.

Palp. Prolateral side of paracymbium unpigmented and unsclerotized, numerous setae and spines at the tip of paracymbium ( Fig. 12D); contrategulum with a short and straight spine and numerous denticles on proximal margin ( Fig. 12D–F, J); in the ventral view, the distal part of contrategulum sharp ( Fig. 12E, G); the terminal apophysis of tegulum is wide and blunt in retrolateral view ( Fig. 12F, J); embolus with a narrow basal part ( Fig. 12F).

Female. Coloration similar to that of male; chelicerae robust with promargin of cheliceral groove with 14 strong denticles of variable size; legs and opisthosoma as in the male; 7 spinnerets. Measurements: BL 12.70, CL 5.70, CW 5.00, OL 6.40, OW 4.70; ALE> PLE> PME> AME; palp 9.83 (3.10 + 1.70 + 2.28 + 2.75), leg I 11.70 (3.46 + 1.95 + 2.36 + 2.50 + 1.43), leg II 11.45 (3.45 + 2.00 + 2.00 + 2.50 + 1.50), leg III 12.68 (3.10 + 2.90 + 2.00 + 3.00 + 1.68), leg IV 17.50 (5.00 + 2.25 + 3.10 + 4.65 + 2.50).

Female genitalia. Fused receptacular cluster forming a bar with a very short genital stalk ( Fig. 12A–C).

D i s t r i b u t i o n: I h e y a j i m a i s l a n d, O k i n a w a Prefecture, Japan.

Remarks: Based on Tanikawa’s (2013a) description, the female genitalia of R. iheyana show high intraspecific variation comparable to other species.