Aculithus ruijin Jiang & Liu, 2025

Aculithus ruijin Jiang & Liu sp. nov.

Materials

Type status: Holotype. Occurrence: catalogNumber: Phu- 173 ; recordedBy: Liu Ke-Ke; individualCount: 1; sex: male; lifeStage: adult; occurrenceID: 6F4B419E-A9D5-56AD-9D6F-859D589D7CD2; Taxon: scientificName: Aculithus ruijin sp. nov.; Location: country: China; stateProvince: Jiangxi; locality: Ganzhou City, Ruijin County Level City, Jiubao Town, Tongbo Mountain ; verbatimElevation: 834 m; verbatimCoordinates: 26°01'26.79"N ， 115°50'19.91"E; georeferenceProtocol: GPS; Event: samplingProtocol: sieving; eventDate: 2 / 8 / 2025 GoogleMaps

Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: catalogNumber: Phu- 173 ; recordedBy: Liu Ke-Ke; individualCount: 2; sex: male; lifeStage: adult; occurrenceID: 606461E8-84CB-5679-AF73-DC26779B76B4; Taxon: scientificName: Aculithus ruijin sp. nov.; Location: country: China; stateProvince: Jiangxi; locality: Ganzhou City, Ruijin County Level City, Jiubao Town, Tongbo Mountain ; verbatimElevation: 834 m; verbatimCoordinates: 26°01'26.79"N ， 115°50'19.91"E; georeferenceProtocol: GPS; Event: samplingProtocol: sieving; eventDate: 2 / 8 / 2025 GoogleMaps

Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: catalogNumber: Phu- 173 ; recordedBy: Liu Ke-Ke; individualCount: 6; sex: female; lifeStage: adult; occurrenceID: 7EB22543-B24B-57E8-9D58-16FA7479006E; Taxon: scientificName: Aculithus ruijin sp. nov.; Location: country: China; stateProvince: Jiangxi; locality: Ganzhou City, Ruijin County Level City, Jiubao Town, Tongbo Mountain ; verbatimElevation: 834 m; verbatimCoordinates: 26°01'26.79"N ， 115°50'19.91"E; georeferenceProtocol: GPS; Event: samplingProtocol: sieving; eventDate: 2 / 8 / 2025 GoogleMaps

Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: catalogNumber: Phu- 173 ; recordedBy: Liu Ke-Ke; individualCount: 1; sex: male; lifeStage: adult; occurrenceID: CB64FA93-B0C3-5EC0-9234-D23C35EA2B33; Taxon: scientificName: Aculithus ruijin sp. nov.; Location: country: China; stateProvince: Jiangxi; locality: Ganzhou City, Ruijin County Level City, Jiubao Town, Tongbo Mountain ; verbatimElevation: 834 m; verbatimCoordinates: 26°01'26.79"N ， 115°50'19.91"E; georeferenceProtocol: GPS; Event: samplingProtocol: sieving; eventDate: 2 / 28 / 2025 GoogleMaps

Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: catalogNumber: Phu- 173 ; recordedBy: Liu Ke-Ke; individualCount: 9; sex: female; lifeStage: adult; occurrenceID: 9F4D428B-28F2-535B-9D0B-30D2CC552BE1; Taxon: scientificName: Aculithus ruijin sp. nov.; Location: country: China; stateProvince: Jiangxi; locality: Ganzhou City, Ruijin County Level City, Jiubao Town, Tongbo Mountain ; verbatimElevation: 834 m; verbatimCoordinates: 26°01'26.79"N ， 115°50'19.91"E; georeferenceProtocol: GPS; Event: samplingProtocol: sieving; eventDate: 2 / 28 / 2025 GoogleMaps

Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: catalogNumber: Phu- 173 ; recordedBy: Liu Ke-Ke; individualCount: 6; sex: male; lifeStage: adult; occurrenceID: 225A01E8-9B62-56A1-A1E7-D24BC5830AF1; Taxon: scientificName: Aculithus ruijin sp. nov.; Location: country: China; stateProvince: Jiangxi; locality: Ganzhou City, Ruijin County Level City, Jiubao Town, Tongbo Mountain ; verbatimElevation: 833 m; verbatimCoordinates: 26°01'25.50"N ， 115°50'12.84"E; georeferenceProtocol: GPS; Event: samplingProtocol: sieving; eventDate: 2 / 28 / 2025 GoogleMaps

Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: catalogNumber: Phu- 173 ; recordedBy: Liu Ke-Ke; individualCount: 7; sex: female; lifeStage: adult; occurrenceID: E685797D-E166-50E5-BE6A-752E4069B3AA; Taxon: scientificName: Aculithus ruijin sp. nov.; Location: country: China; stateProvince: Jiangxi; locality: Ganzhou City, Ruijin County Level City, Jiubao Town, Tongbo Mountain ; verbatimElevation: 833 m; verbatimCoordinates: 26°01'25.50"N ， 115°50'12.84"E; georeferenceProtocol: GPS; Event: samplingProtocol: sieving; eventDate: 2 / 28 / 2025 GoogleMaps

Description

Male (Holotype). Habitus as in Fig. 3 View Figure 3 A and B and Fig. 6 View Figure 6 E. Total length 2.28, carapace 1.17 long, 0.99 wide.

Eye sizes and interdistances Fig. 3 View Figure 3 A: AME 0.04, ALE 0.06, PME 0.06, PLE 0.07; AME-AME 0.03, AME-ALE 0.02, PME-PME 0.07, PME-PLE 0.05, AME-PME 0.07, AME-PLE 0.11, ALE-ALE 0.13, PLE-PLE 0.27, ALE-PLE 0.06. MOA 0.17 long, frontal width 0.1, posterior width 0.18. Chelicerae (Fig. 3 View Figure 3 C) with three promarginal (proximal largest, distal smallest and separate) and two retromarginal teeth (distal larger, compact). Sternum (Fig. 3 View Figure 3 B) slightly longer than wide, posteriorly triangular, relatively blunt. Leg measurements: I 3.68 (1.06, 0.32, 1.15, 0.72, 0.43); II 3.38 (0.87, 0.43, 0.83, 0.85, 0.4); III 2.9 (0.77, 0.35, 0.62, 0.77, 0.39); IV 4.31 (1.14, 0.4, 0.93, 1.2, 0.64). Left leg spination (Fig. 3 View Figure 3 A and B): femora I d 11, p 111, II d 1, IV d 1; tibiae I v 222222, II v 222222; metatarsi I v 2222, II v 2221. Pedicel 0.08 long. Abdomen (Fig. 3 View Figure 3 A and B) 1.03 long, 0.79 wide, dorsal scutum covering more than 1 / 2 length of abdomen.

Colouration (Fig. 3 View Figure 3 A and B). Carapace yellow, with irregular radial pale brown mottled markings around submargin and arc-shaped pale brown stripes along the margin. Chelicerae, endites and labium yellow. Sternum yellow, with yellow brown lateral margins. Legs yellow, with darker tibiae and metatarsi, distally bearing faint brown annulations. Abdomen yellowish-white, with a pair of large arc-shaped markings on both sides of the medial dorsal scutum, five dark brown wavy transverse stripes posteriorly and brown markings on the anterior half of the scutum; venter with a pair of slanting spots posterolaterally.

Palp (Fig. 4 View Figure 4 A-D and Fig. 5 View Figure 5 B-G). Femoral apophysis (FA) strong, not sclerotised, width less than half of its length. Retrolateral tibial apophysis (RTA) large, finger-shaped, longer than tibia, strongly sclerotised, apex pointed, bent ventrally. Dorsal tibial apophysis (DTA) shorter than retrolateral tibial apophysis, curved prolaterally, sclerotised and tapered at the subapex. Sperm duct (SD) nearly C-shaped, extending from below the retrolateral tegular apophysis (rTA) and gradually narrowing. Retrolateral tegular apophysis relatively broad, membranous, protruding and blunt retrolaterally. Embolus (Em) relatively long, spine-like.

Female (Paratype). Habitus as in Fig. 3 View Figure 3 D and E and Fig. 6 View Figure 6 F. Total length 2.7, carapace 1.29 long, 1.12 wide. Eye sizes and interdistances: AME 0.05, ALE 0.07, PME 0.07, PLE 0.09, AME-AME 0.02, AME-ALE 0.03, PME-PME 0.06, PME-PLE 0.04, AME-PME 0.06, AME-PLE 0.14, ALE-ALE 0.14, PLE-PLE 0.28, ALE-PLE 0.06. MOA 0.17 long, frontal width 0.11, posterior width 0.21. Leg measurements: I 4.46 (1.16, 0.5, 1.28, 1.09, 0.43); II 3.77 (0.98, 0.47, 0.95, 0.9, 0.47); III 3.44 (0.85, 0.42, 0.7, 0.89, 0.58); IV 4.7 (1.26, 0.43, 1.03, 1.34, 0.64). Left leg spination (Fig. 3 View Figure 3 D, E): femora I d 11 p 111, II d 1, III d 1, IV d 1; tibiae I v 22222221, II v 2222221, metatarsi I v 2222, II v 2221. Pedicel 0.06 long. Abdomen (Fig. 3 View Figure 3 D and E) 1.35 long, 0.85 wide.

Colouration (Fig. 3 View Figure 3 D and E). Darker than male, with legs I-IV bearing black annulations distally on femora, patellae and tibiae, while metatarsi I-II with blackish-brown mottled markings distally.

Epigyne (Fig. 4 View Figure 4 E and F and Fig. 5 View Figure 5 H). Epigynal plate mushroom-shaped, antero-medially with pair of small, oval copulatory openings (CO), medially with indistinct median septum (MS). Copulatory ducts (CD), connecting tubes (CT) and spermathecae (Spe) distinctly visible through integument in intact epigyne. Copulatory ducts shorter than half length of connecting tubes, located between copulatory openings and glandular appendages, both sides with pair of large, bean-shaped, transparent bursae (Bu), covering more than half of the epigyne. Glandular appendages (GA) longer than half the width of connecting tubes, near base of bursae, located on anterior of connecting tubes. Connecting tubes approximately half length of the bursae, with the anterior part nearly parallel and the posterior part S-shaped. Spermathecae oval, directed laterally. Fertilisation ducts (FD) as long as spermathecae, directed anteriorly and located near the posterior end of the vulva.

Diagnosis

The males of the new species are similar to A. subfabiformis ( Liu, 2020) in having a spine-like embolus, a C-shaped sperm duct and a broad retrolateral tegular apophysis (see Liu et al. (2020): 14, fig. 9), but can be separated from it by the retrolateral tegular apophysis with a broad retrolateral part (vs. thin), the dorsal tibial apophysis sharp narrowing medially (vs. gradually tapered) and the slender embolus (vs. short embolus) (cf. Fig. 4 View Figure 4 B-C and Fig. 5 View Figure 5 B-F and Liu et al. (2020): 14, fig. 9 D). The female resembles A. subfabiformis ( Liu, 2020) in having the large bursae covering more than half of the epigyne and the slightly curved and medially separated connecting tubes (see Liu et al. (2020): 16, fig. 11), but can be separated from it by the bursae separated posteriorly (vs. compact posteriorly) and the wide separated spermathecae (vs. closely touching) (cf. Fig. 4 View Figure 4 E and Liu et al. (2020): 14, fig. 11 D).

Etymology

The species name is derived from the name of the type locality; noun in apposition.

Distribution

Known only from the type locality in Jiangxi Province, China (Fig. 7 View Figure 7 ).

Biology

It was collected from leaf litter in areas of broad-leaved forests and bamboo broadleaf mixed forests in hilly areas (Fig. 6 View Figure 6 A-D).