Corresponding author: Rahşen S. Kaya (
Academic editor: Danilo Harms
The funnel-weaver spider family
We recently found specimens of another species of this genus amongst the material collected in southern Türkiye. The new species displays a remarkable morphology of the male palpal femur and represents the second species of
Specimens were collected using a hand aspirator and preserved in 70% ethanol. Photographs were taken by a Canon EOS 7D camera attached to an Olympus SZX16 stereomicroscope at the Zoological Museum of the University of Turku. Digital images were montaged using Combine ZP and edited using CorelDraw graphic design software programme. Illustrations of internal genitalia were made after clearing and cleaning the epigyne in a 10% potassium hydroxide (
The following abbreviations are used in the text and figures:
Eyes:
Male palp:
Epigyne:
The specimens are deposited in the following collections:
The genus differs from all other genera of
Two species:
Southern Türkiye (Fig.
The specific epithet is derived from the Latin “
The new species differs from the generotype,
Male (holotype). Habitus as in Fig.
Female (
Leg spination of
|
|
|
|
||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
d- |
d- |
d- |
|||
|
♂ | 3-1-1 | 2-1-1 | 1-2-1-1+1p | 2-1-3p |
♀ | 3-1-1 | 2-1-1 | 1-2-1-1+1p | 2-1-3p | |
|
♂ | 3-1-1 | 2-1-1 | 1-2-0-2 | 2-1-3p |
♀ | 3-1-1 | 2-1-1 | 1-2-1-2+1p | 2-1-3p | |
|
♂ | 3-1-1 | 2-1-1 | 1-2-1-2 | 3-3-3p |
♀ | 3-1-1 | 2-1-1 | 2-2-2-2+1p | 3-3-3p | |
|
♂ | 3-1-1 | 2-1-1 | 1-2-1-2+1p | 3-2-3p |
♀ | 3-1-1 | 2-1-1 | 2-2-2-2+1p | 3-3-3p |
Palp as in Figs
Male palps of
Bulb of
Male palpal femur of
Female (paratype,
Epigyne as in Fig.
Epigynes of
The type locality of the new species is located in the Eastern Taurus Mountain range. This species inhabits montane forests dominated by Taurus fir (
Habitats of species of
Known only from the type locality in Adana Province, southern Türkiye (Fig.
Distribution records of
This paper describes and illustrates a new species of
Both currently-known species of this genus have been collected in closely-situated localities in the Taurus Mountains, a biodiversity hotspot that separates the Mediterranean coastal region from the central Anatolian Plateau (
The most interesting and remarkable characteristic of the new species described in this paper is the highly-modified male palpal femur, which is a relatively rare trait in spiders. Although the generotype of
Generally speaking, male spiders use the apophyses on their palps or first pair of legs during copulation. Palpal apophyses (particularly the retrolateral tibial apophysis) are used to stabilise the palp on the epigyne (