Canariphantes relictus Crespo & Bosmans, new species

Canariphantes relictus Crespo & Bosmans new species

(Figs. 16–21; 27–28)

Type material. Holotype ♂, Santa Maria, Pico Alto Nature Reserve (UTM 26S 670284 4094208, datum WGS84), 10.VIII.2011, collected by hand, deposited at EDTP. 1 Paratype ♂ (in the course of the analyses, some of the genitalic structures of this specimen were lost or destroyed. Only the left embolic division, without the lamella characteristica, and the right pedipalp, with its components torn apart and without the embolus, remain) and 5 paratype ♀, same site and date as holotype, deposited at EDTP. 2 Paratype ♂ and 6 paratype ♀, same site and date as holotype, deposited at SNM.

Additional material examined. Santa Maria—Pico Alto Nature Reserve (UTM 26S 670284 4094208), VI.1997, 1 ♂ and 11 ♀; VI.2004, 2 ♂; 27.VII-10. VIII.2010, 20 ♂, collected by pitfall trapping, deposited at EDTP.

Etymology. The species name is derived from the Latin relictum and refers to the highly reduced area of native forest where this species lives, the disappearance of which threatens it with extinction.

Diagnosis. Males of Canariphantes relictus n. sp. can be diagnosed from all other congeners by the combination of the following palp characters: absence of the Fickert’s gland and long and sharp tail of the radix (Figs. 18–19). Females are diagnosed by the shape of the scape (Fig. 20–22) and the highly coiled entrance grooves (Fig. 21–22).

Description. Male holotype (from Santa Maria). Total length 2.3. Prosoma 1.1 long, 0.9 wide. All eyes except AME equal in size, large, AME small, posterior row straight, anterior row recurved. PME separated by less than half their diameter, separated from PLE by less than half their diameter. PLE touching ALE. ALE separated from AME by less than half their diameter. AME separated by half their diameter. AME separated from PME by the diameter of the latter. Clypeus heicht ca. 2.5 times an AME diameter. Chelicerae with 30 to 40 stridulatory striae, 3 promarginal teeth and 4 retromarginal denticles. Prosoma yellow, with a black band along the border of carapace. Sternum anteriorly truncated, roughly triangular, black. Opisthosoma with a dorsal pattern of black chevrons on a whitish background (Fig. 27), ventrally black.

Legs with 1 dorsal and 1 prolateral, sometimes 2 prolateral spines, in femur I; all patellae with 1 dorsal spine; 2 dorsal, 2 prolateral and 2 retrolateral spines in tibia I; 2 dorsal, 1 prolateral and 2 retrolateral spines in tibia II; tibia III and IV with 2 dorsal, 1 prolateral and 1 retrolateral spine, occasionally tibia III with 2 retrolateral spines. All metatarsi with 1 dorsal, 1 prolateral and 1 retrolateral spine. TmI 0.2. TmIV absent. L Sp Ti I 4.2, L Sp Ti IV 5.3. Legs generally the same colour as prosoma, but with darker annulations in femora and tibiae near the joints. Palp (Figs. 16–19). Patella with 1 dorsal spine, slightly longer than the diameter of patella. Tibia roughly as long as wide, with 1 dorsal spine, twice the diameter of tibia. Tibial spine twice the length of patellar spine. Three tibial trichobothria present, 2 retrolateral, 1 dorsal. Cymbium with a retrolateral keel. Paracymbium with a broad base with two basal hairs, gradually narrowing, distal part with a prolateral terminal lobe. Suprategular apophysis a tooth pointing dorsally in retrolateral view, with a small sclerotized dorsal arch encircling the opening of the column. Lamella characteristica long and thin. In ventral view, two teeth, the apical slightly sclerotized, and the basal, unsclerotized, separate the lamella characteristica and the long, thin and dorsolaterally folded lanceolate terminal apophysis. Radix unsclerotized, with a very long and thin tailpiece. Median membrane leaf-shaped, in close association with the embolus. Embolus with a thumb extending retrolaterally and dorsally. Fickert’s gland absent.

Female (from Santa Maria). Total length 4.6. Prosoma 1.9 long, 1.6 wide. Eyes as in males. Clypeus height ca. three times an AME diameter. Chelicerae with 30 to 40 stridulatory striae, 3 promarginal teeth and 5 retromarginal denticles. Colour of prosoma dark yellow to brown. Sternum as in males. Opisthosoma with a dorsal reticulate pattern of black patches interspersed with non-pigmented areas (Fig. 28). Legs with 1 dorsal and 1 prolateral spine in femur I; 1 dorsal spine in all patellae; 2 dorsal, 2 prolateral and 2 retrolateral spines in tibia I; 2 dorsal, 1 prolateral and 2 retrolateral spines in tibia II; tibiae III and IV with 2 dorsal, 1 prolateral and 1 retrolateral spine. All metatarsi with 1 dorsal, 1 prolateral and 1 retrolateral spine. TmI 0.23. TmIV absent. Coloration as in males. Epigynum (Figs. 20–22). Scape sigmoid, with proximal part wider than long, distal part of scape not visible ventrally, except for the small stretcher. Posterior median plate much wider than scape. Entrance grooves coiled, ascending from distal part of scape along the median part into proximal part coiling anteriorly and then posteriorly into the oval receptacula.

Distribution. Endemic to the island of Santa Maria (Fig. 8).

Natural history. This species builds typical sheet-webs at ground level. The site where the majority of these spiders were caught is a marginal forest patch on Pico Alto Nature Reserve, and it was mainly composed of the exotic Cryptomeria japonica and the invasive species Acacia sp. and Pittosporum undulatum, with a residual presence of native trees. Adults were collected from June to August, but the absence of sampling outside this period might obscure the complete phenology of this species.