Anasaitis laxa Zhang & Maddison, 2012, sp. nov.

Anasaitis laxa sp. nov.

Figs 80 – 89

Figures 80–83. Anasaitis laxa sp. nov. 80 – 82 male holotype; 83 female paratype. Figures 80 – 83 are copyright © 2012 W. P. Maddison, released under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 3.0 license.

Figures 84–89. Anasaitis laxa sp. nov. 84 male holotype, dorsal view; 85 female paratype, dorsal view; 86 male left palp, ventral view; 87 male left palp, retrolateral view; 88 epigynum, ventral view; 89 cleared epigynum, dorsal view. Scale bars: 84 – 85, 0.5 mm; 86 – 89, 0.1 mm.

Type material. Holotype: male, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Barahona: Parque Nacional Sierra Martín García, 18.424° N, 71.112° W, elev. 170 m, 21 July 2009, coll. W. Maddison, G. B. Edwards, J. Zhang, G. Ruiz, WPM#09- 0 49 (UBC-SEM AR00045). Paratype: 1 female, same data as holotype (UBC-SEM AR00046).

Etymology. Latin adjective laxa (wide), referring to the wide retrolateral tibial apophysis of the male palp.

Diagnosis. Can be easily distinguished from other Anasaitis species by the V-shaped marking on the carapace (Figs 80, 82 – 85), the wide retrolateral tibial apophysis (Fig. 87), the more posteriorly located opening to the copulatory duct (Fig. 88), and the longer and wider copulatory ducts (Fig. 89).

Description. Male (holotype, UBC-SEM AR00045). Carapace length 1.3; abdomen length 1.2. Chelicera: dark brown; with white scales on front face. Palp (Figs 86 – 87): femur, patella and tibia light yellow, tarsus yellow brown. Proximal tegular lobe relatively small; retrolateral sperm duct loop wide; embolus very short. Retrolateral tibial apophysis wide and axe-like; tibia with a distinctive ventral bump. Tibia of first leg with three ventral macrosetae retrolaterally and two ventral macrosetae prolaterally. Measurements of legs: I 2.1, II 2.0, III 2.7, IV 2.7. Color in alcohol (Fig. 84): carapace dark brown, with a V-shaped marking behind PLEs and lateral marginal stripes at posterior half part composed of white or yellow iridescent scales; abdomen dark brown, with a brown stripe and distinct earthy yellow markings; venter earthy yellow; legs light yellowish brown, femur of first leg brown.

Female (paratype, UBC-SEM AR00046). Carapace length 1.4; abdomen length 1.5. Tibia of first leg with three ventral macrosetae retrolaterally and two prolaterally. Measurements of legs: I 2.2, II 2.1, III 2.8, IV 2.8. Epigynum (Figs 88 – 89): no obvious window or median septum; opening to copulatory duct at posterior end of epigynum. Copulatory ducts short; spermathecae spherical. Color in alcohol (Fig. 85): similar to that of male, but light colored markings on carapace and abdomen more distinct.

Natural history. Specimens were found in grass clumps in dry desert forest.