Bioacoustics of Spermophora ziama

Description Male ( holotype ) MEASUREMENTS. Total body length 2.0, carapace width 0.9. Leg 1: 19.3 (4.6 + 0.4 + 5.0 + 7.1 + 2.2), tibia 2: 3.0, tibia 3: 2.1, tibia 4: 2.8; tibia 1 L/d: 57. Distance PME-PME 345 µm, diameter PME 70 µm, distance PME-ALE 35 µm, no AME. COLOR. Carapace and clypeus mostly light brown except lighter median band, sternum dark brown, legs ochre-yellow, abdomen mostly dark except dorsal median mark and book-lung covers pale gray. BODY. Habitus as in Figs 92-93 ; ocular area barely elevated, each triad on short stalk directed laterally, with pair of elongate furrows behind each stalk; carapace without median furrow; clypeus unmodified; sternum wider than long (0.65/0.50), unmodified. Chelicerae as in Figs 102-103 , with pair of lateral processes proximally, pair of frontal apophyses proximally close together, and pair of frontal apophyses distally provided with five tiny modified (conical) hairs each; without stridulatory ridges. PALPS. As in Figs 94-95 and 100-101 , coxa unmodified, trochanter with retrolateral apophysis curved towards dorsally, femur with retrolatero-dorsal process proximally, widened distally, tibia very long, dorso-distal rim slightly projecting, procursus complex, apparently with two hinges in proximal part, with long membranous process arising from hinge retrolaterally, distal whitish part provided with many short pseudotrichia ventrally; bulb elongated, with hooked apophysis and long weakly sclerotized embolus. LEGS. Without spines and curved hairs, few vertical hairs (most hairs missing); retrolateral trichobothrium on tibia 1 at 14%; prolateral trichobothrium absent on tibia 1, present on other tibiae; tarsus 1 with>30 very indistinct pseudosegments. VARIATION. Tibia 1 in 2 other males: 4.8, 5.4. Female In general similar to male but triads closer together (distance PME-PME 185 µm), furrows behind ocular area less distinct ( Fig. 96 ). Tibia 1 in 2 females : 4.6 (both). Epigynum large bulging area with median internal tube-like structure, posterior narrow plate with pair of small pockets ( Figs 97, 98 , 104 ); internal genitalia as in Figs 99 , 105 . Relationships Several unique characters indicate that S. ziama sp. nov. is closely related to S. tonkoui : curved retrolateral apophysis on male palpal trochanter; procursus with long transparent retrolateral process and distinctive prolateral sclerite between two putative hinges; distal whitish part of procursus with many short pseudotrichia ventrally; male cheliceral armature (proximal frontal apophyses close together); and tube-like internal structure in female genitalia. The relationships of these two species to other taxa remain obscure. Spermophora tonkoui was explicitly assigned tentatively to the genus ( Huber 2003b ), and recent analyses of molecular data of S. ziama sp. nov. ( Dimitrov et al. 2013 : 12S, 18S, h3) provided contradicting results, mostly poorly supported but suggesting an affinity to a group consisting of African Spermophora and the genera Buitinga Huber, 2003 , Paramicromerys Millot, 1946 , Spermophorides Wunderlich, 1992 , and Belisana Thorell, 1898 ( Dimitrov et al. 2013 : supplement fig. S2). Natural history The spiders were found in crevices in the ground, between soil and roots or between soil and rocks.