Bioacoustics of Vacrothele

Description: Male . Small. Carapace dark chestnut, smooth. Fovea transverse. Both eye rows recurved. Chelicerae light black with 12 stout promarginal teeth plus three small teeth ( Fig. 16A ). Palp tibia incrassate, with 10 stout dorsal spines ( Fig. 3J–L ), embolus thick and long, tapering from base to end ( Fig. 3D–F ), end trumpet-shaped ( Fig. 3G ); labium and maxillae chestnut with numerous cuspules ( Fig. 3I ). Sternum with three pairs of sigilla ( Fig. 3H ). Legs: coxa, trochanter, femur, patella, tibia, metatarsus chestnut, tarsus brown; no lyra spines on palp coxa. Leg II tibia with five thick long ventral spines ( Fig. 17A ); STC with curved row of long teeth; ITC curved ( Fig. 3B ); spinnerets terminal segment of posterior laterals white ( Fig. 3C ). Female: Carapace dark chestnut, smooth. Fovea transverse. Both eye rows recurved. Chelicerae black; labium, maxillae, light brown with numerous cuspules ( Fig. 4D ). Sternum with three pairs of sigilla ( Fig. 4E ). Legs coxa, trochanter, femur, patella, tibia, metatarsus chestnut, tarsus brown. STC with curved row of long teeth; ITC curved, with few fine teeth ( Fig. 4B ). Copulatory aperture wide at base, tapering gradually from base to distal end, spermathecae finger shaped ( Fig. 18A ). Spinneret base and terminal segments white ( Fig. 4C ). Composition: This new genus includes two new species: V . pseudohunanica sp. nov. , V . uncata sp. nov. and three new transfers from Macrothele : V . hunanica ( Zhu & Song, 2000 ) comb. nov. , V . digitata ( Chen & Jiang, 2020 ) comb. nov. , V . palpator ( Pocock, 1901 ) comb. nov. .

Diagnosis: All species have the common characteristics of Macrothelidae , such as fovea transverse; labium and maxillae provided with numerous cuspules; sternum with three pairs of sigilla. In Macrothele , some species such as M. gigas Shimojana &Haupt, 1998 , M. guizhouensis Hu & Li, 1986 , M. monocirculata Xu & Yin, 2000 , M. raveni Zhu, Li & Song, 2000 have lateral paddle spines of basal palp coxa absent in all species of Vacrothele . Males can be easily distinguished from males of Macrothele by the possession of a trumpet-shape end of the embolus ( Fig. 3G , 6H , 9H , 11H , 13H ), palp tibia with stout dorsal spines ( Fig. 3J–L , 6J–L , 9J–L , 11J–L , 13J–L ), whereas in Macrothele , the terminal of the embolus is aciform, palp tibia with longer but no stout spines and arrangement of spines is not so regular. Additionally, in Vacrothele , male tibia II usually with 5-9 thick long ventral spines on the middle, arrangement regular ( Fig. 17 ). Females differ from those of Macrothele by copulatory aperture is wide at base, tapering gradually from base to distal end ( Fig. 18 ). PMS white; PLS slenderness, basal, distal end white ( Fig. 3C , 4C , 6I , 7D , 9I , 10E , 11D , 12B , 13B , 14C ).

1. Males ................................................................................................................................................. 2 – Females ............................................................................................................................................. 8 2. Palpal tibia with 6 dorsal spines ........................ V. pseudohunanica Tang, Wu, Zhao & Yang, 2022 – Palpal tibia more than 6 dorsal spines .............................................................................................. 3 3. Tibia II with 4 ventral spines. ........................................................................ V. fuyuanensis sp. nov. – Tibia II more than with 4 ventral spines ........................................................................................... 4 4. Embolus longer (5.43) ................................................................................ V. jiangkouensis sp. nov. – Embolus relatively short ................................................................................................................... 5 5. Embolus curved dorsally first, then ventrally .......................................... V. palpator (Pocock, 1901) – Embolus curved ventrally first, then dorsally ................................................................................... 3 6. Body smaller ( 9.4 mm ); tibia I with seven spines (four ventral, two apical, one median spine) ....... ...................................................................... V. taiwanensis ( Shimojana & Haupt, 1998 ) comb. nov. – Body larger ....................................................................................................................................... 7 7. Tibia I with 9 spines (five ventral, three prolateral, one retrolateral spine) ........................................ ...................................................................................................... V. yunnanica (Zhu & Song, 2000) – Tibia I with 5 ventral spines .............................................................................. V. baiseensis sp. nov. 8. Receptacula directed forward, turning laterally, and then inward and turning anteriorly, somewhat S-shaped ......................................................................................... V. hunanica (Zhu & Song, 2000) – Receptacula directed anteriorly, turning laterally, then dorsally, finally medially ............................ 9 9. Receptacula G-shaped .............................................................. V. emei ( Lin & Li, 2021 ) comb. nov. – Receptacula non G-shaped ............................................................................................................. 10 10. Copulatory aperture thicker but joint of the copulatory aperture and spermatheca very thin ............ ............................................................................................ V. uncata Tang, Wu, Zhao & Yang, 2022 – Receptacula short and finger-like ......................................... V. digitata ( Chen, Jiang & Yang, 2020 )