Trachelas falsus Haddad & Lyle, 2025, sp. nov.
Bibliographic record
Abstract
Trachelas falsus sp. nov. Figs 6G, H, 11 Trachelas minor Simon 1897: 183; Simon 1932: 977; Ramírez 2014: 373 (in part misidentified). Etymology. This species name is taken from the Latin for “mistaken or misled”, which refers to the historical misidentification of this species in Africa as T. minor. Diagnosis. The male of this species is most similar to T. leggi sp. nov., as they share a similar embolus shape, but it can be recognised by the proximal section of the embolus being directed retroproximally rather than retrodistally and by the position of the patellar apophysis, which is located distally as opposed to medially on the patella (cf. Figs 11A, B and 14A, B). It also differs from T. minor, which has a retrodistally orientated proximal section of the embolus and a medially positioned patellar apophysis, similar to T. leggi sp. nov. (see Bosselaers et al. 2009: figs 10, 11 and Jin et al. 2017: fig. 3). The female of this species also resembles that of T. minor in the general epigyne shape, particularly the oval anterior atria, but can be recognised by the relatively larger size of the atria (almost half the length of the epigynal plate) compared to those of T. minor, which are only approximately a quarter of the length of the epigynal plate (cf. Fig. 11C with Bosselaers et al. 2009: figs 13 and Jin et al. 2017: fig. 2G). Male. Measurements: CL 0.86–1.10, CW 0.74–0.88, AL 0.82–1.33, AW 0.71–1.10, TL 1.76–2.31, FL 0.06– 0.08, SL 0.53–0.61, SW 0.53–0.57, AME–AME 0.06, AME–ALE 0.02, ALE–ALE 0.22, PME–PME 0.04, PME– PLE 0.06, PLE–PLE 0.33. Length of leg segments: I 2.30 (0.78, 0.41, 0.43, 0.31, 0.37); II 2.25 (0.61, 0.27, 0.57, 0.47, 0.33); III 1.85 (0.55, 0.27, 0.37, 0.41, 0.25); IV 2.62 (0.80, 0.29, 0.55, 0.69, 0.29). Carapace brown to reddish-brown; eye region orange to brown, with dark brown to black rings around eyes (Fig. 6G); AME and ALE equal in size; clypeus height equal to distance slightly more than AME diameter; AME separated by distance equal to 0.7 their diameter; AME separated from ALE by distance equal to 0.4 AME diameter; PME and PLE equal in size; PME separated by distance equal to their diameter; PME separated from PLE by distance equal to 0.7 PME diameter. Chelicerae brown, endites and labium slightly lighter; three promarginal teeth, median tooth largest, distal tooth smallest; two retromarginal teeth, distal tooth largest. Sternum pale brown, darker towards border. Abdominal dorsum pale creamy-yellow to pale grey (Fig. 6G), with faint yellow dorsal scutum; two pairs of pale brown sigilla present. Legs I to IV pale yellow-brown. Palpal CY oval, gradually narrowed distally; retrolateral PA small, sharply pointed, positioned distally on patella; TE oval, SP with gradual median curve and distinct narrow proximal loop; EM originating prodistally, with proximal section broad, forming single narrow coil, distal section short, stout, directed distally (Fig. 11A, B). Female. Measurements: CL 0.86–1.06, CW 0.86–1.76, AL 1.15–1.61, AW 0.47–1.22, TL 1.90–2.74, FL 0.04– 0.08, SL 0.53–0.65, SW 0.55–0.60, AME–AME 0.04, AME–ALE 0.02, ALE–ALE 0.22, PME–PME 0.08, PME– PLE 0.06, PLE–PLE 0.33. Length of leg segments: I 2.31 (0.73, 0.29, 0.55, 0.41, 0.33); II 2.13 (0.63, 0.29, 0.49, 0.41, 0.31); III 1.76 (0.51, 0.25, 0.37, 0.39, 0.24); IV 2.68 (0.78, 0.29, 0.65, 0.67, 0.29). Carapace reddish-brown; eye region brown, with black rings around eyes (Fig. 6H); AME and ALE are equal in size; clypeus height slightly more than AME diameter; AME separated by 0.7× their diameter; AME separated from ALE by about 0.2× AME diameter; PME separated by their diameter; PME separated from PLE by 0.5× PME diameter. Chelicerae brown, endites and labium dark yellow-brown; three promarginal teeth, median tooth largest, proximal tooth smallest; two retromarginal teeth, distal tooth largest. Sternum pale brown, darker towards border. Abdominal dorsum creamy yellow, with mottled grey marking above spinnerets (Fig. 6H); two pairs of sigilla, first pair pale brown, anterior to midpoint, second pair darker, posterior to midpoint. Legs I to IV pale yellow to pale brown. Epigyne with oval AT anteriorly, almost half the length of epigynal plate; CO small, located posteriorly in AT, partly overlapping large, round ST II; CD curling around atrial perimeter before entering ST II, separated by their diameter; Cd running along midline before abruptly bending at almost perpendicular angle posteriorly, entering subpentagonal ST I on their mesal margin; ST I separated by approximately their width (Fig. 11C, D). Type material: Holotype: ♂: CÔTE D’IVOIRE: Bouaké, F.-Foro, 07°41'N, 05°02'W, 26–28.VIII.1974, leg. G. Couturier (piège coloré) (MRAC 216452). Allotype: ♀: same data as holotype (MRAC 216359). Paratypes: CÔTE D’IVOIRE: Bouaflé, Klébo, 06°52'N, 06°08'W, I.1981, leg. J. Everts (pièges), 1♂ (MRAC 166407); Bouaflé, Koudougou, 05°56'N, 05°40'W, II.1981, leg. J. Everts (pièges), 1♂ 1♀ (MRAC 166259); Bouaké, F.-Foro, 07°41'N, 05°02'W, 26–28.VIII.1974, leg. G. Couturier (piège coloré), 2♀ (MRAC 216482), 1♀ (MRAC 216383). SOUTH AFRICA: KwaZulu-Natal: Drakensberg Mountains, near Tendele Camp [28°42'S, 28°56'E], 11.XI.2014, leg. A. Russell-Smith (in Protea savanna), 1♀ (BMNH); Oribi Gorge Nature Reserve, 30°43.079'S, 30°16.381'E, 315 m a.s.l., 13.I.2011, leg. C. Haddad (base of grass tussocks, open grassland patch), 1♂ 1♀ (TMSA 23990). Other material examined: CÔTE D’IVOIRE: Bouaflé, 06°59'N, 05°45'W, 29.I.1981, leg. J. Everts (pitfalls), 1♂ (MRAC 173993); Bouaflé, Klébo, 06°52'N, 06°08'W, I.1981, leg. J. Everts (piéges), 1♂ (MRAC 166407); Bouaflé, Koudougou, 05°56'N, 05°40'W, III.1980, leg. J. Everts (piéges), 1♀ (MRAC 166253). NIGERIA: Ibadan, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (I.I. T.A.), 07°14'N, 03°30'E, 24.V.1981, leg. A. Russell-Smith (sweeping ground layer and shrubs, secondary forest), 1♀ (MRAC 177308); Same locality, 12.VI.1981, leg. A. Russell-Smith (beaten from shrub layer, bush plots, corp site), 1♀ (MRAC 177312); Same locality, 23.V.1974, leg. A. Russell-Smith (corp. plots, 04), 1♀ (BMNH); Same locality, 28.VII.1974, leg. A. Russell-Smith (corp site, fallow bush), 5♂ 6♀ (BMNH). SOUTH AFRICA: KwaZulu-Natal: eThekwini/ Durban, Buffelsdraai Township, 29°38'S, 30°58'E, 14.IV.2019, leg. S.P. Mntambo (hand collecting, Chromolaena odorata eradication project), 1♀ (NCA 2019 /959); Ithala Game Reserve, Onverdacht picnic site, 27°31.967'S, 31°18.984'E, 29.I.2014, leg. C. Haddad (base of grass tussocks), 1♂ 1♀ (NCA 2013 /5091); Ndumo Game Reserve, Southern boundary, 26°53.204'S, 32°10.641'E, 10.XII.2009, leg. C. Haddad (grass litter, Acacia tortilis savanna), 3♂ 2♀ (TMSA 23651); Same data as previous but leg. C. Haddad, R. Lyle & V. Butler, 4.VII.2009, 1 imm. 1♂ 3♀ (TMSA 23563); Underberg, Sani Pass transect, 29°41'S, 29°31'E, 20.I.2008, leg. University of Pretoria students (pitfall traps), 1 imm. 1♀ (NCA 2009 /681). TANZANIA: Mkomazi Game Reserve, Kikolo plot, 04°00'S, 38°00'E, 25.I.1996, leg. A. Russell-Smith (thick grass below Commiphora trees), 2♂ 2♀ (MRAC 211321). Distribution. Widespread in the Afrotropical Region, but only known from Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, South Africa and Tanzania (Fig. 12). It is likely that all previous records of T. minor occurring in West Africa, including those from Senegal (Simon 1897: 183) and Sierra Leone and Liberia (Simon 1932: 977; Ramírez 2014: 373), refer to this new species, as their embolus structures are the most similar among the Trachelas sensu stricto and we found no specimens matching the genitalic morphology of T. minor, as illustrated in several recent papers (e.g. Bosselaers et al. 2009; Marusik & Kovblyuk 2010; Jin et al. 2017), among the specimens examined in this study. Unfortunately, we were unable to examine any material from those three countries to confirm this. Incidentally, the scanning electron micrographs of the vulva of T. minor by Ramírez (2014: fig. 179D) were based on specimens from Algeria, which match the epigyne illustrations of Mediterranean populations of T. minor (Bosselaers et al. 2009: figs 13–15) and not T. falsus sp. nov. (Fig. 11C, D), so we can definitively confirm that T. minor at least occurs in North Africa. As such, we conclude that T. minor does not occur in the Afrotropical Region and that its distribution is restricted to the Palaearctic Region, extending from the Mediterranean (including North Africa) to Central Asia.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.000 | 0.001 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.002 | 0.001 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.001 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.003 | 0.001 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.002 | 0.001 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.001 | 0.003 |
| Open science | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Research integrity | 0.002 | 0.001 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.012 | 0.009 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".