Theridion ganjiangyuan Zhou 2026, sp. nov.

Theridion ganjiangyuan Zhou sp. nov. Materials Type status: Holotype. Occurrence: recordedBy: Zhou G. C.; individualCount: 1; sex: male; lifeStage: adult; occurrenceID: 8BC04749-60E6-5401-95AF-3F4E47EE613D; Taxon: kingdom: Animalia; phylum: Arthropoda; class: Arachnida; order: Araneae; family: Theridiidae; genus: Theridion; Location: country: China; stateProvince: Jiangxi Province; county: Ruijin City; locality: Ganjiangyuan National Nature Reserve, Ridong Township, Ruijin City, Ganzhou City; verbatimElevation: 349; verbatimLatitude: 25°57'19.512''N; verbatimLongitude: 116°16'18.437''E; Event: samplingProtocol: by hand; year: 2024; month: 7; day: 19; Record Level: institutionCode: JXGJY-24-47-04 Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: recordedBy: Zhou G. C.; individualCount: 1; sex: male; lifeStage: adult; occurrenceID: 655B8922-728B-50FB-8CA3-3F324889FE57; Taxon: kingdom: Animalia; phylum: Arthropoda; class: Arachnida; order: Araneae; family: Theridiidae; genus: Theridion; Location: country: China; stateProvince: Jiangxi Province; county: Ruijin City; locality: Ganjiangyuan National Nature Reserve, Ridong Township, Ruijin City, Ganzhou City; verbatimElevation: 349; verbatimLatitude: 25°57'19.512''N; verbatimLongitude: 116°16'18.437''E; Event: samplingProtocol: by hand; year: 2024; month: 7; day: 19; Record Level: institutionCode: JXGJY-24-47-05 Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: recordedBy: Zhou G. C.; individualCount: 1; sex: female; lifeStage: adult; occurrenceID: C8B9FABD-F3A7-5473-8FF8-A7E845C6A6AD; Taxon: kingdom: Animalia; phylum: Arthropoda; class: Arachnida; order: Araneae; family: Theridiidae; genus: Theridion; Location: country: China; stateProvince: Jiangxi Province; county: Ruijin City; locality: Ganjiangyuan National Nature Reserve, Ridong Township, Ruijin City, Ganzhou City; verbatimElevation: 349; verbatimLatitude: 25°57'19.512''N; verbatimLongitude: 116°16'18.437''E; Event: samplingProtocol: by hand; year: 2024; month: 7; day: 19; Record Level: institutionCode: JXGJY-24-47-06 Description Male (holotype, JXGJY-24-47-04): Habitus as in Fig. 1 A and Fig. 2 A and B. Total length 1.69. Prosoma 0.76 long, 0.63 wide, exhibiting deep yellow radioactive rays in the dorsal view (Fig. 2 A). Sternum 0.16 long, 0.17 wide, pale yellow, grey-black spots along the edges. Opisthosoma 0.93 long, 0.83 wide, covered in fine hairs and adorned with more than ten round black spots in the dorsal view (Fig. 2 A), as well as two black spots near triangular and without colulus in ventral view (Fig. 2 B). Eye measurements: AME 0.09, ALE 0.07, PME 0.09, PLE 0.09, AME – AME 0.07, AME – ALE 0.03, PME – PME 0.05, PME – PLE 0.06; the edge of the eye is black. MOA: 0.19 long; 0.22 anterior width, 0.21 posterior width. Clypeus height 0.11. Chelicerae: multiple long and brown spines, 2 prolateral teeth, 3 retrolateral teeth. Leg measurements: I 2.76 (0.88, 0.25, 0.59, 0.63, 0.41); II 2.43 (0.83, 0.22, 0.55, 0.49, 0.34); III 1.88 (0.53, 0.21, 0.41, 0.42, 0.31); IV 2.48 (0.82, 0.21, 0.51, 0.61, 0.33). Leg formula: 1423. Pedipalpus (Fig. 3 A-D). Median apophysis (MA) horn-like, pointing to the 2 o'clock direction (Fig. 3 C); theridiid tegular apophysis (TTA) upper edge arranged in row and features small particle protrusions on its surface (Fig. 3 B); embolic base (EB) wider, pointing to the left, exhibiting a beak shape (Fig. 3 C); embolus (E) contains a distinct seminal sperm duct in the middle, appearing black with small protrusions (red arrow) along the middle (Fig. 3 C); the inner base of the conductor (C) has a cavity positioned centrally (Fig. 3 A), which the upper end is transversely cracked (Fig. 3 D). Female (paratype, JXGJY-24-47-06): Habitus as in Fig. 1 B and Fig. 2 C and D. Total length 2.11. Prosoma 0.89 long, 0.76 wide, characterised by a dark yellow colouration on the head region, which lacks a middle fossa on the carapace and features grey-black longitudinal strips (Fig. 2 C). Sternum 0.46 long, 0.53 wide, pale yellow colour with grey-black spots along the edges. Opisthosoma 1.22 long, 1.11 wide, with a labium (Fig. 2 D). The labium is yellowish-brown (Fig. 2 D). Eye measurements: AME 0.08, ALE 0.08, PME 0.09, PLE 0.09, AME – AME 0.09, AME – ALE 0.04, PME – PME 0.03, PME – PLE 0.09; the edge of the eye is black. MOA: 0.19 long; 0.22 front width, 0.21 back width. Clypeus height 0.15. Chelicerae: multiple long and brown spines, 2 prolateral teeth, 3 retrolateral teeth (Fig. 4 C and D). Leg measurements: I 2.91 (1.01, 0.26, 0.61, 0.61, 0.42); II 2.61 (0.89, 0.24, 0.57, 0.64, 0.37); III 2.25 (0.74, 0.22, 0.49, 0.49, 0.31), IV 3.15 (1.02, 0.31, 0.69, 0.71, 0.41). Leg formula: 4123. The spinnerets of the abdomen, viewed ventraly, show no colulus (Fig. 4 E). Epigynum (Fig. 4 A and B). Atrium (A) wider and nearly rounded and the posterior edge slightly raised. Copulatory opening (CO) located at the middle position of the anterior atrium, with the two openings neighbouring and embolised (Fig. 4 A); copulatory duct (CD) shorter, leading directly to the spermatheca (S), which is nearly spherical; fertilisation duct (FD) horn-shaped, with the ends bent to both sides (Fig. 4 B). Diagnosis The newly-identified species exhibits a resemblance to Theridion submirabile Zhu & Song, 1993 (Zhu 1998: fig. 81 A-F; Yang 2019: figs. 105 and 106) due to the similarity in abdominal patterns observed in both male and female specimens. However, the male can be distinguished by the following characteristics: (1) the median apophysis (MA) points to the 2 o'clock direction (Fig. 3 C) in contrast to the MA of T. submirabile which points to the 1 o'clock direction (Yang 2019: fig. 105 b); (2) the theridiid tegular apophysis (TTA) has its upper edge arranged in a row (Fig. 3 B), whereas the TTA of T. submirabile features micro protrusions (Yang 2019: fig. 105 d); (3) the embolus (E) directs towards the upper prolateral, as opposed to the embolus of T. submirabile, which initially points horizontally to the right before curving upwards (Yang 2019: fig. 105 b). In terms of female specimens, distinguishing features include: (1) the atrium (A) is wider and nearly round compared to the less distinct A of T. submirabile (Yang 2019: fig. 106 b); (2) the copulatory opening (CO) is centrally located and very close together (Fig. 4 A) unlike the CO of T. submirabile, which is situated on both sides of the centre (Yang 2019: fig. 106 b); (3) the length of the copulatory duct (CD) and the width of the copulatory opening (CO) have many differences and shorter (Fig. 4 B), in contrast to the longer and more pronounced CD observed in T. submirabile (Yang 2019: fig. 106 c). Etymology The specific name refers to the type locality, noun in apposition. Distribution Known only from the type locality in Jiangxi Province, China (Fig. 5).