Caipira mineira Huber 2026, sp. nov.

3.2. 3.Caipira mineiraHuber sp. nov. Figures 3 a, b, 5–14 Material examined. Holotype: BRAZIL - Minas Gerais • ♂; Parque Nacional Cavernas do Peruaçu, Gruta do Janelão, ~ 100–300 m from cave entrance; ~ 15.125°S, 44.240°W (coordinates: cave entrance); ~ 600 m a. s. l.; 14 Nov. 2022; B. A. Huber, L. S. Carvalho & R. A. Torres leg.; CHNUFPI 9069. — Paratypes: BRAZIL - Minas Gerais • 2 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀; same collection data as for holotype; CHNUFPI 9070 • 1 ♂, 1 ♀; same collection data as for holotype; UFMG 33242 • 4 ♂♂, 4 ♀♀, and one female abdomen (cleared and transferred from ZFMK Br 22-166); same collection data as for holotype; CHNUFPI 9071 [deposited in ZFMK Ar 24704] • 1 ♀; same collection data as for holotype; CHNUFPI 9072 • 2 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀, 3 juvs.; same locality as for holotype, “ PNCP 15 ”; 29 Feb. 2020; A. J. Santos et al. leg.; CHNUFPI 4193. — Other material examined. BRAZIL - Minas Gerais • 1 ♂, 5 ♀♀, in pure ethanol; same collection data as for holotype; CHNUFPI 9073 [deposited in ZFMK Br 22-166] (vouchers for UH 485, G 48; 1 ♂ and 1 ♀ used for SEM; one female abdomen cleared and transferred to ZFMK Ar 24704) • 1 ♂, in pure ethanol; same locality as holotype, “ PNCP 16 ”; 1 Mar. 2020; A. J. Santos et al. leg.; CHNUFPI 3505 (voucher for E 073) • 2 ♂♂, 1 ♀; Parque Nacional Cavernas do Peruaçu, Lapa do Rezar (karst cave, at cave entrance); 15.1433°S, 44.2349°W; 610 m a. s. l.; 14 Nov. 2022; B. A. Huber, L. S. Carvalho & R. A. Torres leg.; CHNUFPI 9074 [deposited in ZFMK Ar 24705] • 3 juvs, in pure ethanol; same collection data as for preceding; CHNUFPI 9075 [deposited in ZFMK Br 22-169] (voucher for UH 057). Diagnosis. Easily distinguished from C. baiana Huber sp. nov. by much wider male palpal femur without ventral apophysis (compare Figs 5 and 15) and by smaller distances between male cheliceral apophyses and between female epigynal pockets (compare Figs 7 and 17). From all other known Pholcidae by shape of procursus (Figs 6 a – c, 11; slender, proximally with ventral notch and ventral process, distally with dorsal rounded sclerite and ventral membranous hooked element); also by shape of genital bulb (Figs 6 d – f, 11 a – e; dorsal protruding flap; distal pointed sclerite), by armature of male chelicerae (Figs 7 a, b, 9 c, d; pair of lateral sclerotized humps and pair of frontal pointed apophyses directed towards median), and by female epigynum and internal genitalia (Figs 7 c, d, 8; anterior plate with pair of pockets close together; posterior plate anteriorly with pair of dark marks; internal genitalia with complex and large median rounded sclerotized structure); from most Pholcidae also by combination of large male palpal femur (Fig. 5; much larger than tibia) and small size (body length ~ 1.2 mm; prosoma width ~ 0.5 mm). Description. MALE (holotype). Measurements: Total length 1.20, carapace width 0.50. Distance PME – PME 30 µm; diameter PME 45 µm; distance PME – ALE 10 µm; diameter AME 20 µm; distance AME – AME 10 µm. Leg 1: 3.23 (0.93 + 0.17 + 0.90 + 0.83 + 0.40), tibia 2: 0.80, tibia 3: 0.70, tibia 4: 0.98; tibia 1 L / d: 15. — Color (in ethanol): Carapace whitish with pair of lateral submarginal ochre bands, clypeus ochre; sternum white; legs pale ochre-yellow, without dark rings; abdomen monochromous ochre gray. — Body: Habitus as in Fig. 3 a. Ocular area barely raised. Thoracic groove shallow (Fig. 9 a). Clypeus unmodified. Sternum wider than long (0.40 / 0.30), unmodified. Abdomen globular. ALS with one strongly widened spigot, one long pointed spigot, and apparently six cylindrical spigots (Fig. 10 b). PMS with two slender spigots (cf. Fig. 10 f). Gonopore with four epiandrous spigots arranged in two pairs (Fig. 9 f). — Chelicerae: As in Fig. 7 a, b, with pair of frontal pointed apophyses directed towards median, without modified hairs (Fig. 9 c, d), and pair of lateral sclerotized humps with series of frontal ridges (Fig. 9 d), without lateral stridulatory ridges. — Palps: As in Figs 5 and 11; coxa unmodified; trochanter with short ventral apophysis (~ 25 µm long); femur large and strongly widened, dorsally bulging, without stridulatory pick; femur-patella condyles shifted toward prolateral side; tibia with two trichobothria in very proximal position; tibia-tarsus condyles slightly shifted toward prolateral side; tarsus with strong prolateral-ventral process and deep notch ventrally at basis of procursus (Fig. 6 b); tarsal organ exposed (Fig. 14 a), diameter ~ 10 µm; procursus (Fig. 6 a – c) slender, proximally with ventral process, distally with dorsal rounded sclerite and ventral membranous hooked element (Fig. 11 f); genital bulb (Fig. 6 d – f) slightly elongated, with distinctive dorsal protruding flap and distal pointed sclerite, sperm duct opening distally on bulb (arrows in Fig. 11 a, c). — Legs: Without spines, without curved hairs. Tibiae, metatarsi, and tarsi with round cuticular ‘ plates’ (Figs 12 a, 13 c) at regular intervals, diameter ~ 4–5 µm. Without rimmed pores. With sexually dimorphic short ‘ vertical’ hairs (Fig. 13 a) on tibia 1 only, diameter proximally 1.4 µm, length ~ 15–20 µm; putative chemoreceptors on all legs, especially distally, i. e. on metatarsi and tarsi, similar to sexually dimorphic short ‘ vertical’ hairs but with several side branches (Fig. 13 b) and slightly thicker (diameter proximally 1.6 µm). Ventrally on metatarsi 3 and 4 with slender hairs (Fig. 12 a – d); diameters proximally 1.6 µm, versus 2.8 µm in neighboring mechanoreceptors; shape of hair basis similar to neighboring mechanoreceptors (Fig. 12 c), but shaft similar to trichobothria (cf. Fig. 12 e – f); metatarsus 3 with only three such hairs, metatarsus 4 with ~ 14; distally very thin and long, with distinctively widened tips (Fig. 12 d; ~ 1.4 µm diameter, versus 0.6 µm subdistally). Bases of trichobothria capsulate, unmodified (Fig. 12 e, f); trichobothria feathered (Fig. 12 e, f); retrolateral trichobothrium of tibia 1 at 48 %; prolateral trichobothrium absent on tibia 1. No tarsal pseudosegmentation visible in SEM (Fig. 13 e) and in compound microscope. Leg tarsal organs exposed (Fig. 14 f), diameters ~ 3–6 µm. Main and median tarsal claws as typical for family; main claws with 9–10 tines (Fig. 13 d – f). Tarsus 4 distally with two comb-hairs on prolateral side (Fig. 13 f). Variation. MALE. Tibia 1 in 13 males (incl. holotype): 0.90–1.07 (mean 0.97). Description. FEMALE. In general very similar to male, including size and carapace pattern (Fig. 3 b). Chelicerae also without stridulatory ridges (Fig. 9 e). Tibia 1 in 14 females: 0.83–0.93 (mean 0.89). With short chemoreceptive hairs like in male but without sexually dimorphic short ‘ vertical’ hairs. Spinnerets as in male (Fig. 10 c – f). Palpal tibia with only one trichobothrium (Fig. 12 e). Epigynum (Fig. 8 a, b) anterior plate light brown, strongly indented posteriorly, with pair of pockets close together near posterior margin (Fig. 7 c); posterior epigynal plate large but simple, with pair of darker marks anteriorly (muscle attachment sites?). Internal genitalia partly visible in uncleared specimens; with sclerotized roundish median structure from which pair of lateral sclerites originate; pore plates poorly visible, apparently at median origin of lateral sclerites (Fig. 7 d); with large anterior membranous arc. Etymology. The species name is an adjective, describing someone originating from Minas Gerais state, Brazil. Distribution. Known from two caves (~ 2 km from each other) in Parque Nacional Cavernas do Peruaçu, Minas Gerais state, Brazil (Fig. 4). Natural history. Both sites are karstic caves, located in the Peruaçu district of the Caatinga domain (sensu Moro et al. 2024). At the type locality, Gruta do Janelão (Fig. 19 a), all specimens were found in the aphotic zone, ~ 100–300 m from the cave entrance. Measurements of temperature and humidity at approximately the same section of the cave: 24 ° C, 91 % (A. J. Santos, 1 Mar. 2020). Searches carried out in Feb. 2020 and in Nov. 2022 explored about 700 of the 4,800 m extension of the cave, but no specimens were found in the twilight section and deeper in the cave. At the second locality, Lapa do Rezar, the specimens were found at the cave entrance. At both localities, the spiders were found under stones or among small limestone pebbles on the floor. Two egg sacs contained six and seven eggs, respectively, with an egg diameter of 0.40.