Phycosoma ripa

Phycosoma ripa (Zhu, 1998) Figs 6, 7, 8 Dipoena ripa Zhu 1998: 233, 376, fig. 152 A – D (holotype: female, CHINA, Hubei Province: Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Hefeng County; 29°48'N, 110°00'E; 30 May 1989; Mingsheng Zhu leg.; deposited in the Museum of Hebei University, Hebei University, examined); Song et al. 1999: 112, fig. 56 C, D (female). Phycosoma ripa Liu et al., 2025: 325 (transfer from Dipoena). Material examined. China • 1 male, 2 females (QZMS 00175, 00706, 00707; Hubei Province, Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Xuan’en County, Shadaogou Town, Longtan Village; 29.6953°N, 109.6628°E; elev. 637 m; 17 July 2023; Changhao Hu and Mian Wei leg. • 1 male, 1 female (QZMS 04197, 04198); Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Xuan’en County, Shadaogou Town, Baishuihe Village; 29.9238°N, 109.7360°E; elev. 843 m; 23–24 July 2023; Changhao Hu and Mian Wei leg. Diagnosis. The male of Phycosoma ripa is similar to Phycosoma corrugum Gao & Li, 2014 (cf. Figs 6 A – C, 7 and Gao and Li 2014: figs 51 A, B, 52, 54) in having a parallel sperm duct inside median apophysis, and curved conductor in ventral view, but can be distinguished by: 1. sperm duct inside retrolateral part of tegulum S-shaped (vs U-shaped), and 2. embolic base and sperm duct almost triangular (vs quadrangular). The female of Phycosoma ripa is similar to Phycosoma hainanense (Zhu, 1998) (cf. Fig. 6 E, F and Zhu 1998: fig. 153 B, C) in having a labiate scapus, rounded sclerotized part around copulatory opening, and the copulatory duct connecting to interior part of spermatheca, but can be distinguished by: 1. the whole carapace brownish-green (vs lateral part of carapace yellow, median part brownish-black), 2. scapus ~ 3 × wider than long (vs ~ 1.5 × wider than long), and 3. copulatory opening heart-shaped (vs rounded). Description. Male (QZMS 00175): Total length 1.73. Carapace 0.89 long, 0.78 wide. Opisthosoma 0.92 long, 0.70 wide. Eyes: AME 0.08, ALE 0.05, PME 0.07, PLE 0.06, AME – AME 0.10, AME – ALE 0.02, PME – PME 0.06, PME – PLE 0.07, AME – PME 0.04, ALE – PLE 0.00. Measurements of legs: I 2.22 (0.72, 0.24, 0.51, 0.44, 0.31), II 1.96 (0.63, 0.21, 0.43, 0.39, 0.30), III 1.85 (0.59, 0.20, 0.39, 0.35, 0.32), IV 2.25 (0.68, 0.23, 0.57, 0.44, 0.33). Leg formula: IV-I-II-III. Palp (Figs 6 A – D, 7): Tibia ~ 1 / 3 length of cymbium, with distal part ~ 4 × wider than proximal part in ventral view; retrolateral part with a trichobothrium. Cymbium oval, distally with a short spine; tarsal organ ~ 2 × larger than setal sockets; cymbial hook almost triangular. Subtegulum bowl-like. Tegulum retrolaterally with S-shaped sperm duct. Median apophysis apically with a projection (arrows in Figs 6 A, 7 B), sperm duct parallel inside median apophysis; median apophysis hood triangular. Conductor curved in ventral view, dorsally slightly sclerotized and ventrally strongly sclerotized. Embolic base almost triangular, with sperm duct looping triangularly; embolic projection long knife like, ~ 2 / 5 the length of bulb; embolic spire needle like, almost half the length of embolic projection. Colouration (Fig. 8 A – C): Carapace and sternum brownish-green, with black margins. Chelicerae pale brown. Endites brownish-green. Legs orange to dark brown. Opisthosoma black. Spinnerets dark brown. Female (QZMS 00706): Total length 1.90. Carapace 0.74 long, 0.75 wide. Opisthosoma 1.09 long, 0.96 wide. Eyes: AME 0.09, ALE 0.06, PME 0.08, PLE 0.06, AME – AME 0.07, AME – ALE 0.01, PME – PME 0.06, PME – PLE 0.06, AME – PME 0.06, ALE – PLE 0.02. Measurements of legs: I 2.04 (0.66, 0.21, 0.46, 0.41, 0.30), II 2.02 (0.67, 0.23, 0.46, 0.34, 0.32), III 1.89 (0.59, 0.23, 0.37, 0.39, 0.31), IV 2.37 (0.73, 0.27, 0.55, 0.47, 0.35). Leg formula: IV-I-II-III. Epigyne (Fig. 6 E, F): Epigyne posteriorly with a labiate scapus. Copulatory opening heart-shaped, with a rounded sclerotized part. Copulatory ducts straight, almost half the width of the sclerotized part and almost as long as the sclerotized part. Posterior spermathecae spherical, membranous. Subcopulatory ducts slightly curved, almost as long as copulatory ducts and almost half the width of the copulatory ducts. Anterior spermathecae spherical, almost half the width of posterior spermathecae. Fertilization duct curved, arising from posterior part of anterior spermathecae. Colouration (Fig. 8 D – F) as in male, but generally paler. Distribution. China (Hubei). Comments. After comparison between our female specimens with the holotype of Phycosoma ripa, no differences were found, indicating that our identification is correct. The congruent habitus colouration and the fact that males and females were collected together confirm the correct sex association.