Plato troglodita Coddington 1986

Plato troglodita

TYPE.— holotype from Ecuador, Morona-Santiago Province, Los Tayos (78°12′W, 3°06′S) in MCZ. Label states “24 July 1976, 78°12′W, 3°06′S, Los Tayos, #783. Clefts by dry stream bed by main cave entrance. 20.00.” Collected by joint Ecuadorean-British Los Tayos Expedition.

ETYMOLOGY.—The specific name is a feminine noun in apposition and means “cave-dweller” in Spanish.

DIAGNOSIS.—Plato troglodita is distinguished from other Plato species in the female by the thick rounded epigynal rim with a deep central pit in the midline and the denticulate process just anterior to it (Figure 25), and in the male by the form of the median apophysis (Figure 11) and the tip of the embolus (Figure 10).

DESCRIPTION.—Female: Paratype collected with male holotype. Overall appearance as in P. bruneti (cf. Figures 14, 15). Total length 2.4 mm. Cephalothorax 1.03 mm long, 1.26 mm wide, 0.89 mm high. Sternum 0.65 mm long, 0.64 mm wide. Carapace, sternum uniform yellow tan. Abdomen 1.3 mm long, 1.3 mm wide, 1.7 mm high; whitish tan, smoothly ovoid, sparsely setose. AME slightly smaller than PME, AME separation their diameter, PME separation 1 diameter. ALE, PLE subequal, separated from AME, PME by ˜1 diameter. Clypeus 3.3 times AME diameter. Legs yellow tan, more reddish distally. Epigynum a smooth plate with thick posterior rim, rim with deep fossa or pit in midline and denticulate ridge just anterior to it (Figure 25). Dorsal cleared view as in Figure 26.

Leg lengths of female described above (±0.02 mm).

Male: Paratype, specimen #582, from same locality as holotype. Similar in overall appearance to female, slightly smaller (Figures 23, 24). Total length 2.2 mm. Cephalothorax 0.95 mm wide, 1.00 mm long, 0.83 mm high. Sternum 0.52 mm wide, 0.53 mm long. Abdomen 1.3 mm wide, 1.2 mm long, 1.4 mm high. Clypeus 3.6 times AME diameter. Eye proportions and spacing as in female, but AME projecting on a slight tubercle (Figure 24). Leg lengths proportionately longer than in female. Color of legs, carapace, sternum, and abdomen as in female. Palp as in Figures 10–12, 27, 28.

Scale lines: 100μm, except 13, 1 mm.

Leg lengths of male described above (±0.02 mm).

VARIATION.—Females (12 specimens) range in length from 2.2 mm to 3.1 mm, males (4 specimens) from 2.1 to 2.2 mm.

NATURAL HISTORY.—Mostly unknown. Label data indicate that the species occurs deep inside caves (e.g., 88 m from entrance in one instance or “bottom of main shaft” in another), as well as around the cave entrance. One label specified “in orb web with eggsacs.” Eight cubical eggsacs were present in the type series, all with a fine point on the vertex opposite the suspension line indicating that during construction, at least, the sac is suspended at both ends.

RANGE.—Known only from the type-locality (Map 1). Los Tayos is the name of the cave system. It does not appear on any map of Ecuador available to me. The species occurs in at least 2 caves.

MAP 1.—Distributions of Plato troglodita, new species, and P. bruneti (Gertsch).

RECORDS.—ECUADOR, MORONA-SANTIAGO: Los Tayos caves, 7 vials from “main cave” at 78° 12′W, 3°06′S, and 2 vials from “commando cave” at 78°12′W, 3°10′S; all vials with collection numbers, collected by joint Ecuadorean-British Los Tayos Expedition, deposited in MCZ.