Biodiversity Data Journal 11: e103298 CO) doi: 10.3897/BDJ.11.e103298 open access Taxonomy & Inventories Two new species of the genus Asceua Thorell, 1887 (Araneae, Zodariidae) from China Wei Wang}, Yejie Lin’, Xiaoging Zhang!, Chang Chu", Shugiang Li!, Chengming Huang! + Guangxi Key Laboratory of Rare and Endangered Animal Ecology, College of Life Sciences, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin, Guangxi 541006, China § Hebei Key Laboratory of Animal Diversity, College of Life Science, Langfang Normal University, Langfang, Hebei 065000, China | Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China q College of Life Science, Shenyang Normal University, Shenyang, Liaoning 110034, China Corresponding author: Yejie Lin (linyejie1 5@gmail.com), Chengming Huang (cmhuang@ioz.ac.cn) Academic editor: Yanfeng Tong Received: 10 Mar 2023 | Accepted: 07 Apr 2023 | Published: 11 Apr 2023 Citation: Wang W, Lin Y, Zhang X, Chu C, Li S, Huang C (2023) Two new species of the genus Asceua Thorell, 1887 (Araneae, Zodariidae) from China. Biodiversity Data Journal 11: e103298. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.11.e103298 ZooBank: urn:|sid:zoobank.org:pub:033EA0D0-95B3-4663-8F34-96FE6C8F8BCO Abstract Background The spider genus Asceua Thorell, 1887 contains 34 species, almost entirely limited to Indochina, India, Sri Lanka and China, with a regional distribution. Eleven species of Asceua are currently only known from China, five of them are described only from one sex. New information Two new Spider species of the genus Asceua are reported from China, A. haocongi sp. n. (3:9, Hainan) and A. zijin sp. n. (49, Jiangsu). Photos and a morphological description of the new species are provided. © Wang W etal. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. 2 Wang W et al Keywords Hainan, Jiangsu, taxonomy, diagnosis, type Introduction The ant spider family Zodariidae Thorell, 1881 contains 90 genera and 1264 known species worldwide (World Spider Catalog 2023). Members of this family are small to medium-sized (Jocque 1991). Asceua Thorell, 1887, with the type species A. elegans Thorell, 1887 described from Myanmar, is a relatively large genus of the family Zodariidae and currently comprises 34 species mainly distributed in Asia and Africa. Members of this genus can be distinguished from other zodariids by their small size, laterally compressed bulb, developed cymbial fold and long and meandering copulatory ducts (Zhang and Zhang 2018). Recently, a large number of new spider species have been reported from China (Li 2020, Li et al. 2021, Yao et al. 2021, Zhao et al. 2022, Lu et al. 2022), but Zodariidae is poorly studied in China, especially for Asceua. Until now, only 11 species are known, all species are endemic to China except, A. torquata (Simon, 1909) from China, Laos and Vietnam, most of those being distributed in Yunnan and Hainan (Song and Kim 1997, Yin et al. 2012, Zhang et al. 2012, Barrion et al. 2013, Zhang and Zhang 2018, Li et al. 2022, Lin et al. 2023). During the examination of spider collections from China (Hainan and Jiangsu), we found two new species and describe them here as A. haocongi sp. n. and A. zijin sp. n (Fig. 1). The goal of this paper is to provide descriptions of the new species. in” 5a 5 Fi ay ¥ pe ms! ne Figure 1. EES] Asceua haocongi sp. n. (A, B) and A. zijin sp. n. (C, D), alive. A, C Holotype male; B, D Paratype female. Photos by Fan Gao (C, D). Two new species of the genus Asceua Thorell, 1887 (Araneae, Zodariidae) ... 0.1mm Figure 2. | doi | Asceua haocongi sp. n., holotype male. A Prolateral view; B Ventral view; C Retrolateral view. Abbreviations: C conductor; CF cymbial furrow; DTA dorsal tibial apophysis; E embolus; EB embolic base; RTA retrolateral tibial apophysis; TA tegular apophysis. Figure 3. EES B or SSS —— Asceua haocongi sp. n., paratype female. A Epigyne, ventral view; B Vulva, dorsal view. Abbreviations: CD copulatory duct; CO copulatory opening; FD fertilisation duct; spermatheca. Ss 4 Wang W et al Materials and methods All specimens were preserved in 80% ethanol. The spermathecae were cleared in trypsin enzyme solution to dissolve non-chitinous tissues. Specimens were examined under a Leica M205C stereomicroscope. Photomicrographs were taken with an Olympus C7070 zoom digital camera (7.1 megapixels). Laboratory habitus photographs were taken with a Sony A7RIV digital camera equipped with a Sony FE 90 mm Goss lens. Photos were stacked with Helicon Focus® (Version 7.6.1) or Zerene Stacker® (Version 1.04) and processed in Adobe Photoshop CC2022®. The distribution map was generated with ArcGIS v. 10.2 (ESRI Inc.). All measurements are in millimetres (mm) and were obtained with an Olympus SZX16 stereomicroscope with a Zongyuan CCD industrial camera. All measurements of body lengths do not include the chelicerae. Eye sizes are measured as the maximum diameter from either the dorsal or frontal view. Leg measurements are given as follows: total length (femur, patella, tibia, metatarsus, tarsus). The type materials are deposited in the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing (IZCAS). Abbreviations: ALE, anterior lateral eye; AME, anterior median eye; C, conductor; CD, copulatory duct; CF, cymbial furrow; CO, copulatory opening; DTA, dorsal tibial apophysis; E, embolus; EB, embolic base; FD, fertilisation duct; H, hood; MOA, median ocular area; PLE, posterior lateral eye; PME, posterior median eye; RTA, retrolateral tibial apophysis; S , spermatheca; TA, tegular apophysis; VTA, ventral tibial apophysis. Comparative material examined Asceua torquata (Simon, 1909), 4 males, without institution ID, China, Guangdong, Shenzhen, IZCAS. Taxon treatments Asceua haocongi Lin & Li, 2023, sp. n. * ZooBank 9067DEED-2DAB-4075-8E07-0392BD8D1EB3 Materials Holotype: a. country: China; stateProvince: Hainan; locality: Sanya City, Jiyang District, Sanya Xiaodonghai Wedding Photography Base; verbatimElevation: 2 m; verbatimCoordinates: N18.2004°, E109.4984°; year: 2023; month: 2; day: 4; sex: male; recordedBy: Haocong Yang; identifiedBy: Yejie Lin; institution!D: IZCAS-Ar44408; occurrence!D: 840AD147-8576-5FF5-9E4E-7454F 1 DO69F4 Paratypes: a. country: China; stateProvince: Hainan; locality: Sanya City, Jiyang District, Sanya Xiaodonghai Wedding Photography Base; verbatimElevation: 2 m; verbatimCoordinates: Two new species of the genus Asceua Thorell, 1887 (Araneae, Zodariidae) ... 5 N18.2004°, E109.4984°; year: 2023; month: 2; day: 4; sex: female; recordedBy: Haocong Yang; identifiedBy: Yejie Lin; institution!D: IZCAS-Ar44409; occurrence!D: 0D741223- ED30-5E71-909A-A073F7FDF091 b. country: China; stateProvince: Hainan; locality: Sanya City, Jiyang District, Sanya Xiaodonghai Wedding Photography Base; verbatimElevation: 2 m; verbatimCoordinates: N18.2004°, E109.4984°; year: 2023; month: 2; day: 4; sex: female; recordedBy: Haocong Yang; identifiedBy: Yejie Lin; institution!|D: IZCAS-Ar44410; occurrence!D: 0D741223- ED30-5E71-909A-A073F7FDF091 C. country: China; stateProvince: Hainan; locality: Sanya City, Jiyang District, Sanya Xiaodonghai Wedding Photography Base; verbatimElevation: 2 m; verbatimCoordinates: N18.2004°, E109.4984°; year: 2023; month: 2; day: 4; sex: female; recordedBy: Haocong Yang; identifiedBy: Yejie Lin; institution!D: IZCAS-Ar44411; occurrence!lD: 0D741223- ED30-5E71-909A-A073F7FDF091 d. country: China; stateProvince: Hainan; locality: Sanya City, Jiyang District, Sanya Xiaodonghai Wedding Photography Base; verbatimElevation: 2 m; verbatimCoordinates: N18.2004°, E109.4984°; year: 2023; month: 2; day: 4; sex: female; recordedBy: Haocong Yang; identifiedBy: Yejie Lin; institution!D: IZCAS-Ar44412; occurrence!D: 0D741223- ED30-5E71-909A-A073F 7FDF091 e. country: China; stateProvince: Hainan; locality: Sanya City, Jiyang District, Sanya Xiaodonghai Wedding Photography Base; verbatimElevation: 2 m; verbatimCoordinates: N18.2004°, E109.4984°; year: 2023; month: 2; day: 4; sex: female; recordedBy: Haocong Yang; identifiedBy: Yejie Lin; institution!D: IZCAS-Ar44413; occurrence!D: 0D741223- ED30-5E71-909A-A073F7FDF091 Description Male (holotype). Total length 2.13; carapace 1.07 long, 0.74 wide, opisthosoma 1.06 long, 0.71 wide. Eye sizes and interdistances: AME 0.08, ALE 0.06, PME 0.06, PLE 0.06, AME-AME 0.05, AME-ALE 0.03, PME-PME 0.08, PME-PLE 0.08, AME—-PME 0.09, ALE—PLE 0.05. MOA 0.21 long, front width 0.19, back width 0.19. Clypeus height 0.29. Chelicerae with 2 promarginal teeth. Leg measurements: | 3.00 (0.76, 0.24, 0.73, 0.78, 0.49), Il 2.34 (0.64, 0.25, 0.48, 0.61, 0.36), III 2.34 (0.64, 0.25, 0.47, 0.64, 0.36), IV 3.23 (0.84, 0.25, 0.73, 0.96, 0.45). Colouration (Fig. 4A, B). Carapace red-brown, edge brown. Chelicerae, endites, labium and sternum red-brown. Legs yellow-brown with black ring pattern. Opisthosoma oval, dark brown with numbers of small yellow-brown spots, with ventral scutum covering opisthosoma, dorsal white with purple spots. Spinnerets purple. Palp (Fig. 2). Patella almost as long as tibia. Tibia with two apophyses, retrolateral tibial apophysis blunt, triangular-shaped; dorsal tibial apophysis lamellate. Cymbium almost two times longer than wide. Cymbial furrow with a hood anteriorly and a digitiform apophysis posteriorly. Bulb almost 1.5 times longer than wide. Tegulum almost round. Tegular apophysis black, terminal sharp. Conductor bent, originating dorsally on bulb, with slightly widened tip. Embolus slender and whip-like, distal portion pointing to middle of conductor in ventral view. Base of embolus large, with large membranous prolateral part, arising at 7 o’clock position. Wang W et al Figure 4. EE Asceua haocongi sp. n., male holotype (A, B) and female paratype (C, D), Habitus. A, C Dorsal view; B, D Ventral view. Figure 5. EES] Asceua zijin sp. n., holotype male. A Prolateral view; B Ventral view; C Retrolateral view. Abbreviations: C conductor; CF cymbial furrow; E embolus; EB embolic base; RTA retrolateral tibial apophysis; TA tegular apophysis; VTA ventral tibial apophysis. Female (IZCAS-Ar44409). Total length 2.57; carapace 1.22 long, 0.84 wide, opisthosoma 1.35 long, 0.92 wide. Eye sizes and interdistances: AME 0.08, ALE 0.07, PME 0.06, PLE 0.06, AME-AME 0.05, AME-ALE 0.03, PME—-PME 0.09, PME—PLE Two new species of the genus Asceua Thorell, 1887 (Araneae, Zodariidae) ... 7 0.10, AME-PME 0.10, ALE—PLE 0.06. MOA 0.23 long, front width 0.20, back width 0.21. Clypeus height 0.33. Chelicerae with 2 promarginal teeth. Leg measurements: | 2.90 (0.77, 0.27, 0.65, 0.73, 0.48), Il 2.44 (0.67, 0.27, 0.49, 0.61, 0.40), Ill 2.45 (0.66, 0.28, 0.49, 0.66, 0.36), IV 3.34 (0.87, 0.28, 0.75, 0.98, 0.46). wu wT O an f- oa . Figure 6. Asceua torquata and A. zijin sp. n., conductor and tegular apophysis, dorsal view. Abbreviations: C conductor; TA tegular apophysis. a: A. torquata EFS] b: A. zijinsp.n. ERS Colouration (Fig. 4C, D). As in male, except lacking scutum on opisthosoma and opisthosoma with three pairs of white spots, first pair oblong-oval, longitudinal, largest; second pair irregular in shape, positioned lateral to the first pair, third pair ovoid, transverse, slightly connected to the second pair. Epigyne (Fig. 3). Epigynal plate as long as wide. Copulatory openings located on anterior portion of epigyne. Copulatory ducts intertwined. Spermathecae kidney- shaped, two times wider than copulatory ducts. Fertilisation ducts directed at the 2 o'clock position from spermathecae. Wang W et al Diagnosis The male is similar to that of Asceua radiosa Jocque, 1986 by the triangular-shaped retrolateral tibial apophysis, same shaped cymbial furrow and tegular apophysis needle-shaped. Females share the same shape of the copulatory duct. However, the new species can be distinguished from A. radiosa by the cymbial furrow with a digitiform apophysis posteriorly (Fig. 2C) [vs. absent in A. radiosa (see Jocque (1986), fig. 4)] and tegular apophysis strongly curved (Fig. 2B) [vs. almost straight in A. radiosa (see Jocque (1986), fig. 5)]. The female can be distinguished from A. radiosa by the kidney-shaped spermatheca (Fig. 3B) [vs. oval in A. radiosa (see Jocqueé (1986), fig. 8)]. Figure 7. EESl Asceua Zijin sp. n., paratype female. A Epigyne, ventral view; B Vulva, dorsal view. Abbreviations: CD copulatory duct; CO copulatory opening; FD fertilisation duct; H hood; S spermatheca. Etymology The species is named after the collector Mr. Haochong Yang; noun (name) in genitive case. Distribution Known only from the type locality (Fig. 9). Two new species of the genus Asceua Thorell, 1887 (Araneae, Zodariidae) ... Figure 8. EE Asceua Zijin sp. n., male holotype (A, B) and female paratype (C, D), Habitus. A, C Dorsal view; B, D Ventral view. Figure 9. EESI Distribution records of new Asceua species in China: 1 A. haocongi sp. n.; 2 A. zijin sp. n. 10 Wang W et al Asceua zijin Lin & Li, 2023, sp. n. ZooBank A2DFE36D-A028-4C42-ADDE-C7D39592C7E1 Materials Holotype: a. country: China; stateProvince: Jiangsu; locality: Nanjing City, Xuanwu District, Zijin Mountain; verbatimElevation: 75 m; verbatimCoordinates: N32.0794°, E118.8298°; year: 2019; month: 12; day: 13; sex: male; recordedBy: Fan Gao; identifiedBy: Yejie Lin; institutionID: IZCAS-Ar44414; occurrence!D: D22DAF21-8C47-5E82-B8BC- DDBD8&CC8ACBC Paratype: a. country: China; stateProvince: Jiangsu; locality: Nanjing City, Xuanwu District, Zijin Mountain; verbatimElevation: 75 m; verbatimCoordinates: N32.0794°, E118.8298°; year: 2019; month: 12; day: 13; sex: female; recordedBy: Fan Gao; identifiedBy: Yejie Lin; institution|ID: IZCAS-Ar44415; occurrence!lD: 989B35C2-6891-546B-A70D- ACD332C95103 Description Male (holotype). Total length 3.33; carapace 1.56 long, 1.17 wide, opisthosoma 1.77 long, 1.03 wide. Eye sizes and interdistances: AME 0.07, ALE 0.06, PME 0.07, PLE 0.07, AME—-AME 0.06, AME-ALE 0.06, PME-PME 0.09, PME-PLE 0.14, AME—PME 0.13, ALE—PLE 0.05. MOA 0.26 long, front width 0.17, back width 0.22. Clypeus height 0.40. Chelicerae with 2 promarginal teeth. Leg measurements: | 4.12 (1.06, 0.37, 1.01, 1.03, 0.65), Il 3.69 (0.99, 0.38, 0.84, 0.91, 0.57), III 3.41 (0.96, 0.41, 0.70, 0.88, 0.46), IV 4.38 (1.17, 0.42, 1.06, 1.18, 0.55). Colouration (Fig. 8A, B). Carapace brown, middle with two oblong black-brown spots. Chelicerae, endites, labium and sternum brown. Legs yellow-brown. Opisthosoma oval, black, dorsum with three pairs of pale oblong spots, second one largest, followed by a pale spot. Spinnerets black. Palp (Figs 5, 6b). Tibia two times longer than patella. Tibia with two apophyses; ventral tibial apophysis digitiform; retrolateral tibial apophysis bifurcate, ventral ramus digitiform, transverse, dorsal ramus sickle-shaped. Cymbium almost 1.5 times longer than wide. Cymbial furrow wide, almost as wide as cymbium in retrolateral view. Tegulum almost oblong. Tegular apophysis with two lateral processes. Conductor membranous, with a prolateral apophysis. Embolus slender and whip-like. Base of embolus large, with membranous prolateral part, arising at the 6:30 o'clock position. Female (IZCAS-Ar44415). Total length 3.98; carapace 1.70 long, 1.16 wide, opisthosoma 2.28 long, 1.38 wide. Eye sizes and interdistances: AME 0.06, ALE 0.08, PME 0.07, PLE 0.08, AME—-AME 0.06, AME—-ALE 0.08, PME—PME 0.09, PME—PLE 0.15, AME-PME 0.15, ALE-PLE 0.04. MOA 0.27 long, front width 0.16, back width 0.23. Clypeus height 0.42. Chelicerae with 2 promarginal teeth. Leg measurements: | Two new species of the genus Asceua Thorell, 1887 (Araneae, Zodariidae) ... 11 3.70 (1.00, 0.39, 0.86, 0.85, 0.60), Il 3.45 (0.95, 0.41, 0.75, 0.80, 0.54), Ill 3.40 (0.93, 0.44, 0.70, 0.88, 0.45), IV 4.23 (1.10, 0.44, 1.00, 1.12, 0.57). Colouration (Fig. 8C, D). Similar to that of male, except paler. Epigyne (Fig. 7). Epigynal plate as long as wide, with a hood anteriorly, the hood almost 1.5 times longer than wide. Copulatory openings located on anterior portion of epigyne. Copulatory ducts intertwined, starting part expanded. Spermathecae oval. Fertilisation ducts directed at the 1:00 o'clock position from spermathecae. Diagnosis The male is similar to Asceua torquata (Simon, 1909) and A. japonica (Bo6senberg & Strand, 1906) by the same shape of retrolateral tibial apophysis and cymbium, long and slender embolus. Females share the same shape of the copulatory duct. However, the new species can be distinguished from A. torquata by the opisthosoma dorsum with seven pale spots (Fig. 8) [vs. four yellow spots, a triangular black spot in the middle of the largest spot (see Zhang and Zhang (2018), figs. 7A, C)] conductor with an apophysis prolaterally and tegular apophysis with a lamellate apophysis (Fig. 6b) [vs. absent in A. torquata (Fig. 6a)]. The female can be distinguished from A. torquata and A. japonica by the obvious, semi-circular hood, 1.5 times longer than wide (Fig. 7B) [vs. oval in A. torquata (see Zhang and Zhang (2018), fig. 8D) and eight times longer than wide in A. japonica (see Ono (2009), fig. 30)] and copulatory ducts starting part expanded (Fig. 7B) [vs. absent in A. japonica (see Ono (2009), fig. 30)]. Etymology The specific name refers to the type locality; noun (name) in genitive case. Distribution Known only from the type locality (Fig. 9). Acknowledgements The manuscript benefitted greatly from comments by Yanfeng Tong, Hirotsugu Ono and two anonymous reviewers. We thank Tongyao Jiang (Beijing, China) for checking specimens. Danni Sherwood (UK) checked the English. Haocong Yang (Beijing, China) and Fan Gao (Jiangsu, China) helped in fieldwork. Ying Lu (Beijing, China) helped with measurements. Fan Gao (Jiangsu, China) helped with photographs. 12 Wang W et al References ° Barrion A, Barrion-Dupo A, Catindig J, Villareal M, Cai D, Yuan Q, Heong K (2013) New species of spiders (Araneae) from Hainan Island, China. UPLB Museum Publications in Natural History 3: 1-103. ° Jocqué R (1986) Ant-eating spiders from the Comoros (Araneae, Zodariidae. Revue Zoologique Africaine 100: 307-312. ° Jocqué R (1991) A generic revision of the spider family Zodariidae (Araneae). 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