Arachnologische Mitteilungen 55

Kryptonesticus georgescuae spec. nov. from Romania 23 Description of female. Measurements: prosoma length 1.2, width 1.17; opisthosoma length 2.05; sternum length 0.75, width 0.65; total length 2.37. Leg measurements in Table 1. The opisthosoma is oval, the legs long, the first pair is notably longer than the other three. The ratio between the length of the prosoma and leg I is approximately 1:10. Prosoma, legs and opisthosoma pale white (holotype) and pale yellowish- orange respectively (paratype: Fig. 6). Eyes absent. Darker stains discernible on lateral prosoma in paratype female. Chelicerae: 0.6 mm long, same colour as prosoma, with 3 pro- marginal teeth, median longest (see Georgescu 1994). Fron- tal part of chelicerae with 4 rigid and serrated setae, brush shaped, flanked by 2 longer setae, delicately feathered. Ret- romargin of chelicerae with 4 small teeth, decreasing in size from proximal to distal, and with several feathered setae. Tab. 1: Leg measurements (mm) Femur Patella Tibia Metatarsus Tarsus Total Palp 0.62 0.22 0.35 – 0.72 1.92 I 3.85 0.55 3.82 3.30 0.92 12.45 II 2.57 0.55 2.32 2.12 0.92 8.50 III 1.92 0.45 1.30 1.35 0.75 5.77 IV 3.00 0.55 2.35 2.05 0.90 8.85 Trichobothrium on metatarsus I in position 0.64. Epigyne and vulva (Figs 1-5): Epigyne is wider than long, in lateral view not prominent and without depressions.The me- dian septum has no prominences or hollows as in K. beshkovi and is narrower in the area where it meets the epigastric fur- row than in K. henderickxi. The holotype has well-developed vulval pockets and well defined median parts.The spermathe- cae are lemon-shaped, their longitudinal axes being oblique to the body’s longitudinal axis of symmetry.The insemination ducts converge posteriorly.The result is a characteristic heart- shaped overall impression of the epigyne with a small central median septum. Male. Unknown. Distribution. Only known from the type locality. Habitat. The specimens were collected close to the sulfidic lake and in the second bell shaped zone at the end of the cave’s main gallery. Discussion The recently defined genus Kryptonesticus currently includes eight species.With the exception of the widespread K. eremita (Simon, 1880), all other species are endemic in Croatia,Mon- tenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Greece (Crete) and Turkey (Pavlek & Ribera 2017). The species described here from Movile Cave is the ninth belonging to this group. In terms of size, in being totally eyeless, in the length of the legs and in the absence of pigment, K. georgescuae resembles especially K. henderickxi (Bosselaers, 1998) and K. beshkovi (Deltshev, 1979), both from caves in Crete. However, all these features are not necessarily a hint of close relationship, but could be merely a consequence of extreme adaptation to sub- terranean life. In contrast, the structure of the epigyne may better show the true affinities or differences between species. But also in this respect, K. georgescuae seems to be closer rela- ted to these two troglobitic spiders from Crete.The females of K. beroni (Deltshev, 1977) from a cave in Bulgaria (only 370 km air-line distance from Movile Cave) appear rather closely related to the western Balkan species K. deelemanae Pavlek & Ribera, 2017 and K. arenstorffi (Kulczyński, 1914), and show no resemblance to K. georgescuae . Figs 1-2: Kryptonesticus georgescuae spec. nov., epigyne (holotype), ven- tral view Abbreviations: CO = copulatory orifice, ID = insemination duct, MS = median septum, S = spermathecae, VPL = vulval pocket lateral, VPM = vulval pocket medial. Scale line = 0.1 mm