Vicirionessa spinosa Haddad, Wiśniewski & Wesołowska, 2024, sp. nov.

Vicirionessa spinosa sp. nov. Figs 58, 59 Type material. Holotype: ♂, MOZAMBIQUE: Tete: no further details (SMF 9710). Paratype: ♀, MOZAMBIQUE: Tete: leg. C.F. Roewer (SMF 9655). Diagnosis. Males of this species is easily recognized by the presence of an additional spike-shaped protuberance at the base of the embolus (Fig. 58B, E). The female has an epigyne similar to that of Vicirionessa peckhamorum (Lessert, 1927) but can be distinguished by the thinner seminal ducts and the spermathecae composed of only a few loose chambers, while in the latter species the spermathecae are multi-chambered, compact and highly sclerotized (compare Fig. 59D with Fig. 57H). The colour of the female’s abdomen is very characteristic (Fig. 59A), but it remains an open question whether the silver flecks visible through integument, which are guanine crystals (product of metabolism), are also numerous in other specimens. Etymology. The specific name is Latin, meaning prickly, and refers to the presence of a spike at the base of the embolus. Description. Male: Measurements: Cephalothorax: length 2.6, width 2.1, height 1.2. Eye field: length 1.4, anterior and posterior width 1.6. Abdomen: length 3.1, width 1.4. General appearance in Fig. 58A. Carapace slightly pear-shaped, light brown, eye field lighter, with small silver patches on anterior half (created by guanine crystals translucent through integument), eyes surrounded by black rings. Some white hairs between eyes of anterior row and on carapace slopes. Chelicerae unidentati. Mouthparts light brown with paler tips, sternum brownish. Abdomen narrow, elongate, creamy-yellowish medially, brownish laterally, clothed in short brown hairs, venter dark grey with two lines composed of light dots, venter yellow laterally. Spinnerets grey. Legs long (especially femora), first and second pair brown, other yellow. Leg hairs and spines brown. Palp brownish with white hairs on cymbium and dorsum of tibia. Tibia short, its apophysis wide, short, spatulate (Fig. 58B–G). Bulb oval with posterior lobe, embolus thin with additional spike-shaped appendage at its base (Fig. 58B, E). Female: Measurements: Cephalothorax length 3.0, width 2.3, height 1.4. Abdomen length 4.0, width 2.4. Eye field length 1.6, anterior width 2.0, posterior width 1.8. General appearance as in Fig. 59A. Carapace high, dark yellow, brown near eyes, with dark brown rhomboidal stain in centre of eye field, two large light brown semicircular spots on thoracic part. White hairs between anterior eyes, some long bristles at posterior of lateral eyes. Sternum yellow, mouthparts light brown. Chelicerae unidentati. Abdomen ovoid, yellowish, with mosaic of silver marks formed by guanine crystals showing through integument, two large brown triangular patches in anterior half and dark area posteriorly. Venter whitish with thin brown median line, covered with dense silver spots. Spinnerets yellowish. Legs yellow, their hairs creamy, spines light brown. Palps yellow. Epigyne weakly sclerotized, as in Fig. 59B, C. Internal structure of epigyne as in Fig. 59D, copulatory openings placed laterally, seminal ducts directed posteriorly, looping towards centre, spermathecae consisting of three chambers. Distribution. Only known from the Tete Province in Mozambique. Remark. We are not sure whether both sexes represent the same species, because the data on the labels are very incomplete and only a single specimen of each sex is known.