Telemids are a small group of Spiders found in rainforests and karst terrains across Africa, Europe, East and Southeast Asia and the Americas. They typically have three pairs of eyes (though some cave-dwelling species lack eyes altogether), long thin legs and three pairs of spinnarets.
In a paper published in the journal ZooKeys on 29 December 2017, Yang Song of the School of Life and Environment Sciences at Gannan Normal University, Huifeng Zhao of the Institute of Zoology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yufa Luo, also of the School of Life and Environment Sciences at Gannan Normal University, Grace Kioko and Esther Kioko of the Zoology Department at the National Museums of Kenya, and Shuqiang Li, also of the Institute of Zoology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and of the University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, describe two new species of Telemid Spiders from Kenya.
The first new species is named Guhua kakamegaensis, where 'Guhua' means 'sclerotization' in reference to the sclerotized (having thickened integument) receptacle of the females, and 'kakamegaensis' means 'from Kakamega', in reference to the area where the species was discovered, in the Kakamega Rainforest of Kakamega County. The species is described from two male and three female specimens. The measured male is 1.68 mm in length and the female is 1.82 mm, both sexes are yellowish in colour with dark rings around the eyes.
The second new species described is placed in the genus Apneumonella, and given the specific name taitatavetaensis, meaning 'from Taita-Taveta' in reference to the area where it was found, in the Ngangao Forest in Taita-Taveta County. This species is described from two male and three female specimens. The measured male specimen is 1.06 mm in length and the measured female is 0.98 mm, the male is reddish brown in colour with yellow legs, the female light brown, both have six eyes with black rings around them.
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The first new species is named Guhua kakamegaensis, where 'Guhua' means 'sclerotization' in reference to the sclerotized (having thickened integument) receptacle of the females, and 'kakamegaensis' means 'from Kakamega', in reference to the area where the species was discovered, in the Kakamega Rainforest of Kakamega County. The species is described from two male and three female specimens. The measured male is 1.68 mm in length and the female is 1.82 mm, both sexes are yellowish in colour with dark rings around the eyes.
Guhua kakamegaensis, male specimen, scale bar is 0.2 mm. Song et al. (2017).
The second new species described is placed in the genus Apneumonella, and given the specific name taitatavetaensis, meaning 'from Taita-Taveta' in reference to the area where it was found, in the Ngangao Forest in Taita-Taveta County. This species is described from two male and three female specimens. The measured male specimen is 1.06 mm in length and the measured female is 0.98 mm, the male is reddish brown in colour with yellow legs, the female light brown, both have six eyes with black rings around them.
Apneumonella taitatavetaensis, male specimen, scale bar is 0.2 mm. Song et al. (2017).
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