First description of the male of Diaea mikhailovi (Araneae: Thomisidae).

The genus Diaea Thorell, 1869 contains 75 known species with the type species D. dorsata (Fabricius, 1777). It is distributed worldwide, and about half of the species currently assigned to this genus are found in Australasia (Platnick 2014). Four Diaea species have been recorded from China, D. subdola O. P.-Cambridge, 1885, D. suspiciosa O. P.Cambridge, 1885, D. mikhailovi Zhang, Song & Zhu, 2004 and D. simplex Xu, Han & Li, 2008 (Li & Wang 2014; Platnick 2014). Diaea mikhailovi was originally described from a female specimen collected in Xiaowutai Mountains in Hebei Province, China (Zhang et al. 2004). While studying the thomisids collected from the same mountains in 2012–2013, we found 22 male and 27 female Diaea specimens. We identified the females as D. mikhailovi. The male specimens have habitus and markings similar to the females, and the palpal structures show the characters of the genus Diaea (Song & Zhu 1997). Therefore we consider both males and females conspecific, and the males of D. mikhailovi are described here for the first time. All measurements are given in millimeters. All specimens are preserved in 75% alcohol and were examined, drawn, and measured under a Leica M205A stereomicroscope equipped with an Abbe drawing device. Photographs were taken using the Leica M205A. Epigynes were cleared in warm solution of potassium hydroxide (KOH). Leg measurements are given as total length (femur, patella, tibia, metatarsus, tarsus). All specimens used in this paper are deposited in the Museum of Hebei University, Baoding, China (MHBU). The following abbreviations are used: ALE, anterior lateral eyes; AME, anterior median eyes; AME–ALE, distance between AME and ALE; AME–AME, distance between AMEs; CD, copulatory ducts; CO, copulatory openings; E, embolus; EB, embolic base; FD, fertilization ducts; H, hood; MOA, median ocular area; PLE, posterior lateral eyes; PME, posterior median eyes; PME–PLE, distance between PME and PLE; PME–PME, distance between PMEs; RTA, retrolateral tibial apophysis; S, spermatheca; T, tegulum; VTA, ventral tibial apophysis.