Three new species of the genus Toxoniella (Araneae, Liocranidae) from Mount Kenya National Park, Kenya

Three new species of the genus Toxoniella Warui & Jocqué, 2002 of the family Liocranidae Simon, 1897 are described from Kenya: T. tharaka Oketch & Li, sp. nov., T. waruii Oketch & Li, sp. nov., and T. nyeri Oketch & Li, sp. nov. Types are deposited in the National Museums of Kenya (NMK), Nairobi, Kenya.

Toxoniella was first described in the family Gallieniellidae Millot, 1947 before being transferred to Liocranidae by Bosselaers and Jocqué (2013). It was formerly composed of two species: Toxoniella taitensis Warui &Jocqué, 2002 andT. rogoae Warui &Jocqué, 2002, both endemic to Kenya. Toxoniella can be distinguished from other Liocranidae genera by the presence of a posterior tegular extension without a sperm duct in the male palp, a vulva with two pairs of round spermathecae, legs with obvious spination, with anterior leg pairs less spiny than posterior pairs (Warui and Jocqué 2002). In this paper, three new species, Toxoniella tharaka sp. nov., T. waruii sp. nov., and T. nyeri sp. nov. are described based on somatic and genitalic morphology of both male and females.

Materials and methods
All specimens were preserved in 95% alcohol and examined and measured using an ocular calibrated scale bar in a Leica M205C stereomicroscope. Images were captured using an Olympus C7070 wide zoom digital camera mounted on an Olympus SZX12 dissecting microscope or an Olympus BX51 compound microscope. Male and female copulatory organs were removed, cleared in lactic acid, and washed in alcohol for a few minutes. They were then temporarily mounted on glass slides and photographed. Digital images were prepared using Helicon Focus version 6.10 image stacking software and subsequently edited in Adobe Photoshop CC 2020.
Leg lengths are given in the following sequence: femur, patella, tibia, metatarsus, tarsus. Measurements are given in millimeters. Elevation is presented in meters above sea level. Types are deposited in the National Museums of Kenya (NMK), Nairobi, Kenya.
Abbreviations: Diagnosis. Males of Toxoniella tharaka sp. nov. resemble T. taitensis and T. rogoae in general appearance but differ from both by having a short, blunt, slightly slanted RTA and a claw-like embolus. The epigyne resembles that of T. rogoae by having short cul de sacs but differs by having anteriorly directed cul de sacs (laterally directed in T. rogoae) and a wider epigynal groove (closed medially in T. rogoae). Additionally, the new species has a medially invaginated anterior epigynal margin instead of a smoothly recurved epigynal margin found in both T. taitensis and T. rogoae (Fig. 2A, B;Warui and Jocqué 2002, figs 4-6, 11, 12).
Etymology. The species name is dedicated to Dr Charles Warui, a Kenyan ecologist who established and described the genus and two species; noun (name) in genitive case.
Distribution. Known only from the type locality. Diagnosis. Males of Toxoniella nyeri sp. nov. can be distinguished from other congeners by the talon-like RTA, the large, pointed embolus, and the apically membranous median apophysis (Fig. 9A-C). Females are similar to other members of this genus by having two pairs of spermathecae, with the posterior pair larger than the anterior pair. However, they can be differentiated from the other species as the cul de sacs are longer in T. nyeri sp. nov. than in T. waruii sp. nov. and T. tharaka sp. nov. In addition, T. nyeri sp. nov. have a patterned carapace that forms a Ψ-shape with the fovea in both males and females (Fig. 7A, C).
Etymology. The species is named after type locality; noun in apposition. Distribution. Known only from the type locality.