Apollophanes

Baert, L., 2013, The Thomisidae and Philodromidae (Arachnida: Araneae) of the Galápagos Islands (Ecuador), European Journal of Taxonomy 43, pp. 1-23 : 19-22

Apollophanes (?) lonesomegeorgei sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:496BAC9E-DFF4-4E85-A5DE-D884CADED44F

Diagnosis

Males of A. (?) lonesomegeorgei are recognized by the palp with compressed VTA and RTA, strongly curled embolus with filiform tip pointing backwards and opisthosoma covered with many white and a few dark scale-like hairs.

Etymology

The species is named after “Lonesome George” the last Isla Pinta tortoise ( Chelonoidis abingdonii (Günther, 1877)) survivor which died on June 24th of 2012, emphasizing in this way the uniqueness of this spider specimen as explained in the discussion above.

Type material

Holotype

♂, ISLA WOLF , alt. 75 m, Croton forest , 11 May 1996 (pitfall trap), leg. S. Peck .

Description

Male

TOTAL LENGTH. 3.92; prosoma length: 1.75, width: 1.81, height: 0.62, clypeus: 0.31; opisthosoma length: 1.75, width: 1.65.

BODY. Prosoma: yellow dorsal band covered with white scale-like hairs, dark brown sides covered with black scale-like hairs; bordered with white scale-like hairs; chelicerae with many short setae, proximal part creamy, distal part dark; labium creamy grey; endites whitish gray; sternum creamy slightly suffused with grey. Legs I & II: whitish yellow; Fe, Pa & Ti ventrally dark (blackish); Ta and distal end of Mt with dense scopulae; Ta with accessory claw. Legs III & IV lacking. Opisthosoma: white, covered with white scale-like hairs, black apical heart mark covered with black scale-like hairs, sides mottled with dark stains, venter creamy, spinnerets light. Prosoma and opisthosoma more or less densely covered with scale-like hairs. Frontal face of chelicerae covered with many short spines.

EYES. AME: 0.08 <ALE: 0.10; MOQ: AW = 0.73 PW; AW = 0.69 LAP; Cl = 3.4 DAME. AME smaller than ALE, anterior eye-row strongly recurved; PME closer to PLE (PM-PM: 0.214, PL-PM: 0.135); AME closer to ALE (AM-AM: 0.097, AL-AM: 0.078).

LEGS. Measurements: I (7.07): Fe: 2.12, Pa: 0.84, Ti: 1.68, Mt: 1.49, Ta:0.94; II (8.44): Fe: 2.54, Pa: 0.90, Ti: 2.08, Mt: 1.86, Ta: 1.06. Length of cymbium: 0.54. Spination: Fe I: 2d2pl, Fe II: 2d, Ti I: 1-2v, Ti II: 2-2-2v; Mt I: 2-2v1pl1rl, Mt II: 2-2v1pl1rl. Only Mt (I & II) with retro- and prolateral spine.

PALP. ( Fig. 8) Cymbium short oval with 1 prolateral and 1 retrolateral position spine; tegulum without apophysis and distinctive fold at the point of origin of the embolus, with strongly curled embolus as in Titanebo ( Muster, 2009; fig. 3). Tibia with 2 prolateral spines, 2 dorsal spines and 2 dorsal trichobotria; cusplike VTA and flat RTA apparently compressed together; RTA with short pointed tip and 3 small denticles in the upper part of it’s distal edge. Pa with two short dorsal spines. Fe with two distal short thick setae. Embolus arising at prolateral side of tegulum.

Female

Unknown.

Remarks

This damaged specimen definitely belongs in the Philodromidae (presence of claw tufts) but cannot with certainty be placed in a known genus due to the number of deviating characters.

The principal contrasting characters are: AME smaller than ALE, anterior eye-row strongly recurved (in contrast to Ebo Keyserling, 1884 , Titanebo Gertsch, 1933 and Halodromus Muster, 2009 ) ( Fig. 10B ); posterior eye-row procurved ( Fig. 10A ); prosoma slightly wider than long, covered with scale-like hairs ( Fig. 10A ); opisthosoma covered with many white and a few dark scale-like hairs; only metatarsi with retro- and prolateral spine (in contrast to Ebo and Titanebo ); tibia of male palp with small apophysis (VTA and RTA apparently compressed), embolus strongly curled with filiform tip pointing backwards. For the time being I have placed it in Apollophanes , which appears to be the closest genus.

Figures

Fig. 10. Apollophanes (?) lonesomegeorgei sp. nov. A. ♂ prosoma, dorsal view. B. ♂ prosoma, frontal view (AM and AL eyes). Scale bars: 0.5 mm. Photographs by Rudy Jocqué.