Gippsicola minuta, Giroti, André Marsola & Brescovit, Antonio Domingos, 2017

Giroti, André Marsola & Brescovit, Antonio Domingos, 2017, Revision of the spider genus Gippsicola Hogg, 1900 (Araneae: Segestriidae), Zootaxa 4227 (3), pp. 390-406 : 403-404

Gippsicola minuta new species

Figure 10–11

Type material. Male holotype from Bellenden Ker Range [17°14'S; 145°52'E], alt. 1054m, Queensland, Australia, 17–24.X.1981, Earthwatch / Queensland Museum leg. (QM S 30615 ).

Addition material examined. AUSTRALIA: Queensland: Bellenden Ker Range [17°14'S; 145°52'E], Alt. 1054M, 1 imm., 17–24.X.1981, Earthwatch / Queensland Museum leg. (ex-QM S30615 ).

Etymology. The specific name is an adjective referring to the minute size of this species.

Diagnosis. Gippsicola minuta n. sp. differ from the other species by its conspicuously minute size, male palp cymbium distally tapered ( Figs 10 C–E) compared to the other species ( Fig. 3 B), with a group of macrosetae, and a tibia shorter than the cymbium, as wide as long. This species presents a whitish dorsally abdomen, with an anterior dark arrow-shaped mark, and longitudinal paired dark spots ( Figs 10 A–B).

Description. Male (Holotype). Carapace and chelicerae orange, with cephalic region slightly darker ( Fig. 10 A). Endites yellowish orange; labium orange. Sternum yellowish orange with darker margins ( Fig. 10 B). Palps yellowish orange ( Figs 10 C–E). Legs yellowish orange, with pairs I–II darker. Abdomen greyish ventrally, with a longitudinal whitish band ( Fig. 10 B). Total length 3.25; carapace 1.45 long, 1.2 wide. Palps: tibia with dorsoventral diameter shorter than the bulb; bulb sub-rectangular; embolus short ( Figs 10 C–D). Legs robust and clothed with setae, with the scopulae of tenent setae reduced on pairs I–III. Leg formula: II-I-IV-III. Leg measurements: I femur 1.18, patella 0.45, tibia 1.02, metatarsus 0.88, tarsus 0.3, total 3.83; II 1.1, 0.55, 1.1, 0.88, 0.3, 3.93; III 1.0, 0.48, 0.88, 0.75, 0.3, 3.41; IV 1.1, 0.5, 0.95, 0.75, 0.3, 3.6. Leg macrosetae: I femur d0-0-1-0-1-0-1-0; tibia p0-1-0- 1-0-1-0, vp1-0-1-0-1-0-1-0-1-0-1, v0-0-0/1-0-1-0-0, vr1-0-1-0-1-0-1-0-0/1; metatarsus vp1-0-1-0-1, v0, vr1-0-1-0- 1/0; II femur d0-0-1-0-1-0-1-0, p0-0-0-0-0-0-1-0; tibia p0-0-1-0-1-0-1-0-1-0, vp0, v0, vr1-0-1-0-1-0-1-0-1; metatarsus vp1-0-1-0-1, vr1-0-1-0-1; IV femur D0-0-1-0-0/1-0-1-0-0; tibia v0-1-0-0-1-0-0, vr0-0-0-0-0-0-0/1; metatarsus vp1-0-0-1/0-0-1, vr metatarsal comb with 9 macrosetae. Abdomen uniformly clothed with setae ( Figs 10 A–B).

Female. Unknown.

Natural history. Unknown.

Distribution. Only known from the type locality ( Fig. 11 ).

Figures

FIGURE 3. SEM images of Gippsicola lineata n. sp., male from Mount Lewis, Queensland (QM S 91014) (A – B, D), and female from Bellender Ker Range, Queensland (QM S 30617) (C, E – H). (A) right palp, retrolateral, insets showing the embolus tip in frontal (left) and retrolateral (right); (B) cymbium, frontal; (C) internal genitalia, frontal; (D) detail of the patch of chemosensory setae on the cymbium, inset indicates one broken setae showing the central canal that conducts dendrites through the seate; (E) internal genitalia, lateral; (F) detail of the anterior receptaculum, frontal; (G) detail of a glandular duct of the anterior receptaculum; (H) detail of a group of glandular ducts of the posterior receptaculum. Abbreviations: AR—anterior receptaculum; b—bulb; cc—central canal; e—embolus; gda—glandular ducts of the anterior receptaculum; gdp—gladular ducts of the posterior receptaculum; hw – hair wall; IF—interpulmonary fold; PR—posterior receptaculum; UE—uterus externus.

FIGURE 10. Gippsicola minuta n. sp., holotype. (A) habitus, dorsal; (B) same, ventral; (C) left palp, prolateral; (D) same, retrolateral; (E) same, cymbium, dorsal. Scale bars without indicated measurements: 1 mm.

FIGURE 11. Locality of the specimens of Gippsicola examined in the present study.