Austrohahnia praestans Mello-Leitão, 1942

Rubio, Gonzalo D., Lo-Man-Hung, Nancy F. & Iuri, Hernán A., 2014, A revision of the Neotropical genus Austrohahnia Mello-Leitão (Araneae, Hahniidae), Zootaxa 3894 (1), pp. 106-116 : 113-114

Austrohahnia praestans Mello-Leitão, 1942

Figs 3A–C ; 5

Austrohahnia praestans Mello-Leitão, 1942: 424 , fig. 56 (♀ holotype from ARGENTINA: Santiago del Estero, Colonia Dora, deposited in MLP 15590, examined); Roewer 1954: 100; Schiapelli & Gerschman 1958: 201; Brignoli 1983: 507; World Spider Catalog 2014.

Material examined. ARGENTINA: Santa Fe: 2 ♀, General Obligado, 3 km NE Berna, S29.26211°, W59.81745°, 43 m asl (GPS +- 100 m), 2.III.2014, M. Ramírez, C. Grismado, L. Piacentini & M. González Márquez leg. (MACN-Ar 30204); Entre Ríos: 2 ♀, 20 km south of Victoria, S32.759444°, W59.93558°, 31 m asl, 28.II.1982, S. Roig, A. Roig Alsina & P. Goloboff leg. (MACN-Ar 21139).

Diagnosis. Female of A. praestans resembles those of A. melloleitaoi , both have a slightly similar arrangement of copulatory duct and have relatively advanced secondary receptacle, close to copulatory opening ( Figs 3B, C ), but can be distinguished from A. melloleitaoi by the spherical copulatory opening (not flared as in A. melloleitaoi ) ( Fig. 3A ). Austrohahnia praestans differs from A. catleyi new species in having a longer and differently arrangement copulatory duct: middle stretch of copulatory duct parallel, while it converges in A. catleyi new species ( Figs 3B, C ; compare with 3H, I), secondary receptacle close to copulatory opening ( Figs 3B, C ) and a pale dorsal stripe along the abdomen.

Description. Female (MACN-Ar 21139) ( Figs 3A–C ). Total length 3.92. Carapace 1.80 long, 1.30 wide; abdomen 2.05 long, 1.60 wide. Eye sizes and interdistances: AME 0.10, ALE 0.12, PME 0.11, PLE 0.11. AME–AME 0.04, ALE–ALE 0.24, PME–PME 0.11, PLE–PLE 0.37, AME–PME 0.08, ALE–PLE 0.02. Clypeus height 0.21, clypeus height at AME 0.31. Chelicerae with notable stridulatory files laterally; three promarginal and four retromarginal teeth. Sternum as long as wide. Leg measurements: I 4.70 (1.28, 1.48, 1.10, 0.84); II 4.56 (1.27, 1.44, 1.08, 0.77); III 4.49 (1.24, 1.40, 1.08, 0.77); IV 5.69 (1.53, 1.84, 1.45, 0.87). Carapace brown, slightly lighter in front of fovea and near the margins, margins dark brown. Sternum brown, lighter in the middle. Abdomen with a pale yellow stripe of sinuous edges dorsally along the abdomen, chevrons weakly marked; ventrally light brown with brown irregular spots. Legs pale yellow with brown rings. Epigyne ( Figs 3A–C ): with two spherical copulatory opening, not flared, located in large atrium; middle stretch of copulatory duct directly backwards. The secondary receptacle close to copulatory opening. Variation (n = 5): total length 3.44–4.00, mean 3.79. Male unknown.

Natural history. Some specimens were collected by sieving leaf litter. Specimens from Santa Fe were found on their webs on sandy soil.

Distribution ( Fig. 5 ). Northeastern Argentina: Corrientes, Santa Fe, Entre Ríos and southeast of Santiago del Estero.

Figures

FIGURE 5. Records of Austrohahnia spp. in South America; A. praestans (circles), A. melloleitaoi (squares), A. catleyi new species (stars), A. isophthalma (triangle), and Austrohahnia sp. (blue dot [immature specimen]).

FIGURES 3 A – I. Austrohahnia spp., epigyne; A – C, A. praestans in ventral (A – B) and dorsal (C) view (B – C cleared); D – F A. melloleitaoi in ventral (D – E), and dorsal (F) view (E – F cleared); G – I A. catleyi new species in ventral (G – H), and dorsal (I) view (H – I cleared). At—atrium; CD—copulatory duct; CO—copulatory opening; FD—fertilization duct; msCD—middle stretch of CD; S—spermatheca (primary receptacle); SR—secondary receptacle. Scale bars: A – D 0.25 mm; E – I 0.2 mm.