Brignolia ambigua ( Simon, 1893 )

Ranasinghe, U. G. S. L. & Benjamin, Suresh P., 2016, A review of Sri Lankan Brignolia including the description of four new species (Araneae: Oonopidae), Zootaxa 4144 (4), pp. 451-476 : 453-456

Brignolia ambigua ( Simon, 1893)

( Figs. 2 A–F, 3A–D)

Opopaea ambigua Simon, 1893b: 302 .

Brignolia ambigua Platnick et al., 2011: 52 , figs. 822–837.

Material examined. 1♂ (IFS_Oon_036): Sri Lanka: Central Province, Matale District, NIFS Arboretum , 0 7°51’34”N 80°40’28”E, 180m, 27 April 2010, leg. S. P. Benjamin and S. Batuwita . 2♀ (IFS_Oon_152,153): same locality data, 0 1 December 2011, leg. S. P. Benjamin et al., litter . 1♂ (IFS_Oon_281): Sri Lanka: Central Province, Kandy District, Knuckles, Riverston , site 0 2, 0 7°31’25”N 80°44’20”E, 1240m, 25 February 2015, leg. N. Athukorala, litter.

Diagnosis. Males can be easily recognized by the distally expanded, blunt-tip of the palpal bulb ( Figs. 3 A, B; figs. 830–837 Platnick et al. (2011). Females can be recognized by the dark undulated transverse ridge, near the epigastric furrow ( Figs. 3 C, D).

Description. Description based on the four specimens listed above. Also see Platnick et al. (2011) for a detailed description.

MALE: Body length 1.30. Pars cephalica slightly elevated, pars thoracica sloping gradually to rounded posterior margin. Median portion of sternum with ordinary setae and without distinct pits. Scuto-pedicel region with straight ridge. Genitalia: distal portion of palpal bulb relatively large, as high as cymbium. Bulb distally expanded with a blunt tip, base without triangular projection ( Figs. 3 A, B).

FEMALE: Body length 1.54. Somatic morphology as male ( Fig. 2 A, 2B, 2D, 2F). Genitalia: postepigastric region with dark undulated transverse ridge positioned near the epigastric furrow. Postepigastric region with posterior genitalic tube and without any triangular projections, posterior tube very short and narrow ( Figs. 3 C, D).

Intraspecific variation. Color of carapace and dorsal scuta diverge from pale orange to orange. Scuto-pedicel region with medially straight weak sclerotized ridge ( Fig. 2 F).

Distribution. Sri Lanka. Previous record: Galle. New records: Matale District, NIFS Arboretum (L 17), Knuckles (L 44).

Figures

FIGURE 2. Brignolia ambigua (Simon, 1893), female from Dambulla NIFS Arboretum. A. carapace, dorsal view; B. same, lateral view; C. same, anterior view; D. same, posterior view; E. sternum, ventral view; F. abdomen, anterior view. scr, scutopedicel ridge. Scale bars = 0.2 mm.

FIGURE 3. Brignolia ambigua (Simon, 1893), from NIFS Arboretum. Male. A. right palp, prolateral view; B. right palp, retrolateral view; Female. C. epigastric region, dorsal view; D. same, ventral view. ef, epigastric furrow; lap, lateral apodemes; pgt, posterior genitalic tube; psg, posterior spiracular groove; tr, transverse ridge. Scale bars = 0.1 mm.