Curicaberis peninsulanus ( Banks 1898 ) Banks, 1898

Rheims, Cristina A., 2015, Curicaberis, a new genus of Sparassidae from North and Central America (Araneae, Sparassidae, Sparassinae), Zootaxa 4012 (3), pp. 401-446 : 436-437

Curicaberis peninsulanus ( Banks 1898) comb. nov.

Map 6

Olios peninsulanus Banks, 1898: 266 , plate 16, fig. 19 (Syntypes one male and two females from San Jose del Cabo [23°03’N, 109°42’W], Baja California, Mexico, deposited in MCZ 22591, examined). Rheims 2010c, figs 5–8; World Spider Catalog 2015.

Olios schistus Chamberlin, 1919: 10 , plate 4, figs 2–3 (Holotype male from Claremont [34°05’N, 117°43’W], Los Angeles County, California, USA, deposited in MCZ 354, examined; one female paratype from the same locality as holotype, deposited in MCZ 355, examined). Fox 1937: 469, figs 7, 10; Rheims 2010c: 533 (Syn.).

Olios positivus Chamberlin, 1924: 657 , fig. 99 (Holotype female from San Francisco Island [24°49’N, 110°34’W], Gulf of California, Mexico, deposited in CAS 1439, examined; immature female paratype from San Francisco Island, Gulf of California, Mexico, deposited in MCZ 22727, examined). Rheims 2010c: 533 (Syn.).

Olios scepticus Chamberlin, 1924: 658 , fig. 120 (Holotype female from Cerralvo Island (also known as Jacques Custeau Island) [24°31’N, 108°55’W], Gulf of California, Mexico, deposited in CAS 1440, examined; female paratype from Cerralvo Island, Gulf of California, Mexico, deposited in MCZ 1209, examined). Rheims 2010c: 533 (Syn.).

Additional material examined. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: California: 1♀, Los Angeles County, Verdugo Hills [34°15’N, 118°18’W], 15 May 1964, B. Templeton leg. ( AMNH); 1♂, 1♀, San Diego County, La Cresta [32°47’N, 116°52’W], 16 September 1947, W.M. Pearce leg. ( AMNH). MEXICO: Baja California: 1♂, 1♀, El Rosario [30°03’N, 115°03’W], 5 May 1961, W.J. Gertsch & V. Roth leg. ( AMNH). Baja California Sur: 1♀, near La Paz [24°08’N, 110°18’W], July 1990, T. Jackson leg. ( AMNH).

Diagnosis. Males of C. peninsulanus comb. nov. are distinguished from those of the other species of the genus by the palp with vRTA1 absent, vRTA2 long and distally bifid with one projection rounded and the other covered with a bunch of strong setae. It is further distinguished by the embolus S-shaped with the same width throughout its entire length, except tip ( Rheims 2010c: 532, figs 5−6). Females are distinguished from the other species of the genus by the epigyne with median septum with lateral protrusions touching each other posteriorly ( Rheims 2010c, 532, fig. 7).

Description. See Rheims 2010c.

Distribution. Southwestern United States and Baja California and Nayarit in Mexico (Map 6).