Myrmarachne giltayi Roewer, 1965

Wesołowska, Wanda & Wiśniewski, Konrad, 2015, New data on Belippo and Myrmarachne of Kenya (Araneae: Salticidae: Myrmarachninae), Zootaxa 3980 (4), pp. 547-561 : 556-557

Myrmarachne giltayi Roewer, 1965

Figs 34–38

Myrmarachne giltayi Roewer 1965: 52 , fig. 45; Wanless 1978: 36, figs 14 a, b, f, h, 15 a, f, g, 16 d–f, h.

Material examined. Mount Elgon, E side, 1°01′N 35°00′E, 2500 m, under shrubs, 1 ♂, 1 ♀, 3 March 1938; Mount Elgon, E side, Suam River, 1°20′N 35°06′E, 2000 m, underneath shrubs, 1 ♂, 1 ♀, 4 imm., 1 February 1938.

Description. Male. Carapace light brown, eyes surrounded by black rings, eye field pitted, clothed in fine colourless hairs. Two long trichobotria anteriorly to carapace constriction. Chelicerae long, fangs with short apophysis ( Fig. 34 ). Sternum and mouthparts brown. Abdomen narrow, grayish brown with two scuta, venter dark. Legs light brown, metatarsi of the first pair of legs slightly darker than metatarsi of the other legs. Tibia I with 2-2- 0-2 spines ventrally, metatarsus with two pairs of ventral spines. Copulatory organs as in Figs 35, 36 , tibial apophysis sigmoid, with large flange. Dimensions. Cephalothorax: length 2.7, width 1.5, height 1.1. Abdomen: length 2.9, width 1.0/1. Eye field: length 1.0, anterior width 1.2, posterior width 1.3.

Female. Carapace light brown, eyes surrounded by black rings. Chelicerae with four relatively large teeth on promargin and five (small) on retromargin. Abdomen dark brown with white lateral spots on abdominal constriction. Pedipalps with metallic dark blue shine. Coxae I light yellow, II with a dark spot at their base, III and IV brown. Legs I and II light brown with blackish streak along sides, III brown, IV brown with yellow trochanter and ventral side of patella. Epigyne with a pair of pockets close to each other ( Fig. 37 ). Internal structure as in Fig. 38 . Dimensions. Cephalothorax: length 2.2-2.7, width 1.2-1.3, height 0.8-0.9. Abdomen: length 2.2-2.9, width 1.1- 1.2. Eye field: length 1.0-1.1, anterior width 1.1-1.2, posterior width 1.2-1.3.

Distribution. Known from Angola, Kenya and Congo ( Zaire).

Remark. The female of this species is described here for the first time. The most characteristic feature of this female is the shape of the epigynal pouches, slightly similar to that of M. natalica Lessert, 1925 . The length of the cephalic part and thoracic part of carapace are equal in M. giltayi ; in M. natalica the cephalic part is clearly shorter.

Figures

FIGURES 34 – 38. Myrmarachne giltayi, male and female. 34 chelicera of male, ventral view; 35 left palpal organ, ventral view; 36 same, retrolateral view; 37 epigyne; 38 same, cleared.