Epigastrina loongana Rix & Harvey, 2010

Rix, Michael & Harvey, Mark, 2010, The spider family Micropholcommatidae (Arachnida: Araneae: Araneoidea): a relimitation and revision at the generic level, ZooKeys 36 (36), pp. 1-321 : 44-45

Epigastrina loongana Rix & Harvey , sp. n.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:AEFBBEA7-2BF1-45B1-A755-FFD3F153ED95

Figs 63D , 64 , 213

Type material. Holotype female: Mostyn Hardy Cave (Old Tourist Cave) (L-4), Loongana karst, Tasmania, Australia, dark zone, 41°25'S, 146°00'E, 22.II.1969, A. & T. Goede ( AMS KS72935 ).

Etymology. The specific epithet is a noun in apposition, taken from the type locality.

Diagnosis. Females of Epigastrina loongana can be distinguished from all other described congeners by the presence of only six reduced eyes ( Fig. 64B ). Males are unknown.

Description. Holotype female: Total length 1.10. Carapace 0.49 long, 0.40 wide. Abdomen 0.69 long, 0.49 wide. Leg I femur 0.41. Cephalothorax, legs very pale tanyellow; abdomen pale cream, with darker tan-yellow epigyne. Carapace raised anteriorly, not fused to sternum except around petiole; dorsal surface of pars cephalica slightly convex in lateral view. Six reduced eyes present on anterior margin of pars cephalica; AME absent; PME separated by twice their own diameter. Chelicerae without bulging anterior projections; promargin without peg teeth. Legs relatively short (leg I femur-carapace ratio 0.84); macrosetae absent. Abdomen oval, covered with hair-like setae; dorsal scute and lateral sclerotic strips absent. Pedipalp entire, five-segmented. Epigyne heavily sclerotised externally, with distinctive, wedge-shaped epigastric plate ( Fig. 64C ); spermathecae globular, connecting to parallel, filiform insemination and fertilisation ducts ( Fig. 63D ).

Distribution. Known only from Mostyn Hardy Cave in the Loongana karst of north-central Tasmania (Fig. 213).

Remarks. Epigastrina loongana is a troglomorphic species with reduced eyes, otherwise very similar to E. fulva and E. typhlops .

Figures

Figure 63. Epigastrina species, female epigynes and receptacula. A–B E. fulva (Hickman) from Mount Wellington, Tasmania: A external epigyne, ventral view, showing the very large epigastric plate B cleared receptacula, dorsal view. C–E external epigynes, ventral view, at scale-identical size for comparison: C E. fulva from Mount Wellington, Tasmania D holotype E. loongana sp. n. from the Loongana karst, Tasmania; E, allotype E. typhlops sp. n. from the Mole Creek karst, Tasmania. Arrows indicate the trajectory of insemination and proximal fertilisation ducts. Scale bars = 0.065 mm (65 µm).

Figure 64. Epigastrina loongana sp. n. from the Loongana karst, Tasmania. A–C holotype female (AMS KS72935): A habitus, dorsal view B cephalothorax, frontal view C abdomen, ventral view. Note the pale body colouration and reduced eyes.