Micropholcomma junee 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 : 25-26

Micropholcomma junee Rix & Harvey , sp. n.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:9A689FA4-72D0-4553-AF71-B56F303154A3

Figs 15D, 16–17, 213

Type material. Holotype male: Splash Pot (JF-10), Junee-Florentine karst, Tasmania, Australia, on moist wall of stream (twilight and dark zones) to c. 40 m depth, 42°43'S, 146°34'E, 28.VIII.1987, S. Eberhard ( AMS KS97172 ).

Paratypes: Allotype female, Cauldron Pot (JF-2), Junee-Florentine karst, Tasmania, Australia, in deep part (dark zone) of cave, 2.IV.1990, S. Eberhard ( QVM 13 : 13292); 1 male, same data as holotype ( AMNH) .

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

Diagnosis. Males and females of Micropholcomma junee can be distinguished from all other described congeners by the presence of only four vestigial eye spots (Figs 16A–B).

Description. Holotype male: Total length 0.90. Carapace 0.39 long, 0.32 wide. Abdomen 0.59 long, 0.43 wide. Leg I femur 0.34. Cephalothorax, abdominal sclerites dark tan-brown; legs, abdomen dark tan-yellow. Carapace raised anteriorly, fused to sternum via pleural sclerites; dorsal surface of pars cephalica slightly convex in lateral view. Eyes reduced to four vestigial eye spots on anterior margin of pars cephalica. Chelicerae without bulging anterior projections; promargin with single peg tooth. Legs relatively short (leg I femur-carapace ratio 0.87); macrosetae absent. Abdomen oval, protruding posteriorly, covered with hair-like setae, each seta projecting from small sclerotic spot; dorsal scute large, covering most of dorsal surface of abdomen; lateral sclerotic strips present. Pedipalpal patella with distally-directed, flanged lRPA; tegulum smooth, without processes, with curved ETR; embolus long (length> 5× width), looping once around margin of tegulum (Fig. 17).

Allotype female: Total length 0.84. Carapace 0.36 long, 0.30 wide. Abdomen 0.56 long, 0.37 wide. Leg I femur 0.37. Cephalothorax, abdominal sclerites tan-yellow; legs, abdomen pale cream. Carapace raised anteriorly, fused to sternum via pleural sclerites; dorsal surface of pars cephalica slightly convex in lateral view. Eyes reduced to four vestigial eye spots on anterior margin of pars cephalica. Chelicerae without bulging anterior projections; promargin without peg teeth. Legs relatively short (leg I femur-carapace ratio 1.03); macrosetae absent. Abdomen oval, protruding posteriorly, covered with hair-like setae, each seta projecting from small sclerotic spot; dorsal scute and lateral sclerotic strips absent. Pedipalp small, four-segmented, with fused tibia-tarsus. Epigyne with distinctive external morphology (Fig. 16D); spermathecae globular; insemination ducts coiled around arched fertilisation ducts (Fig. 15D).

Distribution. Known only from the caves Splash Pot and Cauldron Pot in the Junee-Florentine karst of south-central Tasmania (Fig. 213).

Remarks. Micropholcomma junee lives in sympatry with another troglobitic micropholcommatid, Olgania eberhardi sp. n. (see below). Nothing is known of its biology.