Myrmecomelix pulcher ( Millidge, 1991 )

Rodrigues, Everton Nei Lopes & Brescovit, Antonio Domingos, 2012, Linyphiid spiders of Peru: description of a new species, complementary descriptions and new distribution records (Araneae: Linyphiidae), Zootaxa 3506, pp. 77-86 : 83-84

Myrmecomelix pulcher ( Millidge, 1991)

( Figures 15–16 )

Myrmecoxenus pulcher Millidge, 1991: 160 , figs. 663–665 (Male holotype from Rio Palenque, Ecuador, Dec. 28, 1975, A. C. Kistner and A. H. Kistner col., deposited in AMNH).

Myrmecomelix pulcher, Platnick, 1993: 324 , replacement name for Myrmecoxenus Millidge, 1991 , preoccupied; Miller, 2007: 141, figs. 103, 104E–F; Platnick, 2012.

Diagnosis. The female of Myrmecomelix pulcher ( Millidge, 1991) is close to M. leucippus Miller, 2007 ( Miller, 2007: 138, figs. 102C, 103, 104A–D, 105, 106) by posterior orientation of the fertilization ducts, which open in medial portion of epigynum, copulatory ducts following the margins of dorsal plate, but differs from M. leucippus by longer copulatory ducts, posteriorly rebordered ventral plate ( Fig. 15 ), and rounded spermathecae ( Fig. 16 ).

Description. Male. Described by Millidge (1991: 160).

Female (MUSM ENT 00503970): Total length 1.76. Carapace length 0.73, width 0.52. Clypeus height 0.10. Sternum length 0.35, width 0.37. Chelicerae length 0.29. Abdomen length 1.09, width 0.69, height 0.67. Leg lengths (I/II absent/III absent /IV): femora 0.56/-/-/0.56; patellae 0.18/-/-/0.16; tibiae 0.42/-/-/0.50; metatarsi 0.33/- /-/0.35; tarsi 0.29/-/-/0.25; total 1.78/-/-/1.82. Palp (femur, patella, tibia, tarsi): 0.21/0.08/ 0.12/0.18. Coxa IV bases well apart from each other (0.14). Eye diameters and interdistances: AME 0.02, ALE 0.04 and PME and PLE 0.03; AME–ALE 0.02, PME–PLE 0.02, AME–AME 0.01, PME–PME 0.02. Eyes margined with black. Clypeus glabrous. Carapace dark red-brown, borders dark brown, larger than wide. Chelicerae red-brown. Endites brownish. Labium dark brown. Sternum dark red-brown, borders dark brown. Cheliceral promargin with five teeth, retromargin with two teeth. Legs orange-brown, coxa covered with dark brown dots. Abdomen dark brown, longer than wide. Spinnerets and colulus dark brown. Ventral plate of epigynum with median depression invagination in posterior margin ( Fig. 15 ). Dorsal plate large wide. Spermathecae round ( Fig. 16 ). Fertilization ducts arise from posterior region of spermathecae and extend toward medial portion of epigynum. Copulatory ducts longer, following the margin of epigynum ( Fig. 16 ); copulatory openings at the posterior margin of the epigynum.

Female. Described by Millidge (1991: 104).

Remarks. Males and females were collected together in Peru.

Material examined. PERU. Lima: Bosque de Zarate – Gatero, 2850m, 10.XII.1977, I. Franke & N. Valencia col., 13, 2Ƥ ( MUSM ENT 00503970); Bosque de Zarate–Gatero, 2880m, 24.I.1980, I. Franke & N. Valencia col., 1Ƥ ( MUSM ENT 00503922).

Distribution. Ecuador (Los Rios) and Peru (La Libertad and Lima).

Figures

FIGURES 15 – 16. Myrmecomelix pulcher (Millidge, 1991): Epigynum: (15) ventral, (16) dorsal, cleared (D: copulatory duct; DP: dorsal plate; FD: fertilization duct; S: spermathecae; VP: ventral plate). Scale lines: 0.25 mm.