Myrmekiaphila comstocki Bishop & Crosby, 1926

Dean, David Allen, 2016, Catalogue of Texas spiders, ZooKeys 570, pp. 1-703 : 12

Myrmekiaphila comstocki Bishop & Crosby, 1926

Myrmekiaphila comstocki Bishop and Crosby 1926: 168, m, desc. (figs 7-8); Bond and Opell 2002: 495; Bond and Platnick 2007: 11, mf, desc. (figs 5, 15, 25, 41-47) [see note below]; Bradley 2013: 114; Gertsch 1935a: 3, f (fig. 3); Gertsch and Mulaik 1940: 310; Jackman 1997: 160; Roewer 1942: 168; Vogel 1970b: 28

Myrmekiaphila fluviatilis (Hentz, 1850); Bishop and Crosby 1926: 166; Gertsch 1935a: 3; Gertsch and Mulaik 1940: 310; Henderson 2007: 37, 52-54, 74-76, 79, 82; Jackman 1997: 160; Kaston 1953: 60, desc. (fig. 142); Vogel 1970b: 28; Yantis 2005: 66, 197, 201 [all misidentified]

Myrmeciophila fluviatilis (Hentz, 1850); Comstock 1912: 239; Comstock 1940: 234 [misidentified]

Myrmeciophila comstocki Bishop & Crosby, 1926; Brown 1974: 233

Distribution.

Brazos, Cherokee, Clay, Coryell, Grimes, Hardeman, Hidalgo, Houston, Hunt, Kimble, Kleberg, Leon, Madison, Montague, Nacogdoches, Travis, Trinity, Walker, Wichita

Locality.

Lick Creek Park, Riley Estate

Time of activity.

Male (February - May, October - November); female (April, May, July)

Habitat.

(grass: sandy grassland, short grass); (littoral: sandy area, sandy by water); (soil/woodland: disturbed habitat, pine woods [%: 66, 82, 86, 97], post oak savanna with pasture, post oak woodland, post oak woods [%: 41, 49, 56, 74, 77, 82, 84, 92, 96], upland woods); (structures: front porch, under newspaper in garage)

Method.

5 gallon bucket trap [m]; pitfall trap [m]

Type.

Texas (male, Travis Co., Austin, March 12-18, 1903, J. H. Comstock, holotype, AMNH)

Etymology.

Person (collector)

Collection.

MSU, TAMU

Note.

Palp keys out to Myrmeciophila foliata Atkinson, 1886 because the distal dilation of metatarsus I is large (see fig. 14 in Bond and Platnick 2007) and the embolus is thick. However, specimens from Texas that were not seen for their revision have the distal dilation large but is Myrmeciophila comstocki . This is based on a Texas population (from several counties) not seen in their revision (Bond and Platnick, pers. comm.).