Artoria alta Framenau, 2004

Framenau, Volker W. & Baehr, Barbara C., 2018, The wolf spider genus Artoria in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, Australia (Araneae, Lycosidae, Artoriinae), Evolutionary Systematics 2 (2), pp. 169-241 : 169

Artoria alta Framenau, 2004 Figs 4, 5 A–H, 46L Alpine Forest Runner

Artoria alta Framenau, 2004: 28-30, Figs 1 A–D, 2.

Material examined.

Holotype male, Kosciuszko National Park, near Smiggins Hole (36°24'S, 148°26"E, New South Wales, AUSTRALIA), 1,700 m alt., alpine moor, D. Bickel (AM KS4789). Paratype male, Kosciuszko National Park, Spencer Creek near Charlottes Pass (36°24'S, 148°21"E, New South Wales, AUSTRALIA), D. Bickel (AM KS45825) (all examined).

Other material examined.

AUSTRALIA: New South Wales: 1 female, Kosciuszko National Park, Three Mile Dam, 35°53'S, 148°27"E (AM KS27957).

Diagnosis.

The tegular apophysis in male A. alta has a distinctive shape with a terminal part that resembles, in ventral view of the pedipalp, a bicycle seat (Fig. 5E). The female here associated with A. alta has a distinct waved anterior border of the epigyne and two posterior dark lobes (Fig. 5G).

Description.

The male of A. alta has been described in detail ( Framenau 2004). A diagnosis and diagnostic images (Figs 5 A–H, 46L) are provided here to facilitate identification. A putative female of the species (the only female of Artoria currently known from alpine habitats near the type locality), is illustrated here (Fig. 4), although conspecifity remains unclear. The body colouration of the female is much more distinct than that of the male and this female may represent a different species. We decided to include the female here as potential candidate of the female A. alta to have a public documentation of this morphotype.

Life history and habitat preferences.

Artoria alta is known only from subalpine or alpine habitats in Kosciuszko National Park in New South Wales. Mature males and females have so far only been found in summer, between end of November and end of December.

Distribution.

Known only from Kosciuszko National Park, NSW, in the Australian Alps (AUA) IBRA region (Fig. 4).