Hortophora capitalis (L. Koch, 1871) Framenau & Baptista & Oliveira & Castanheira, 2021

Framenau, Volker W., Baptista, Renner L. C., Oliveira, Francisca Samia M. & Castanheira, Pedro de S., 2021, Taxonomic revision of the new spider genus Hortophora, the Australasian Garden Orb-weavers (Araneae, Araneidae), Evolutionary Systematics 5 (2), pp. 275-334 : 275

Hortophora capitalis (L. Koch, 1871) comb. nov.

Fig. 36A-C

Epeira capitalis Koch 1871: 58-59, plate 5, figs 1, 1a.

Epeira capitalis L. Koch.- Hogg 1899: 139-140, pl. 13, figs 3, 3a-d, 4b (misidentification; these records refer either H. biapicata comb. nov. or H. transmarina comb. nov.; see Remarks).

Araneus capitalis (L. Koch).- Berland 1924: 220; Berland 1938: 173, figs 129-130.

Type material.

Holotype of Epeira capitalis L. Koch, 1871: Female, from Ovalau (17°41'S, 178°48'E, Fiji) ZMH (( Rack 1961)-catalogue no. 227). Examined.

Remarks.

Dondale (1966) listed Epeira capitalis L. Koch, 1871 as junior synonym of H. transmarina comb. nov. and the holotype of this species from Fiji has therefore been examined as part of this study. Its current synonymy with H. transmarina comb. nov. cannot be confirmed as the epigyne base is narrow without visible baso-lateral flaps, much more like that of H. biapicata comb. nov. However, having not had the opportunity to examine topotypical males, the most prudent solution is to revalidate this species pending a revision of Pacific Hortophora gen. nov. The species is here transferred to Hortophora gen. nov. due to the similarities with the above-mentioned two species, thereby conforming to the generic diagnostic of Hortophora gen. nov., specifically the highly elongated epigyne scape (Fig. 36A-C ).

Berland (1924) reported the H. capitalis comb. nov. from New Caledonia without specimen details, but differentiated it from H. flavicoma comb. nov. by somatic (colouration of the abdomen) and genitalic (length of epigyne scape) characters. Berland (1938) reported males and females of H. capitalis comb. nov. from the New Hebrides, now Vanuatu. Taking the similarities of female Hortophora gen. nov. into account, we caution to accept his identifications until males of the species from the type locality are known and their genitalia examined in detail. We did not examine Berland’s (1938) material, likely deposited in Paris.

Hogg (1899) reported H. capitalis comb. nov. and H. transmarina comb. nov. (as Epeira producta ) from near Cooktown in northern Queensland. He discusses the differences of these species and his Epeira frostii (= H. biapicata comb. nov.) in some detail and concludes that “… the whole three species are, at most, local varieties of the same ". He stayed, however, short of synonymising them. Curiously, he illustrated the epigyne of both H. capitalis comb. nov. and H. transmarina comb. nov. in a single image ( Hogg 1899, fig. 4b "Epigyne of E. capitalis and E. producta "). It is clear, that H.R. Hogg was unable to clearly delineate the two species, specifically as he did not examine mature males. It is also clear that his record of H. capitalis comb. nov. refers to either H. biapicata comb. nov. or H. transmarina comb. nov. We found both species in Cooktown (see Appendix 1).

Figures

Figure 36. Hortophora capitalis comb. nov., holotype female from Ovalau (Fiji) ZMH (Rack (1961) - catalogue 227). A. dorsal habitus; B. ventral habitus; C. epigyne, ventral view.