Nerudia hoguera, Huber & Meng & Král & Ávila Herrera & Izquierdo & Carvalho, 2023

Huber, Bernhard A., Meng, Guanliang, Král, Jiří, Ávila Herrera, Ivalú M., Izquierdo, Matias A. & Carvalho, Leonardo S., 2023, High and dry: integrative taxonomy of the Andean spider genus Nerudia (Araneae: Pholcidae), Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 198, pp. 534-591 : 550-553

NERUDIA HOGUERA HUBER SP. NOV.

( FIGS 13 , 14 )

Z o o b a n k r e g i s t r a t i o n: u r n: l s i d: z o o b a n k. org:act: D72E218E-77C9-4026-AF20-DE2D591CFB 4F.

Diagnosis: Distinguished from known congeners by armature of male chelicerae ( Fig. 1 3G, H ; frontal apophyses in lateral position, relatively long, tip flattened, i.e. wide in frontal view, pointed in lateral view), by shape of procursus ( Fig. 13A– C ; slender, with simple pointed tip; similar to N. poma ), by bulbal processes ( Fig. 13D–F ; ventral apophysis almost straight, longer than embolus), and by epigynum and female internal genitalia ( Figs 13I , 14 ; epigynal plate with wide posterior indentation; internal genitalia with large median ‘receptacle’, with median sclerite similar to N. poma ).

Type material: ARGENTINA – La Rioja: • ♂ holotype; between Chilecito and Famatina; 29.0027° S, 67.4855° W; 1300 m a.s.l.; 9 Mar. 2019; B. A. Huber and M. A. Izquierdo leg.; LABRE-Ar 586 • 2 ♀♀ paratypes; same data as holotype; ZFMK Ar 23889 .

Other material examined: ARGENTINA – La Rioja: • 3 ♀♀ in pure ethanol; same data as holotype; ZFMK Arg159 .

Etymology: The species epithet hoguera (from Spanish meaning ‘bonfire’) is taken from Pablo Neruda’s poem ‘Soneto 22’; noun in apposition.

Description

Male (holotype). Measurements: Total body length 1.53, carapace width 0.68. Distance PME–PME 60 µm; diameter PME 60 µm; distance PME–ALE 20 µm; distance AME–AME 15 µm; diameter AME 40 µm. Leg 1: 5.73 (1.55 + 0.25 + 1.60 + 1.73 + 0.60), tibia 2: 1.35, tibia 3: 1.10, tibia 4: 1.50; tibia 1 L/d: 23.

Colour (in ethanol): Prosoma and legs pale ochre-yellow; with indistinct ochre mark medially on carapace; legs without dark rings; abdomen monochromous light grey.

Body: Habitus as in N. poma (cf. Fig. 1B ). Ocular area barely raised. Carapace with indistinct thoracic groove. Clypeus unmodified, only at rim slightly sclerotized. Sternum wider than long (0.48/0.44), with pair of distinct anterior processes near coxae 1. Abdomen globular.

Chelicerae: As in Figure 13G, H ; with pair of frontal apophyses in lateral position, directed forward, tip flattened, i.e. wide in frontal view, pointed in lateral view; stridulatory files on pair of low lateral protrusions.

Palps: In general, similar to N. colina (cf. Fig. 4 ); coxa unmodified; trochanter with indistinct ventral projection; femur cylindrical, slightly widened distally, proximally with indistinct retrolateral hump and prolateral stridulatory pick (modified hair), femur relatively short (length/width: 1.81); patella short; tibia globular (length/ width: 1.05); procursus simple ( Fig. 13A–C ), slender, with simple pointed tip; genital bulb with weakly curved ventral apophysis, embolus partly membranous, shorter than ventral apophysis ( Fig. 13D–F ).

Legs: Without spines and curved hairs; with vertical hairs in two rows (prolateral, retrolateral) proximally on tibia 1 only; retrolateral trichobothrium of tibia 1 at 65%; prolateral trichobothrium absent on tibia 1; tarsus 1 with ~eight pseudosegments, distally distinct.

Female: In general, similar to male but sternum without pair of anterior humps. Tibia 1 in five females: 1.20–1.55 (mean 1.46). Epigynum ( Fig. 14A ) anterior plate weakly protruding, trapezoidal, with wide posterior indentation; posterior plate large, simple. Internal genitalia ( Figs 13I , 14B, D ) with large median ‘receptacle’ and sclerite at median line.

Distribution: Known from type locality only, in Argentina, La Rioja ( Fig. 3 ).

Natural history: The spiders were found by turning rocks in ravines on an arid slope. When disturbed, they moved slowly. They shared the microhabitat with two other Ninetinae : Nerudia ola and Gertschiola macrostyla .

Figures

Figure 1. Nerudia, live specimens from Argentina. A, N. colina sp. nov., female from Jujuy, between San Salvador and Purmamarca (type locality). B, N. poma sp. nov., male from Salta, NW Campo Quijano (type locality). C, D, N. centaura sp. nov., male and female from Catamarca, E Paso de San Francisco (type locality). E, N. trigo sp. nov., female from Salta, SW Alemania. F, N. guirnalda sp. nov., male from Catamarca, El Rodeo (type locality). G, N. ola sp. nov., male from San Juan, San Agustin de Valle Fertil (type locality). H, N. nono sp. nov., male from Cordoba, E Nono (type locality).

Figure 2. NJ COI tree of all sequenced Nerudia and Gertschiola specimens. Species groups on the right are working hypotheses. Photo: female of Nerudia colina sp. nov. For complete tree, and for tree resulting from analysis with IQ-TREE, see Supporting Information, Figures S1, S2.

Figure 3. Known distribution of Nerudia in South America (inset) and of individual species. Regions in Chile: AT, Atacama; COQ, Coquimbo. Provinces in Argentina: CA, Catamarca; COR, Córdoba; JU, Jujuy; LR, La Rioja; SA, Salta; SJ, San Juan.

Figure 4. Nerudia colina sp. nov.; paratype male from Argentina, Jujuy, between San Salvador and Purmamarca (ZFMK Ar 23883). Left palp, prolateral (A) and retrolateral (B) views. Abbreviations: b, genital bulb; c, coxa; e, embolus; f, femur; p, procursus; pa, patella; ta, tarsus; ti, tibia; tr, trochanter; va, ventral apophysis. Scale line: 0.3 mm.

Figure 13. Nerudia hoguera sp. nov.; holotype male (LABRE-Ar 586) and paratype female (ZFMK Ar 23889) from Argentina, La Rioja, between Chilecito and Famatina. A–C, left male palpal tarsus and procursus, prolateral, dorsal, and retrolateral views. D–F, left male genital bulb, prolateral, dorsal, and retrolateral views. G, H, male chelicerae, frontal and lateral views. I, cleared female genitalia, dorsal view. Scale lines: 0.2 mm.

Figure 14. Nerudia hoguera sp. nov.; paratype female from Argentina, La Rioja, between Chilecito and Famatina (ZFMK Ar 23889).A, abdomen and epigynum, ventral view. B, median structures in internal genitalia (arrow points at possible pore plate). C, D, cleared genitalia, ventral and dorsal views. Scale lines: 0.2 mm (A, C, D), 0.1 mm (B).