Karaops garyodwyeri, Crews, 2023

Crews, Sarah C., 2023, But wait, there's more! Descriptions of new species and undescribed sexes of flattie spiders (Araneae, Selenopidae, Karaops) from Australia, ZooKeys 1150, pp. 1-189 : 1

Karaops garyodwyeri sp. nov.

Fig. 31A-E , Maps 1 , 7

Material examined.

Holotype: Western Australia • ♂ (reared in captivity); Gibb River Road , ~ 167 km west of Wyndham , on north side of road; 15°49'27.64"S, 127°31'34.03"E; ~ 269 m; 22 May 2016; S. Crews, J. DeJong leg.; on boulders at night; sel_1256; (WAM T155632) . Other material examined: 4 imm.; same data as previous; sel_1254-1255, 1257-1258; (WAM T155630-T155631, T155633-T155634) .

Diagnosis.

This species is most similar to Karaops conilurus sp. nov., K. dejongi sp. nov., and K. malumbu sp. nov. but differs by the conductor, median apophysis, and RTA. In K. conilurus sp. nov., the anterior part of the conductor extends beyond the medial part, and the dRTA is a very long and slender single branch. In K. garyodwyeri sp. nov. (Fig. 31A, C ), the anterior part of the conductor barely extends beyond the medial part of the conductor (Fig. 31D ), and the dRTA is shorter and wider, with two branches. In K. dejongi sp. nov., the medial part of the conductor is straight, giving it a mostly quadrangular appearance, the dRTA extends into a keel prolaterally, and the vRTA is arched on the retrolateral side. In K. malumbu sp. nov., the conductor is flatter along the anterior margin, the base of the median apophysis has several short spinules, and the dRTA widens distally.

Description.

Male (holotype). Total length 5.75. Carapace: length 2.80, width 3.33. Chelicerae: promargin with three teeth, retromargin with two teeth (1-0-1). Eyes: AER recurved, PER recurved; diameters AME 0.13, ALE 0.08, PME 0.15, PLE 0.30; interdistances AME-PME 0.12, PME-PLE 0.16, ALE-PLE 0.32, PME-PME 0.94, ALE-ALE 1.42, AME-AME 0.48, PLE-PLE 1.73. Sternum: length 1.78, width 1.82. Abdomen: length 2.95, width 2.97. Color: Carapace: yellowish brown with two large dark patches medially on either side of fovea, three pairs of dark spots on lateral margins, one small dark patch medioposteriorly at margin, short, thick, sparse but evenly distributed setae, pale, long, slender setae, denser than short setae, fairly sparse. Chelicerae: yellowish brown, paturon with a longitudinal curved mark frontally, pale setae laterally, darker toward anterior. Maxillae: whitish. Labium: yellowish tan, pale distally. Sternum: whitish yellow. Abdomen: dorsally reddish brown with dark spots around anterior margin, two darker patches anteromedially, dark chevrons from middle to posterior; ventrally grayish tan. Spinnerets: yellowish tan without dusky marks. Legs: yellowish, Cx with dark mark prolaterally, Tr with dark spots prolaterally at Tr-Fm joint, Fm with dark, rectangular markings with dusky centers basally and medially, annulation at Fm-Pt joint, Pt with annulation basally, Ti with annulation at Pt-Ti joint, another distally, Mt with annulations basally, distally, Ta dusky; spination leg I Fm d 1-1-1, pr 1-1-0, Ti v unpaired pl 1-1-1-1, rl 1-1-1-1-1, Mt v 2-2-2; leg II missing; leg III Fm d 1-1-1, Ti 1-1; leg IV Fm d 1-1-1, pl 0-0-1; measurements leg I 13.23 (4.10, 1.52, 3.46, 2.93, 1.22); leg II missing; leg III 15.78 (5.07, 1.20, 4.15, 3.76, 1.61); leg IV 16.24 (5.21, 1.07, 4.39, 3.90, 1.66). Palp: spination Fm 0-1-2; 2.07 (0.63, 0.34, 0.42, 0.68); dark marks dorsally on Ti at Pt-Ti joint, dusky mark basally on Cy (Fig. 31B ); dRTA widened distally, slightly bifurcate, rl branch with spine at tip (see Discussion) (Fig. 31B, D, E ), vRTA narrowed, spoon shaped in ventral view; Cy triangular; C somewhat crescent shaped, pointed at tip, curved laterally, mpc basal margin diagonal, tip of C does not extend beyond mpc, slightly hooked, with CS around E (Fig. 31D ); E hook shaped, arises from medium-sized TL, wide basally, narrowed distally, originating at ~ 6 o’clock, ending at ~ 12 o‘clock, most beneath CS, E closer to middle of bulb than following edge of Cy; MA very long, thin, with slightly sclerotized, flattened knob distally, projected ventrally.

Female. Unknown.

Etymology.

This species is named in memory of Gary O’Dwyer. It is a noun in the genitive case.

Distribution.

Known from only the type locality, Gibb River Road west of Wyndham, Central Kimberley, Western Australia (Map 7 ).

Natural history.

This species is found in the Pentecost subregion of the Central Kimberley bioregion. The area is mostly savannah woodland of eucalypts over hummock grasses. The climate is sub-humid to semi-arid tropical with lots of rainfall in the summer ( Graham 2001d). A penultimate male was found in a cooler, drier part of the year and became an adult male during the coolest, driest part of the year. A specimen molted to a penultimate female in the coolest, driest part of the year. The samples were all large immatures when collected. They were found on boulders at night (Fig. 31A, C ). One specimen lived for a year after collection and never molted (Suppl. material 2: tables S1, S11).

Discussion.

The palps were not completely sclerotized after molting. It is unclear if the spine on the dRTA is anomalous because there is only a single adult male sample, and the dRTA on the right palp is deformed. There have been no systematic fauna or flora surveys in the subregion.

Figures

Map 1. Map of Australia showing areas that are expanded in subsequent figures. CD = Central Desert group, D = Karaops dawara group, F = Karaops francesae group, K = Kimberley group, UA = species that are not assigned to a group, PG = Pilbara-Gascoyne group.

Map 7. Species of the Kimberley species group. Diamonds (juveniles): light purple = Mimbi Caves; blue = Geike Gorge, green = Adcock Gorge, teal = Augustus Island, pink = Little Mertens Falls, yellow = Emma Gorge, orange = Kelly's Knob, red = Keep River National Park; Circles: green = Karaops dejongi sp. nov., blue = Karaops jenniferae, red = Karaops dalmanyi sp. nov., purple = Karaops sp. adult male (will be described in subsequent publication), white = Karaops conilurus sp. nov., pink = Karaops umiida, yellow = Karaops alanlongbottomi, teal = Karaops keithlongbottomi, mauve = Karaops larryoo, orange = Karaops garyodwyeri sp. nov., black = Karaops malumbu sp. nov. Juveniles are treated as distinct species based on molecular data.

Figure 31. Karaops garyodwyeri sp. nov., 167 km west of Wyndham, Gibb River Road, Western Australia A juvenile on sandstone (photo J. DeJong) B palp, dorsal C juvenile on sandstone D palp, ventral (sel _ 1256, WAM T 155632) E palp retrolateral. Scale bars: 0.5 mm.