Guaranita auadae Huber sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 8409459A-BDA1-4650-9765-44EA30ABDECF

Figs 2G – H, 21 – 23, 32D

Diagnosis

Distinguished from known congeners by shape of dorsal flap on procursus (Fig. 22F; distally narrow and curved); also by wider distal bulbal sclerite (Fig. 22G; similar only in G. goloboffi), by relatively short male palpal femur (Fig. 21C; length/width 1.9; other species 2.1 – 2.6) and by female internal genitalia (Fig. 23C – D; median structure rectangular, similar to G. goloboffi but smaller).

Etymology

The species name honors Ángela Auad (1945 – 1977), an Argentine social activist who worked with the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo until she was kidnapped, tortured and murdered.

Type material

Holotype ARGENTINA – Jujuy • ♂; between San Salvador and Purmamarca, ‘site 2’; 23.8849° S, 65.4613° W; 2150 m a.s.l.; 16 – 17 Mar. 2019; B.A. Huber and M.A. Izquierdo leg.; LABRE-Ar 1016.

Paratypes ARGENTINA • 1 ♂, 2 ♀♀; same collection data as for holotype; ZFMK Ar 24125 • 2 ♂♂, 7 ♀♀ (together with 11 juvs); same collection data as for holotype; LABRE-Ar 880 .

Other material examined

ARGENTINA – Jujuy • 6 ♀♀, 1 juv., in pure ethanol (two female prosomata used for molecular work, two cleared female genitalia transferred to ZFMK Ar 24125); same collection data as for holotype; ZFMK Arg179 • 3 ♀♀, in pure ethanol; same collection data as for holotype; LABRE-Ar 867 • 1 ♀, with 6 eggs, in pure ethanol; same collection data as for holotype; LABRE-Ar 866 .

Description

Male (holotype)

MEASUREMENTS. Total body length 0.97, carapace width 0.42. Distance PME–PME 40 µm; diameter PME 40 µm; distance PME–ALE 20 µm; distance AME–AME 25 µm; diameter AME 25 µm. Leg 1: 2.02 (0.58+ 0.14 +0.50 +0.48 +0.32), tibia 2: 0.40, tibia 3: 0.36, tibia 4: 0.60; tibia 1 L/d: 7; diameters of leg femora 0.095, of leg tibiae: 0.07.

COLOUR (in ethanol). Prosoma and legs ochre-yellow, legs without darker rings; abdomen ochre-grey with indistinct internal marks.

BODY (Fig. 2G). Ocular area barely raised. Carapace without thoracic groove. Clypeus unmodified. Sternum slightly wider than long (0.34/0.31), with pair of rounded anterior processes near coxae 1. Abdomen globular.

CHELICERAE (Fig. 22A – C). With pair of long frontal apophyses; with stridulatory files poorly visible in dissecting microscope.

PALPS (Fig. 21A – C). Coxa unmodified; trochanter without process; femur proximally with prolateral stridulatory pick, distally widened but simple; femur-patella joints slightly shifted towards prolateral side; tibia globular, with two trichobothria; tibia-tarsus joints not shifted to one side; procursus as in Fig. 22D – F, with dorsal flap curved towards distal, large transparent ventral membrane, tip of procursus bent towards dorsal; genital bulb as in Fig. 22G – I, with simple proximal sclerite, distal sclerite wide, narrowing distally.

LEGS. Without spines and curved hairs; vertical hairs not seen; trichobothria of tibia 1 not seen; tarsus 1 with 5 – 6 pseudosegments, poorly visible in dissecting microscope.

VARIATION (male). Tibia 1 in three other males: 0.51, 0.52, 0.55.

Female

In general similar to male (Fig. 2H) but sternum without pair of anterior humps, and chelicerae apparently without stridulatory files. Tibia 1 in 16 females: 0.50 – 0.60 (mean 0.56). Epigynum (Fig. 23A) with simple trapezoidal anterior plate; posterior plate short and simple. Internal genitalia (Fig. 23C – D) very simple, with median sclerotized structure (receptacle?), apparently with small pore plates (Fig. 32D).

Natural history

The spiders were found under rocks on an arid slope (Fig. 34D). The habitat was shared with another species of Ninetinae, Nerudia colina Huber, 2023 . Two egg-sacs contained six and eight eggs, respectively; egg diameter: 0.36.

Distribution

Known from type locality only, in Argentina, Jujuy (Fig. 33B).