Guaranita goloboffi Huber, 2000

Figs 2I – J, 24 – 31, 32E

Guaranita goloboffi Huber, 2000: 97, figs 367 – 377 (♂ ♀)

Guaranita goloboffi – Huber 2014: 140. — Torres et al. 2015: 4, fig. 2c – d. — Dederichs et al. 2022: 18 (sperm morphology).

Diagnosis (amendments; see Huber 2000)

Distinguished from known congeners by shape of dorsal flap on procursus (Fig. 25F; rounded, smaller than in the similar G. yaculica); also by wide distal bulbal sclerite (Fig. 25G; similar only in G. auadae sp. nov.), by relatively wide male palpal tibia (Fig. 24C; width/length 1.00; other species 0.85 – 0.95; tibia width/ femur width: 1.75 – 1.80; other species 1.40 – 1.70) and by female internal genitalia (Fig. 26C – D; median structure rectangular, similar to G. auadae but larger).

Material examined (new records)

ARGENTINA – Salta • 1 ♂, 1 ♀; ~ 1 km SW of Alemanía; 25.6300° S, 65.6180° W; 1210 m a.s.l.; 23 Mar. 2019; B.A. Huber and M.A. Izquierdo leg.; ZFMK Ar 24126 • 1 ♀, 3 juvs, in pure ethanol; same collection data as for preceding; ZFMK Arg203 • 4 ♀♀, 4 juvs, in pure ethanol; same collection data as for preceding; LABRE-Ar 860 • 1 ♀; same collection data as for preceding; LABRE-Ar 861 • 1 ♀; ~ 5 km W of Cafayate, ‘site 1’; 26.0641° S, 66.0294° W; 2060 m a.s.l.; 24 Mar. 2019; B.A. Huber and M.A. Izquierdo leg.; ZFMK Ar 24127 • 2 ♀♀, in pure ethanol; same collection data as for preceding; LABRE-Ar 857 • 1 ♀, in pure ethanol; same collection data as for preceding; LABRE-Ar 858 • 1 ♀, 1 juv.; 6 km NW of Cafayate, Chuscha; ~ 26.04° S, 66.02° W; ~ 1980 m a.s.l.; 17 Jul. 1995; M. Ramírez and P. Goloboff leg; MACN Ar 20094 • 1 ♂, 2 ♀♀; Cabra Corral, ‘site 1’, ~ 5 km E of Coronel Moldes; 25.2870° S, 65.4238° W; 1080 m a.s.l.; 20 Mar. 2019; B.A. Huber and M.A. Izquierdo leg.; ZFMK Ar 24128 • 2 ♀♀, 3 juvs, in pure ethanol; same collection data as for preceding; ZFMK Arg190 • 1 ♀, same collection data as for preceding; LABRE-Ar 881 • 6 ♀♀, 1 juv., in pure ethanol; same collection data as for preceding; LABRE-Ar 864 • 5 ♂♂, 3 ♀♀ (one male and two females used for µ-CT study; one male used for karyotype study); Cabra Corral, ‘site 3’, ~ 3.5 km SE of dam; 25.2907° S, 65.3057° W; 1000 m a.s.l.; 21 Mar. 2019; B.A. Huber and M.A. Izquierdo leg.; ZFMK Ar 24129 • 4 ♀♀, 15 juvs, in pure ethanol; same collection data as for preceding; ZFMK Arg196 • 1 ♂, 1 ♀; same collection data as for preceding; LABRE-Ar 855 • 3 ♀♀, 4 juvs, in pure ethanol; same collection data as for preceding; LABRE-Ar 863 . – Catamarca • 8 ♂♂, 4 ♀♀ (two males and two females used for µ-CT study; two males used for karyotype study, one male used for SEM); ~ 5 km NW of Chumbicha, near Balneario El Caolín, ‘site 1’; 28.8152° S, 66.2478° W; 610 m a.s.l.; 28 – 29 Mar. 2019; B.A. Huber and M.A. Izquierdo leg.; ZFMK Ar 24130 • 1 ♂, 17 ♀♀, 5 juvs, in pure ethanol (two females used for SEM); same collection data as for preceding; ZFMK Arg220 • 8 ♂♂, 2 juvs; same collection data as for preceding; LABRE-Ar 875 • 11 ♀♀, 18 juvs, in pure ethanol; same collection data as for preceding; LABRE Ar 859 .

Assigned tentatively (no males available)

ARGENTINA – Tucumán • 2 ♀♀, 1 juv., in pure ethanol; San Miguel de Tucumán, Parque 9 de Julio; 26.828° S, 65.186° W; 430 m a.s.l.; 1 Apr. 2015; A. Porta leg.; MACN Ar 34678 . – Salta • 3 ♀♀; between Alemanía and Cafayate; 25.7023° S, 65.7022° W; 1340 m a.s.l.; 23 Mar. 2019; B.A. Huber and M.A. Izquierdo leg.; LABRE-Ar 862 .

Redescription (amendments; see Huber 2000)

Measurements of male from Cabra Corral, ‘site 3’: total body length 1.08, carapace width 0.40; distance PME–PME 40 µm; diameter PME 45 µm; distance PME–ALE 20 µm; distance AME–AME 20 µm; diameter AME 25 µm. Leg 1: 2.02 (0.56+0.14 +0.50 +0.48 + 0.34), tibia 2: 0.42, tibia 3: 0.38, tibia 4: 0.63; tibia 1 L/d: 8; diameters of leg femora 0.090 – 0.095; of leg tibiae: 0.060. Tibia 1 in 19 males (incl. males in Huber 2000): 0.49 – 0.59 (mean 0.53). Sternum slightly wider than long (0.32/0.30). Chelicerae as in Fig. 25A – C; stridulatory files (Fig. 27G) with ~17 – 19 ridges each; distances between ridges proximally ~0.6 µm, distally ~2.7 µm. Pedipalp as in Fig. 24A – C; tibia with two trichobothria; palpal tarsal organ capsulate (Fig. 28A – B), raised, with small opening (diameter of opening 1.45 µm); procursus as in Figs 25D – F and 29A – C, with large transparent ventral membrane, distinctive dorsal flap, and tip bent towards dorsal; genital bulb as in Figs 25G – I and 29A – F, with simple proximal sclerite, distal sclerite widened in mid-section. Legs without spines and curved hairs; vertical hairs not seen in dissecting microscope but present in two retrolateral rows on tibia 1 (Fig. 30A – B); prolateral trichobothrium absent on tibia 1, present on other leg tibiae; metatarsus 4 with a few slender hairs on retrolateral-ventral side (as in female, cf. Fig. 30C); tarsus 4 with single prolateral comb-hair (as in female, cf. Fig. 31D). Gonopore with four epiandrous spigots (Fig. 27F).

Tibia 1 in 55 newly collected females 0.48 – 0.58 (mean 0.52). Female internal genitalia (Fig. 26C – D) with strong median structure; apparently with small pore plates (Fig. 32E). Each ALS (Fig. 27C – E) with one strongly widened spigot, one long pointed spigot, and five cylindrical spigots (of which one is much wider than the others); each PMS with two conical spigots (Fig. 27D); PLS without spigots. Leg tibiae and metatarsi with tiny pores with cuticular rim (pore diameter 0.5 µm; Fig. 31A) and with small round cuticular ‘plates’ (diameter 4 – 5 µm; Fig. 31A). Tarsal organs with very small openings (palp: 1.2 µm;

legs: ~0.8 µm; Figs 28C – D, 31B). Metatarsi 3 and 4 with long slender hairs as in male (Fig. 30C); tarsus 4 with single prolateral comb-hair as in male (Fig. 31D).

Natural history

The newly collected specimens were found in relatively arid environments (Fig. 34E – F), under rocks, in leaf litter, and in the dry leaves of dead bromeliads lying on the ground. Three egg-sacs contained 6 – 7 eggs, respectively, and were carried under the prosoma.

Distribution

Known from several localities in Salta, Tucumán, and Catamarca provinces, Argentina (Fig. 33B).

Karyology

While the preparation of the G. goloboffi specimen from Cabra Corral contained rare mitoses, prophases and metaphases I, preparations of the males from Chumbicha contained only a few premeiotic interphases and prophases of the second meiotic division. The male karyotype of the G. goloboffi specimen from Cabra Corral consisted of 11 exclusively metacentric chromosomes, namely five chromosome pairs that decreased gradually in length and a single large X chromosome (Fig. 35E). Chromosome pairs decreased gradually in length, except for the prominent first pair. The X chromosome was twice as long as the chromosomes of the first pair. Fused sister prophases II of specimens from Chumbicha also comprised 11 chromosomes (Fig. 35C), which confirms the diploid number and sex chromosome system. For the specimen from Cabra Corral we also obtained data on the NOR pattern. Two bivalents included a terminal NOR. Another NOR was possibly placed in the middle of an X chromosome arm. However, this was visible in only one of three metaphase I plates suitable for the detection of NORs.

The sex chromosome did not differ in its intensity of condensation and staining from the other chromosomes at the mitotic prophase and metaphase (Fig. 35E). The male prophase of the first meiotic division included a diffuse stage (Fig. 35B). The X chromosome was positively heteropycnotic (i.e., more intensively stained than the other chromosomes) during the premeiotic interphase (Fig. 35A) and the diffuse stage (Fig. 35B). During the prophase of the second meiotic division (Fig. 35C), however, it exhibited the same behavior and intensity of staining as the other chromosomes.