Neotrops nigromaculatus (Grismado & Ramírez, 2013)

Grismado, Cristian J. & Ramírez, Martín J., 2013, The New World Goblin Spiders Of The New Genus Neotrops (Araneae: Oonopidae), Part 1, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2013 (383), pp. 1-150 : 37

The nigromaculatus Group

DIAGNOSIS: Male palpi with short, nearly piriform bulb; embolus accompanied by a single conductor, without additional distal apophysis. Both sexes with tarsi I–II only slightly shorter than the metatarsi, which have three rather than four ventral pairs of spines in females (fig. 32G). Carapace usually heavily sclerotized, pigmented with orange or brown.

This group includes nine species ( nigromaculatus , yunga , rubioi , pombero , lorenae , avalosi , yabare , piacentinii , and, probably, izquierdoi ) that span a wide distribution, from La Paz, in Bolivia, through Paraguay, northern and eastern Argentina, to Uruguay. In addition, there are several still undescribed species in southern and eastern Brazil. At least two subgroups are hypothesized: pombero and lorenae are united by the Y-shaped anterior receptacle of the females (fig. 53A, C), and nigromaculatus , yunga , and rubioi by the dorsal sclerotized stripe on the male abdomen. This latter character fits well with the hypothesis of Platnick and Dupérré (2010) of a gradual sclerotization from carapace to abdomen in the evolution of the group, leading to the syndrome of gamasomorphy. The carapace in the nigromaculatus group is certainly more sclerotized than that of other Neotrops ; moreover, the three species also have a sclerotized abdominal stripe. We however prefer not to name this sclerotized stripe as a scutum, because of its small size and its poorly defined borders.