Curicaberis luctuosus ( Banks, 1898 ) Banks, 1898

Rheims, Cristina A., 2015, Curicaberis, a new genus of Sparassidae from North and Central America (Araneae, Sparassidae, Sparassinae), Zootaxa 4012 (3), pp. 401-446 : 429-430

Curicaberis luctuosus ( Banks, 1898) comb. nov.

Figs 65−68, Map 3

Olios luctuosus Banks, 1898: 267 , plate 16, fig. 15 (Holotype female from Tepic [21°30’N, 104°53’W], Nayarit, Mexico, deposited in MCZ 21897, examined). F.O. Pickard-Cambridge 1904: 545; Petrunkevitch 1911: 500; World Spider Catalog 2015.

Additional material examined. MEXICO: Michoacán: 1♀, Tancitaro [19°20’N, 102°21’W], June–July 1941, H. Hogstraal leg. ( MCZ 69116). Nayarit: 1♀, 21 miles S Tepic [21°11’N, 104°55’W], 31 July 1964, W.J. Gertsch & J. Woods leg. ( AMNH); 1♂, Tepic [21°30’N, 104°53’W], 8 July 1958, C.M.B. leg. ( AMNH); 1♂, San Blas [21°32’N, 105°17’W], 14 September 1957, R. Dreisbach leg. ( MCZ 99592).

Diagnosis. Males of C. luctuosus comb. nov. resemble those of C. ensiger comb. nov. by the male palp with vRTA2 with three or more points along the ventral surface (Figs 49−50, 65−66). It differs from this species by the vRTA2 with three points and vRTA1 short and conical (Fig. 65). Females are distinguished from those of the other species of the genus by the epigyne with median septum M-shaped with anterior triangular atrium and posterior margin surpassing the epigastric furrow by one-fourth septum length (Fig. 67).

Description. Male (AMNH): Prosoma orange brown, slightly darker at eye area, brown along fovea and thoracic striae. Chelicerae and pedipalps orange brown. Legs orange brown mottled with faint brown spots. Labium orange. Endites orange, distally yellow. Sternum pale orange with orange margins. Opisthosoma orange brown, dorsally with scattered brown marks on anterior half and median brown chevrons on posterior half. Total length 10.3. Prosoma: 5.1 long, 5.0 wide. Opisthosoma: 5.2 long, 3.7 wide. Eyes: diameters: 0.36, 0.34, 0.26, 0.28; interdistances: 0.24, 0.10, 0.52, 0.50, 0.28, 0.20. Legs (2143): I: 26.6 (7.2, 2.9, 6.9, 7.2, 2.4); II: 29.0 (8.0, 2.9, 7.8, 7.9, 2.4); III: 20.1 (6.0, 2.3, 5.0, 5.0, 1.8); IV: 23.9 (7.0, 2.4, 6.0, 6.5, 2.0). Palp: dRTA long. Subtegulum visible at 10 o’clock position. Embolus short, with large triangular base, arising medially from tegulum. Conductor distally widened (Figs 65−66).

Female (AMNH): Coloration as in male. Total length 13.3. Prosoma: 5.3 long, 5.6 wide. Opisthosoma: 8.0 long, 5.6 wide. Eyes: diameters: 0.38, 0.38, 0.26, 0.30; interdistances: 0.30, 0.20, 0.62, 0.58, 0.42, 0.38. Legs (2143): I: 23.8 (6.7, 3.1, 5.9, 6.2, 1.9); II: 25.5 (7.2, 3.2, 6.5, 6.7, 1.9); III: 18.4 (5.7, 2.6, 4.3, 4.3, 1.5); IV: 21.1 (6.5, 2.6, 5.0, 5.3, 1.7). Epigyne: epigynal field trapezoid, longer than wide (Fig. 67). Vulva: copulatory ducts as long as spermathecae, divergent. Spermathecae oval. Basal part of fertilization ducts narrow, one-third of copulatory duct width, distal part laterad (Fig. 68).

Variation. Males (n = 2): total length 10.3–11.8; prosoma length 5.1–5.3; femur I length 7.2–7.8. Females (n = 2): total length 13.2–13.3; prosoma length 4.7–5.3; femur I length 5.5–6.7.

Distribution. Known from the states of Michoacán and Nayarit, Mexico, (Map 3).

FIGURES 65−68. Curicaberis luctuosus (Banks) comb. nov. 65− 66 male, left palp (65 ventral, 66 retrolateral); 67− 68 female (67 epigyne, ventral view, 68 vulva, dorsal view). C = conductor; CD = copulatory duct; dRTA = dorsal branch of RTA; E = embolus; FD = fertilization duct; LL = lateral lobes; MS = median septum; SP = spermathecae; vRTA1 = projection 1 of ventral branch of RTA; vRTA2 = projection 2 of ventral branch of RTA. Scale lines: 1 mm.