Niarchos cotopaxi, Platnick & Duperre, 2010

Platnick, Norman I. & Dupérré, Nadine, 2010, The Andean Goblin Spiders Of The New Genera Niarchos And Scaphios (Araneae, Oonopidae), Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2010 (345), pp. 1-120 : 10-13

Niarchos cotopaxi , new species Figures 5–27

TYPE: Male holotype taken by hand collecting at an elevation of 3650 m at Laguna Limpiopungo , Parque Nacional Cotopaxi, 0u369490S, 78u289220W, Cotopaxi, Ecuador (Dec. 9, 2009; B. Baehr, Niarchos Exped. ), deposited in QCAZ (PBI_OON 433) .

ETYMOLOGY: The specific name is a noun in apposition taken from the type locality.

DIAGNOSIS: This seems to be the sister species of N. barragani , sharing with it a Wshaped posterior margin of the postepigastric scutum (figs. 25–27). Males differ from those of N. barragani in having a shorter, thicker embolus (figs. 13–17); females differ from those N. barragani by having a more strongly arched anterior margin on the anterior receptaculum and by having the posterior extensions of the thumblike anterior process diverging at a wide angle (figs. 26, 27).

MALE (PBI_OON 10202, figs. 5–17): Total length 2.05. Posterior eye row straight from above ; PLE-PME separated by less than PME radius. Sternum surface finely reticulate. Endites with anterior process posteriorly directed, shaped like duck’s beak. Leg spination: tibiae III, IV v0-0- 1p. Embolus short, directed retrolaterally; bulb with strong basal projection on retroventral side (figs. 13–17).

FEMALE (PBI_OON 10202, figs. 18–27): Total length 2.34. Leg spination: tibiae: III v0-0-1p ; IV v0-1p- 1p. Anterior genitalic elements visible through epigastric scutum, forming inverted Y flanked laterally by anterior receptaculum (figs. 26, 27).

OTHER MATERIAL EXAMINED: Ecuador: Cotopaxi: Laguna Limpiopungo, Parque Nacional Cotopaxi, 0u369490S, 78u289220W, Dec. 3–8, 2009, pitfalls, elev. 3865 m (N. Dupérre´, E. Tapia, Niarchos Exped., AMNH PBI _OON 393), 2 - (one without abdomen), 0.61407uS, 78.47341uW, Dec. 9, 2009, elev. 3830 m (M. Ramírez, C. Grismado, M. Izquierdo, F. Labarque, Niarchos Exped., MACN PBI _OON 30551), 1 U; along road to Laguna Limpiopungo, Parque Nacional Cotopaxi, 0u369490S, 78u289220W, Dec. 3–5, 2009, hand collecting, elev. 3650 m (N. Dupérre´, E. Tapia, A. Bonaldo, M. Izquierdo, Niarchos Exped., AMNH, MACN, MPEG, QCAZ PBI _OON 394, 395), 5 U, same, sifting moss (N. Dupérre´, E. Tapia, Niarchos Exped., AMNH PBI _OON 396), 1 U; 45 km NE Latacunga, July 19–25, 1985, carrion trap, shrub/grass paramo, elev. 3700 m (S., J. Peck, AMNH PBI_OON 29616), 1 -; on Volcán Cotopaxi, NNE Latacunga, June 23, 1975, Berlese, paramo moss and shrub litter, elev. 11,000 ft (S. Peck, FMNH 33700, PBI_OON 10202), 2 -, 1 U, same (FMNH 33712, PBI_OON 10214), 1 -.

DISTRIBUTION: Known only from the vicinity of Volcán Cotopaxi, Ecuador.

Figures

Figs. 5–17. Niarchos cotopaxi, new species, male. 5. Habitus, dorsal view. 6. Same, ventral view. 7. Same, lateral view. 8. Carapace, dorsal view. 9. Habitus, anterior view. 10. Carapace, lateral view. 11. Epigastric region, ventral view. 12. Sternum and mouthparts, ventral view. 13. Embolus, ventral view. 14. Same, prolateral view. 15. Palp, prolateral view. 16. Same, ventral view. 17. Same, retrolateral view.

Figs. 18–27. Niarchos cotopaxi, new species, female. 18. Habitus, dorsal view. 19. Same, ventral view. 20. Carapace, dorsal view. 21. Sternum and mouthparts, ventral view. 22. Habitus, lateral view. 23. Same, anterior view. 24. Carapace, lateral view. 25. Epigastric region, ventral view. 26. Genitalia, ventral view. 27. Same, dorsal view.