Karaops badgeradda Crews & Harvey, 2011

Crews, Sarah C., 2023, But wait, there's more! Descriptions of new species and undescribed sexes of flattie spiders (Araneae, Selenopidae, Karaops) from Australia, ZooKeys 1150, pp. 1-189 : 1

Karaops badgeradda Crews & Harvey, 2011

Figs 51B , 52A-E , 53A-C , 54A, B, H , Maps 1 , 9A

Karaops badgeradda Crews & Harvey, 2011: 46, figs 33, 34 (♀, examined).

New records.

Western Australia • 3♀, 9 imm; Badgeradda Range, Muggon Station Road off Butcher’s Track; 26°46.220'S, 115°32.927'E; ~ 260 m; 8 May 2016; col. S. Crews, J. De Jong leg.; under rocks along range; sel_1118-1129; SCC16_017; (WAM T155494-155505).

Diagnosis.

Karaops badgeradda is similar to other members of the species group but can easily be distinguished by the genitalia. The copulatory openings are closer to the posterior margin of the epigyne, and the lateral lobes cannot be distinguished on the epigyne (Fig. 53B, C ).

Description.

The description of the female can be found in Crews and Harvey (2011).

Male. Unknown.

Distribution.

This species is known only from the type locality in the Gascoyne Region, Badgeradda Range, Western Australia (Map 9A ).

Natural history.

Karaops badgeradda (Figs 51B , 52A-E , 53A ) remains known only from the type locality (Fig. 54A ), which is located in the Murchison bioregion, subregion West Murchison. This region consists of mulga low woodlands on hardpan washplains and hummock grassland. The headwaters of both the Murchison and Wooramel Rivers are in the subregion. It has been highly altered by pastoral use over the years. There is bimodal rainfall that usually occurs in winter, May-July. January-March also sees rainfall, with less in April and August, and very little September-December. Adult females have been found in March, when it is warmer and wetter than other times of year. Females and egg sacs (Figs 53A , 54B ) have been found in March and May, when it is cooler and drier. The female guards the egg sac as in many selenopid species. The egg sac comprises thin silk, such as that of K. joehaeneri sp. nov. (Fig. 54E ), and the eggs and spiderlings are easily visible, rather than the papery egg sac of some other species, such as K. strayamate sp. nov. (Fig. 6H ). In captivity, immatures are found throughout the year. Males or penultimate males have never been found. Despite collecting many specimens at this locality, none were able to be reared adulthood. Males remain unknown despite pitfall traps remaining for quite a long time (Suppl. material 2: tables S1, S15). The spiders have been collected in pitfall traps and under stones on the range.

Discussion.

The genitalia of a newly collected specimen (sel_1118, WAM T155494) (Figs 51E, F , 53B, C , 54H, I ) has been illustrated for ease of comparison with similar species. Measurements of additional specimens have been made, and lengths range from 5.36-7.45.

Figures

Map 1. Map of Australia showing areas that are expanded in subsequent figures. CD = Central Desert group, D = Karaops dawara group, F = Karaops francesae group, K = Kimberley group, UA = species that are not assigned to a group, PG = Pilbara-Gascoyne group.

Figure 6. Species and habitats of the Karaops strayamate species group A Karaops strayamate sp. nov., adult male, vic. Mt. Etna Caves National Park, Queensland B Karaops australiensis nom. dub., holotype, penultimate male, Bowen, Queensland (see text - this is likely a member of the Karaops raveni species group) (ZSMH A 0000791) C Karaops strayamate sp. nov., adult female, vic. Mt. Etna Caves National Park, Queensland D Karaops australiensis nom. dub., female, dorsal, Sydney, New South Wales (see text) (ZSMH A 0000792) E Karaops strayamate sp. nov., adult female, vic. Mt. Etna Caves National Park, Queensland F Karaops australiensis nom. dub., female, ventral, Sydney, New South Wales (see text) (ZSMH A 0000792) G Karaops strayamate sp. nov. habitat of rocks along roadside, Bowen, Queensland H Karaops strayamate sp. nov., egg sac beneath rock, Bowen, Queensland. Scale bars: 1 mm.

Map 9. Species of the Pilbara-Gascoyne species group A diamonds (juveniles): blue = Erawandoo Hill, orange = Mt. Augustus, red = Nammuldi, yellow = Hillside-Corunna-Glenn Herring, black = Marble Bar-Glacier Valley, pink = Orebody 19, 31, teal = Wheelara North, orange with thick outline = Harding Dam (maybe Karaops ngarluma, see text); Circles: dark blue = Karaops julianneae, dark green = Karaops badgeradda, red = Karaops joehaeneri sp. nov., teal = Karaops karrawarla, blue = Karaops durrantorum sp. nov., brown = Karaops burbidgei, green = Karaops martamarta, purple = Karaops nyangumarta, black = Karaops banyjima, yellow = Karaops morganoconnelli sp. nov., gray = Karaops nyiyaparli, red-brown = Karaops feedtime, bright pink = Karaops nyamal (probably, see text), white = Karaops kariyarra, bright green = Karaops yurlburr, orange = Karaops ngarluma, tan = Karaops jaburrara, peach = Karaops forteyi, teal = new species yet undescribed; small white diamonds are unidentifiable immatures for which no molecular data are available B boxed area expanded for clarity.

Figure 51. Karaops julianneae and Karaops badgeradda of the Pilbara-Gascoyne species group, Western Australia A Karaops julianneae, holotype female, Lorna Glen Station (WAM T 64748) B Karaops badgeradda, adult female, Badgeradda Range (WAM T 97213) C Karaops julianneae, holotype female, epigyne, Lorna Glen Station; red = copulatory opening, pink = median field, yellow = lateral lobes D same, endogyne; blue = spermathecae, yellow = accessory bulbs, red = fertilization ducts, green = posterodorsal fold E same, epigyne F same, endogyne. Scale bars: 0.5 mm (C-F); 2 mm (A, B).

Figure 52. Karaops badgeradda, Badgeradda Range, Western Australia A adult female (sel _ 1118, T 155494) B same (sel _ 1127, WAM T 155503) C same (sel _ 1118, WAM T 155494) D holotype female (WAM T 97214) E adult female (WAM T 97215) E same (WAM T 97213). Scale bars: 2 mm.

Figure 53. Karaops badgeradda, Badgeradda Range, Western Australia A adult female B epigyne (sel _ 1118, WAM T 155494) C endogyne. Scale bar: 0.5 mm.

Figure 54. Members and habitats of the Pilbara-Gascoyne species group, Western Australia A Badgeradda Range, habitat of Karaops badgeradda B Karaops badgeradda egg sac, under rock, Badgeradda Range C Karaops joehaeneri sp. nov., holotype female, Escarpment Trail, Kennedy Range National Park (sel _ 1130, WAM T 155506) D same, paratype male (sel _ 1131, WAM T 155507) E same, egg sac with spiderlings, arrows indicate spiderlings F same, holotype female, Escarpment Trail, Kennedy Range National Park (sel _ 1130, WAM T 155506) G same, paratype male (sel _ 1134, WAM T 155510) H Karaops badgeradda, epigyne, caudal view (sel _ 1118, WAM T 155494) I Karaops joehaeneri sp. nov., holotype female, epigyne, caudal view (sel _ 1130, WAM T 155506) J habitat of Karaops joehaeneri sp. nov., Kennedy Range National Park.