Normplatnicka barrettae Rix & Harvey, 2010

Rix, Michael & Harvey, Mark, 2010, The spider family Micropholcommatidae (Arachnida: Araneae: Araneoidea): a relimitation and revision at the generic level, ZooKeys 36 (36), pp. 1-321 : 64-65

Normplatnicka barrettae Rix & Harvey , sp. n.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:5B2FD0CB-BB84-4822-BCF4-2A6A25875848

Figs 99D , 100–101, 214

Type material. Holotype male: Walpole-Nornalup National Park, Giant Tingle Area, 8 km NE. of Walpole, Western Australia, Australia, Eucalyptus and Acacia litter on laterite soil, 19.XII.1976, J. Kethley ( WAM T94471).

Paratypes: Allotype female, same data as holotype ( WAM T94472); 2 males and 1 female, same data as holotype ( WAM T94473); 1 male, same data as holotype except Karri and Acacia litter ( FMC); 3 males and 1 female, same data as holotype except mixed Eucalyptus litter ( FMC); 1 male, same data ( FMC) .

Other material examined. AUSTRALIA: Western Australia: Walpole-Nornalup National Park, Anderson Road, near Valley of the Giants Road , Tingle-Karri forest , leaf litter Tullgren funnel, 34°59'32"S, 116°52'17"E, 3.V.2008, M. Rix, M. Harvey, 1♁ ( WAM T94367) ; Walpole-Nornalup National Park, Giant Red Tingle Area, 6 km NE. of Coalmine Beach , litter under Allocasuarina , 13.XII.1976, J. Kethley, 6♁ ( FMC) ; same data except Karri litter, 1♁ ( FMC) ; Walpole-Nornalup National Park, 1.4 km NE. of Mandalay Beach, leaf and log litter Berlese , 34°59'46"S, 116°32'56"E, 9.VIII.2004, Clarke, Newton, Thayer, 1♁ ( FMC) ; Walpole-Nornalup National Park, Red Tingle turn-off, 5 km NE. of Coalmine Beach , litter and fungus mat near trail, 5.XII.1976, J. Kethley, 1♁, 1♀ ( FMC) ; same data except fungal mat under litter, 1♁ ( FMC) ; same data except Allocasuarina litter, 2♁ ( FMC) ; same data except litter at base of log, 1♁ ( FMC) ; same data, 1♁ ( FMC) ; same data, 1♁, 1♀ ( FMC) ; same data except litter at base of Red Tingle, 1♀ ( FMC) ; Brockman National Park , leaf litter under Allocasuarina decussata , 8.XII.1976, J. Kethley, 1♁ ( FMC) ; Mount Clare, 12 km W. of Walpole , Eucalyptus litter on sand near stream, 20.XII.1976, J. Kethley, 3♀ ( FMC) ; Mount Frankland National Park, Mount Frankland, 29 km N. of Walpole , unburned litter below switch-back in Forestry Road , 15.XII.1976, J. Kethley, 2♁ ( FMC) ; same data, 4♁, 1♀ ( FMC) ; same data, 5♁ ( FMC) ; Warren National Park, 16 km SW. of Pemberton , Allocasuarina decussata litter, 12.XII.1976, J. Kethley, 3♁, 1♀ ( FMC) .

Etymology. The specific epithet is a patronym in honour of Sarah Barrett, of the Western Australian Department of Environment and Conservation, for her efforts in collecting relictual and short-range endemic arachnids in southern Western Australia.

Diagnosis. Males and females of Normplatnicka barrettae can be distinguished from all other described congeners by the presence of only six eyes (Fig. 100C). Both sexes can also be recognised by the small body size and Western Australian distribution (Fig. 214).

Description. Holotype male: Total length 0.71. Carapace 0.33 long, 0.26 wide. Abdomen 0.39 long, 0.25 wide. Leg I femur 0.22. Cephalothorax, legs tan-yellow; dorsal half of abdomen cream dorsally with chequered olive and cream pattern laterally and ventrally. Carapace raised anteriorly, not fused to sternum except around petiole; dorsal surface of pars cephalica slightly convex in lateral view. Six eyes present on anterior margin of pars cephalica; AME absent; PME separated by slightly less than half their own diameter. Chelicerae each with bulging anterior projection; promargin with three peg teeth. Legs relatively short (leg I femur-carapace ratio 0.67); macrosetae absent. Abdomen oval, covered with hair-like setae; dorsal scute and lateral sclerotic strips absent, but dorsal surface of abdomen with oval region of thickened cuticle anteriorly. Pedipalpal patella with retrolaterally-directed, hooked lRPA, pointed distal apophysis and ornate, ridged cuticular microstructure; tegulum smooth, with excavate ETR and large, ventrally-pronounced tegular extension; embolus short (length <5× width), spur-like, situated at apical margin of tegular extension adjacent to bulbous, retrolaterally-directed process (Fig. 101).

Allotype female: Total length 0.76. Carapace 0.35 long, 0.24 wide. Abdomen 0.41 long, 0.25 wide. Leg I femur 0.21. Cephalothorax, legs tan-yellow; abdomen pale cream. Carapace raised anteriorly, not fused to sternum except around petiole; dorsal surface of pars cephalica slightly convex in lateral view. Six eyes present on anterior margin of pars cephalica; AME absent; PME separated by slightly more than half their own diameter. Chelicerae without bulging anterior projections; promargin without peg teeth. Legs relatively short (leg I femur-carapace ratio 0.60); macrosetae absent. Abdomen oval, covered with hair-like setae; dorsal scute and lateral sclerotic strips absent. Pedipalp entire, five-segmented. Epigyne with distinctive external morphology (Fig. 100D); spermathecae globular; insemination ducts proximally triangular, heavily sclerotised, looping dorsally; fertilisation ducts simple, curved ( Fig. 99D ).

Distribution. Known only from the far south coast of south-western Western Australia, in the Walpole-Nornalup, Mount Frankland, Brockman and Warren National Parks (Fig. 214).

Remarks. Normplatnicka barrettae appears to be a short-range endemic taxon (see Harvey 2002), and is probably restricted to the tall, wet, Karri and Tingle ( Eucalyptus spp.) forests between Pemberton and Denmark. The species occurs in sympatry with several other micropholcommatine and taphiassine species, and shares a very similar, southern coastal distribution with Micropholcomma linnaei (see Rix 2008) and Austropholcomma walpole sp. n. (see above) (Fig. 214).

Figures

Figure 99. Normplatnicka species, female cleared receptacula, dorsal view: A–B N. lamingtonensis (Forster) from Acheron Gap, Victoria (AMNH) C paratype N. chilensis sp. n. from Parque Nacional Queulat, Chile (AMNH) D paratype N. barrettae sp. n. from Walpole-Nornalup National Park, Western Australia (WAM T94473). Arrows indicate the trajectory of insemination ducts. Scale bars = 0.065 mm (65 µm).