Austropholcomma florentine 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 : 31-32

Austropholcomma florentine Rix & Harvey , sp. n.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:4ED7929A-38F4-4C56-81E6-DB72855414AA

Figs 7C , 12C, 22B, 22D, 23E–F, 30–32, 33A–B, 36–39

Type material. Holotype male: Florentine Valley , 20 km NW. of Maydena, Tasmania, Australia, myrtle litter at base of log, 14.II.1977, J. Kethley ( TMAG).

Paratypes: Allotype female, same data as holotype ( TMAG); 3 males and 16 females, same data as holotype (FMCSEM♁ ♀) .

Other material examined. AUSTRALIA: Tasmania: Florentine Valley, 22 km NW. of Maydena , myrtle litter and root mat, 15.II.1977, J. Kethley, 2♁, 5♀ ( FMC) ; Frodsham’s Pass , 42°49'S, 146°23'E, 22.XI.1986, M. Harvey, P. Lillywhite, 2♀ ( WAM T94461) ; south-western Tasmania , 42°37'S, 145°56'E, 5.I.1978, L. Hill et al., 1♁ ( AMS KS26992 ) ; 0–10 km W. of Strathgordon, N. of Mount Sprent, 290 m, Berlese moss and litter, wet rainforest, 27.IV.1987, N. Platnick, R. Raven, T. Churchill, 1♁ ( AMNH) .

Etymology. The specific epithet is a noun in apposition, taken from the type locality.

Diagnosis. Males and females of Austropholcomma florentine can be distinguished from A. walpole by the presence of eight eyes (Fig. 31B).

Description. Holotype male: Total length 0.82. Carapace 0.38 long, 0.31 wide. Abdomen 0.47 long, 0.45 wide. Leg I femur 0.27. Cephalothorax, abdominal sclerites, legs tan-yellow; abdomen cream. Carapace raised anteriorly, fused to sternum via pleural sclerites; dorsal surface of pars cephalica slightly convex in lateral view. Eight eyes present on anterior margin of pars cephalica; AME 0.75x diameter of ALE; PME separated by nearly twice their own diameter. Chelicerae each with large, bulging an- terior projection; promargin with single peg tooth and modified, proximally-flattened peg tooth-like seta projecting from fused setal socket. Legs relatively short (leg I femurcarapace ratio 0.71); macrosetae absent. Abdomen oval-globose, covered with hair-like setae, each seta projecting from small sclerotic spot; dorsal scute large, covering most of dorsal surface of abdomen; lateral sclerotic strips present. Pedipalpal patella with distally-directed, flanged lRPA and large, flange-like distal apophysis; tegulum smooth, without processes, with curved ETR; embolus long (length> 5× width), bifurcate, with proximal portion looping once around margin of tegulum, distal portion coiled and intertwined ( Fig. 32 ).

Allotype female: Total length 0.89. Carapace 0.38 long, 0.29 wide. Abdomen 0.60 long, 0.49 wide. Leg I femur 0.26. Cephalothorax, abdominal sclerites, legs tan-yellow; abdomen cream. Carapace raised anteriorly, fused to sternum via pleural sclerites; dorsal surface of pars cephalica slightly convex in lateral view. Eight eyes present on anterior margin of pars cephalica; AME 0.5x diameter of ALE; PME separated by their own diameter. Chelicerae without bulging anterior projections; promargin without peg teeth. Legs relatively short (leg I femur-carapace ratio 0.68); macrosetae absent. Abdomen oval-globose, covered with hair-like setae, each seta projecting from small sclerotic spot; dorsal scute absent; lateral sclerotic strips present. Pedipalp small, four-segmented, with fused tibia-tarsus. Epigyne with distinctive external morphology ( Fig. 30D ); spermathecae globular, ‘tear-drop’ shaped; insemination ducts coiled around arched fertilisation ducts, insemination ducts with sclerotised proximal portion and expanded, membranous distal portion ( Figs 33 A–B).

Distribution. Known only from Tasmania.

Remarks. Austropholcomma florentine is very similar to A. walpole from Western Australia. Nothing it known of its biology, except that specimens have been collected from moss and leaf litter, mainly in Nothofagus rainforest.

Figures

Figure 7. The genera of Micropholcommatidae, illustrated with habitus photographs of representative male specimens. A–D tribe Micropholcommatini: A Micropholcomma caeligenum Crosby & Bishop B Pua novaezealandiae Forster C Austropholcomma florentine sp. n. D Tricellina gertschi (Forster & Platnick). E–M tribe Textricellini: E Eterosonycha aquilina sp. n. F Epigastrina fulva (Hickman) G Raveniella peckorum sp. n. H Rayforstia vulgaris (Forster) I Normplatnicka lamingtonensis (Forster)] Eperiella alsophila sp. n. K Algidiella aucklandica (Forster) L Taliniella nigra (Forster) M Tinytrella pusilla (Forster). N Patelliella adusta sp. n., tribe Patelliellini. O–P subfamily Taphiassinae: O Olgania excavata Hickman P Taphiassa robertsi sp. n. Q–R subfamily Gigiellinae: Q Gigiella milledgei sp. n. R Gigiella platnicki sp. n. Note that Guiniella tropica (Forster) is not illustrated.

Figure 30. Austropholcomma florentine sp. n. from the Florentine Valley, Tasmania. A, C holotype male (TMAG): A habitus, dorsal view C abdomen, ventral view. B, D allotype female (TMAG): B habitus, dorsal view D abdomen, ventral view.

Figure 32. Austropholcomma florentine sp.n., paratype male from the Florentine Valley,Tasmania (FMC): A left pedipalp, ventral view B left pedipalp, retrolateral view. Scale bar = 0.065 mm (65 µm). Note that the distal, intertwined embolus has been omitted in (A) for clarity.

Figure 33. Austropholcomma, Tricellina species, female cleared receptacula, dorsal view: A–B, paratype A. florentine sp. n. from the Florentine Valley, Tasmania (FMC) C paratype A. walpole sp. n. from Walpole-Nornalup National Park, Western Australia (WAM T94440) D T. gertschi (Forster & Platnick) from south of Chaitén, Chile (AMNH). Arrows indicate the trajectory of insemination ducts. Scale bar = 0.065 mm (65 µm).