Neonella montana Galiano, 1988

Rubio, Gonzalo D., Arganaraz, Carina I. & Gleiser, Raquel M., 2015, A new species of jumping spider Neonella Gertsch, with notes on the genus and male identification key (Araneae, Salticidae), ZooKeys 532, pp. 1-14 : 4-8

Taxon classification Animalia Araneae Salticidae

Neonella montana Galiano, 1988 Figs 1A, C; 3; 4E

Neonella montana Galiano, 1988: 447, figs 14, 21 (holotype ♀ from ARGENTINA: Córdoba province, Cuesta Cura Brochero, deposited in MACN-Ar 8409, not examined); Ott et al. 2015: 586, figs 9‒12, 20‒25; Prószyński 2015; WSC 2015.

Neonella cabana Galiano, 1998: 15, figs 4‒6, 11, 12 (holotype ♂ from Cabana, Córdoba province, Argentina, not reexamined). Synonymized by Ott et al. (2015): 586.

Material examined (new records).

ARGENTINA: Córdoba: Ciudad de Córdoba, site 1 (31°22'27.67"S, 64°10'42.70"W; 430 m asl), 15.III.2014, C.I. Argañaraz & R.M. Gleiser leg., 1 ♀ (CREAN); site 3 (31°20'18.24"S, 64°9'30.97"W; 438 m asl), 23.XI.2013, C.I. Argañaraz leg., 1 ♂ and 1 ♀ (CREAN); Ciudad de Córdoba, site 4 (31°28'25.54"S, 64°11'17.44"W; 449 m asl), 21.XI.2013, C.I. Argañaraz leg., 1 ♂ and 1 ♀ (IBSI-Ara 00243); same loc., 20.III.2014, C.I. Argañaraz & R.M. Gleiser leg., 1 ♂ (MACN-Ar 34511); site 5 (31°21'41.23"S, 64°16'2.66"W; 451 m asl), 7.III.2014, C.I. Argañaraz & R.M. Gleiser leg., 1 ♂ (CREAN, tiss.s. CIA 001), 1 ♂ (CREAN, tiss.s. CIA 002), 1 ♂ (CREAN, tiss.s. CIA 003) and 1 ♀ (CREAN, tiss.s. CIA 004); near Comunidad Los Cedros (31°32'25.54"S, 64°18'14.69"W; 540 m asl), 28.XI.2013, C.I. Argañaraz leg., 1 ♂ (CREAN); near Ciudad de Córdoba (31°26'35.25"S, 64°3'48.09"W; 391 m asl), 29.XI.2013, C.I. Argañaraz leg., 3 ♂ and 1 ♀ (CREAN); same loc., 11/III/2014, C.I. Argañaraz & R.M. Gleiser leg., 3 ♂ and 3 ♀ (CREAN); Juarez Celman (31°15'13.69"S, 64°9'58.55"W; 500 m asl), 15.III.2014, C.I. Argañaraz & R.M. Gleiser leg., 4 ♂ and 1 ♀ (CREAN); near Toledo (31°32'10.54"S, 64°1'43.97"W; 381 m asl), 27.II.2014, C.I. Argañaraz & R.M. Gleiser leg., 1 ♀ (CREAN).

Note.

The holotype was requested for study but so far it is unavailable. However, we do not consider this a major drawback since in a recent contribution, Ott et al. (2015) synonymized Neonella cabana with Neonella montana based on specimens collected in southern Brazil, which had been noted as a possibility by Galiano (1998). In agreement with Ott and collaborators, we found that males of Neonella montana have variations in both somatic and reproductive structures. Therefore, an updated diagnosis including both sexes and an additional re-description of the male including the variation found in the palp of specimens from Argentina (near the type locality) are given below.

Diagnosis.

Males of Neonella montana are similar to those of Neonella colalao in sharing a comb-like, branched lamella of embolus (LE), but can be distinguished from this species by having non bifurcated terminal apex of the embolus (Fig. 3E; and Galiano (1998): Figs 11, 12, compare with Figs 7-10). Females of Neonella montana can be distinguished from the other species of Neonella by having only one opening on the epigynal plate, formed by a large, trapezoid atrium (Fig. 4E; and Galiano 1988: 447, Figs 14, 21).

Description.

Male from Ciudad de Córdoba (IBSI-Ara 00243) (Fig. 3). Total length: 1.47. Carapace 0.67 long, 0.47 wide, 0.32 high; abdomen 0.67 long, 0.44 wide. Eye sizes: AME 0.15, ALE 0.10, PME 0.025, PLE 0.090. Ocular quadrangle 0.35 long. Anterior eye row 0.50 wide, posterior 0.50 wide. Clypeus height 0.012. Teeth of chelicerae inconspicuous. Sternum longer (0.32) than wide (0.22). Leg measurements: I 0.96 (0.31, 0.32, 0.17, 0.15); II 0.80 (0.25, 0.27, 0.15, 0.12); III 0.96 (0.27, 0.32, 0.19, 0.17); IV 1.15 (0.32, 0.40, 0.22, 0.20). Carapace light brown with narrow black margins. Cephalic region black, covered by white hairs; thoracic region with a lighter longitudinal band. Clypeus very low. Chelicerae tiny, yellow, light brown proximally. Legs light brown, with blackish irregular bands on femurs side (pro and retrolateral), and blackish rings around the distal ends of the patella and tibia, and scarcely on metatarsus. Sternum and labium yellow. Palp (Fig. 3 C–E): brown; cymbium yellow. Femur and patella black proximally, with a hook-shaped retrolateral apophysis (PA). Copulatory bulb light brown, with conspicuous tegular lobe (TL) and embolus base (EB). Embolus (E) short, with comb-like lamella (LE). Abdomen light brown, with a few scattered black hairs; with a pair of longitudinal dark stripes on the abdomen in anterior half, and the posterior half with chevrons. Dorsal abdomen completely covered with a scutum (DS). Spinnerets pale yellow. Variation (n=10): some specimens from Córdoba vary in thickness and shape of embolus and LE respectively; for comparison see Figure 4E; in addition, the blackish irregular bands of the femora may be less developed.

Female (Holotype, MACN-Ar 8409). The female is well illustrated and described in previous contributions: See Galiano (1988): 447 and illustration in Ott et al. (2015).

Distribution.

Central and southeast Argentina: in Córdoba (Fig. 1A) and Buenos Aires provinces, and southern Brazil: Rio Grande do Sul.