Karaops deserticola 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 deserticola Crews & Harvey, 2011

Fig. 2B , Maps 1 , 2

Karaops deserticola Crews & Harvey, 2011: 66, figs 59, 60 (♀, examined).

Diagnosis.

The median lobe of the epigyne gradually narrows distally unlike other species of the group ( Crews and Harvey 2011: fig. 59).

Description.

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

Male. Unknown.

Distribution.

Karaops deserticola is only known from Mount Lindsay, South Australia (Map 2 ).

Natural history.

Karaops deserticola (Fig. 2B ) has been collected in the Watarru subregion, a relatively small subregion, surrounded by the Kintore subregion of the Great Victoria Desert bioregion. The lone collection was made in August, a cooler, drier month of the year. The area is a relatively undisturbed wilderness of arid and semi-arid shrubland and grassland (Suppl. material 2: table S1). This species was collected under a rock slab on a bare granite slope.

Discussion.

This species is known from a single female specimen collected in 1980 (Fig. 2B ). The locality is found in the Watarru subregion of the Central Ranges bioregion. This subregion is the home of the Watarru Indigenous Protected Area ( Taylor Burrell Barnett Town Planning and Design 2007).

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 2. Species and habitats of the Central Desert species group A Karaops kwartatuma sp. nov., holotype male, Ormiston Gorge, West MacDonnell Range National Park, Northern Territory (sel _ 1093, MAGNT A 004858) B Karaops deserticola, female holotype, Mount Lindsay, South Australia (SAM N 199350) C Karaops larapinta sp. nov., holotype female, Finke River, Northern Territory (QMS 110852) D Karaops larapinta sp. nov., paratype female, Finke River, Northern Territory (QMS 110852) E Habitat of Karaops sp. from Watarrka National Park, Northern Territory F Karaops sp., King's Canyon Rim Walk, Watarrka National Park, Northern Territory G habitat of Karaops kwartatuma sp. nov., Ormiston Gorge, Northern Territory, Australia. Scale bars: 1 mm.

Map 2. Species of the Central Desert species group; orange = juvenile from Morgan Range, light purple = Karaops deserticola, teal = Karaops ngarutjaranya, red = juveniles from Watarrka, blue = Karaops larapinta sp. nov., pink = Karaops kwartatuma sp. nov., yellow = Karaops pilkingtoni, x = Karaops mparntwe sp. nov., purple = Karaops vadlaadambara, green = Karaops manaayn. Juveniles are treated as distinct species based on molecular data.