Cicynethus subtropicalis ( Lawrence, 1952 ) Jocqué & Henrard, 2018

Jocqué, Rudy & Henrard, Arnaud, 2018, A revision of the genus Cicynethus Simon, 1910 (Araneae, Zodariidae), a tale of colour patterns, European Journal of Taxonomy 465, pp. 1-35 : 24-32

publication ID

https://doi.org/ 10.5852/ejt.2018.465

publication LSID

lsid:zoobank.org:pub:D73665B3-6043-4528-9A89-CCCBBC90D6B9

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3843763

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/E16A87BD-D008-FF9A-FE3E-FE487E7A32AF

treatment provided by

Valdenar

scientific name

Cicynethus subtropicalis ( Lawrence, 1952 )
status

comb. nov.

Cicynethus subtropicalis ( Lawrence, 1952) View in CoL comb. nov.

Figs 1 View Fig A–G, 2F–H, 15–19, 20A–B, 21

Chariobas subtropicalis Lawrence, 1952: 195 View in CoL , fig. 25 (descr. ♀).

Diagnosis

Both male and female of Cicynethus subtropicalis comb. nov. are recognized by the colour pattern of the legs and abdomen; the male palp is similar to that of C. floriumfontis , with the strongly protruding tegulum in which the sperm duct is visible on the prolateral side, but is distinguished by the shape of the RTA, with two ledges perpendicular to each other; the female by the details of the abdomen, with large atria and faint median septum emerging from the anterior margin of the posterior plate.

Material examined

Holotype

SOUTH AFRICA: ♀, Kwazulu-Natal Province, Kosi Bay , 28°58′ S, 32°49′ E, 1906, R. Toppin (NM 1161).

GoogleMaps

Other material

SOUTH AFRICA: Kwazulu-Natal Province: 1 ♂, Simangaliso Wetland Park, Mkhuze Game Reserve, 27°38′42″ S, 32°09′30″ E, pitfall trap, B13, 18 Jul. 2008, X. Combrink leg. ( NCA 2016/842); 1 ♂, Ndumo Game Reserve, 26°53′37″ S, 32°15′18″ E, broadleaf woodland, sweepnet, 10 Feb. 2005, C. Haddad leg. ( NCA 2008/4266); 1 ♂, deep sand forest, under tree bark, same collection data as for preceding but 11 Jan. 2007 ( NCA 2007/3035); 1 ♀, Ndumo Game Reserve, 26°58′ S, 32°25′ E, on bush, 6 Dec. 2000, C. Haddad leg. ( NCA 2005/1860); 1 ♂, Tembe Elephant Park, 27°02′56″ S, 32°25′20″ E, open woodland, searching shrub foliage, 9 Jan. 2009, C. Haddad leg. ( NCA 2007/3203; drawings); 1 ♀, leaf litter, same collection data as for preceding but 21 Jan. 2002 ( RMCA _ARA_ 211745; drawing; DNA extraction); 1 ♀, 1 juv., sweep grass and herbs, same collection data as for preceding but 12 Jan. 2002 ( NCA 2007/3556; drawing); 2 ♀♀, Empangeni, 28°43′ S, 31°52′ E, bush, marshy ground, 17 May 1975, P. Reavell leg. ( NCA 2000/438).

Description

Holotype (female, NMSA 1161 View Materials )

MEASUREMENTS. Total length: 11.50. Carapace: length 4.97, width 2.70, height 1.42.

COLOUR ( Fig. 15D View Fig ). Carapace medium brown, reddish brown around fovea; chelicerae reddish brown, with distal antero-median pale patch; endites and labium pale yellow; sternum brownish yellow in front to pale yellow at the back; legs greyish yellow, stronger first pair reddish brown from P onwards; abdomen uniform grey with ill-defined darker median dorsal stripe ending in white longitudinal bar.

STERNUM ( Fig. 16A View Fig ). Elongated oval, 1.49 wide, 2.13 long. Precoxal sclerites at coxae II–IV.

EYES. ALE 0.15; AME 0.16; PLE 0.15; PME 0.13; ALE–AME 0.05; AME–AME 0.05; PLE–PME 0.16; PME–PME 0.10. Clypeus 0.33 high, with several long setae.

CHILUM. Poorly defined, two sclerites each 0.36 wide, 0.10 high.

LEGS SPINATION. Distal ventral spines Mt I: d3 sd1; Mt II: d3 sd1; Mt III: d2 sd1; Mt IV: d2 sd1–1.

EPIGYNE ( Fig. 15A View Fig ). With posterior, slightly procurved plate, in the middle produced into median septum, delimiting large atria; large dark area on either side.

Note

Since the holotype was collected more than 110 years ago, it is not surprising that is bleached. We therefore provide the description of a more recent female in addition to the description of a male.

Male (NCA 2016/842)

MEASUREMENTS. Total length: 10.37. Carapace: length 4.97, width 2.91, height 0.78.

COLOUR ( Fig. 15A View Fig ). Carapace reddish brown with darker median band in front of fovea, widening towards the front, reaching eye region; dark marginal bands with irregularly serrated median margin; chelicerae reddish brown with distal median part white; endites yellowish orange; labium reddish brown; sternum reddish brown with darker margins in anterior half; legs: all F yellow with distal dorsal extremity dark brown, remainder of first leg pair reddish brown; second pair with P brown, T yellow, Mt and t brown; third and fourth pairs with P yellow with brown sides, remainder yellow to slightly orange on Mt and t; abdomen base colour cream; dorsum with three dark stripes, the median one divided by thin white line anteriorly and by large white bar in posterior third; venter with white mottling; spinnerets yellow.

STERNUM. Elongated oval, 1.56 wide, 2.13 long. Precoxal sclerites absent.

CHILUM. Poorly defined, two sclerites each 0.08 high, 0.30 wide.

EYES. ALE 0.20; AME 0.16; PLE 0.20; PME 0.16; ALE–AME 0.07; AME–AME 0.07; PLE–PME 0.16; PME–PME 0.10. Clypeus 0.33 high, with several long setae.

LEGS. With numerous long, hinged hairs. All Mt with four distal ventral spines in a series 1–2–1 with central ones closely set behind each other.

MALE PALP ( Figs 18 View Fig A–I, 19A–D). RTA large, tapered to extremity with two ledges, one transverse, rounded, the other one perpendicular to that, bluntly pointed; cymbium short, with two distal spines; tegulum strongly protruding, sperm duct on prolateral side narrowed before entering strongly curved embolus; MA slightly curved, pointing outward.

Female (NCA 2005/1860)

MEASUREMENTS. Total length: 14.41. Carapace: length 5.98, width 3.20, height 1.42. COLOUR ( Figs 15E View Fig , 16 View Fig B–C). Very similar to colour of male.

STERNUM. Elongated oval, 1.63 wide, 2.56 long. All coxae with precoxal sclerites.

CHILUM. Poorly defined, two sclerites, each 0.10 high, 0.31 wide.

EYES. ALE 0.21; AME 0.25; PLE 0.18; PME 0.16; ALE–AME 0.12; AME–AME 0.10; PLE–PME 0.25; PME–PME 0.13. Clypeus 0.38 high, with several long setae.

LEGS. Without hinged hairs. All Mt with four distal ventral spines in a series 1–2–1 with central ones closely set behind each other.

EPIGYNE ( Fig. 17B View Fig ). With wide posterior plate slightly procurved, in the middle produced into faint median septum delimiting large atria; large dark area on each side.

Variation

The colour of the live specimen ( Fig. 15 View Fig A–B) is quite aberrant from what is observed in specimens kept in ethanol ( Fig. 15 View Fig C–G). The carapace of the live specimen is almost uniform dark brown except for a small paler patch at the posterior margin, whereas in all the preserved specimens there is a clear pattern composed of three dark bands interrupted by stretches of medium brownish orange. Also, the abdominal pattern is somewhat different: the dorsolateral dark bands are less pronounced than in the collection specimens. Considering the locality where the live specimen was photographed, we assume that its colour pattern falls within the variation observed in the species, with the characteristic contrasting white posterior stretch of the median abdominal band ( Fig. 15 View Fig A–G). The epigyne is also subject to quite some variation, as shown in the pictures ( Fig. 17 View Fig A–F) and in the interpretation in the drawings (17G–H). Details of the male palp also vary to some extent. The inclination of the palp may lead to rather different observations and interpretations, mainly in connection with the details of the RTA apex ( Figs 18B, E, G View Fig , 19B, D View Fig ) and the curvature of the median apophysis ( Figs 18A, C, F View Fig , 19A, C View Fig ). The distal swelling of the MA ( Figs 18C View Fig , 19A View Fig ) seems absent in Figs 18F View Fig and 19C View Fig , but this is merely the result of the inclination at which the specimens is photographed or drawn.

The female specimens from Empangeni (2000/438) have an epigyne in which the contours of the dark internal structure ( Fig. 17 View Fig E–F) look slightly different from those of the other specimens ( Fig. 17 View Fig A–D). However, since the colour pattern of all these specimens is similar and in the absence of males with different palps, we have refrained from describing another new species based on only two specimens.

Distribution

Known from several localities near the type locality in Kwazulu-Natal Province, South Africa ( Fig. 21 View Fig ).

Systematic notes

Cicynethus acanthopus Simon, 1910 , only known from a subadult female ( Fig. 20 View Fig E–F) from Namibia, is aberrant in many respects (see Jocqué 1991): the shape and the setation of the carapace, the shape of the labium, the height of the clypeus and the leg spination. All these characters point in the direction of another genus, not yet identified. We therefore consider C. acanthopus as ‘species incertae sedis ’.

Cicynethus hongfuchui Barrion, Barrion-Dupo & Heong, 2013 is not a member of Cicynethus and most probably an elongated species of Storenomorpha Simon, 1884 . In that genus, the posterior eye row is strongly recurved, whereas it is clearly procurved in Cicynethus . The colour pattern and number of spines on the legs, very few in Cicynethus , also point to Storenomorpha . One character mentioned by Barrion et al. (2013: 45), “maxillae yellow except short black serrula”, is puzzling because one of the synapomorphies of the family Zodariidae is the absence of a serrula. We here present the new combination Storenomorpha hongfuchui ( Barrion, Barrion-Dupo & Heong, 2013) comb. nov.

R

Departamento de Geologia, Universidad de Chile

RMCA

Royal Museum for Central Africa

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Arthropoda

Class

Arachnida

Order

Araneae

Family

Zodariidae

Genus

Cicynethus

Loc

Cicynethus subtropicalis ( Lawrence, 1952 )

Jocqué, Rudy & Henrard, Arnaud 2018
2018
Loc

Chariobas subtropicalis

Lawrence R. F. 1952: 195
1952
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