Melychiopharis cynips Simon, 1895

Santos, Adalberto J., Brescovit, Antonio D. & Levi, Herbert W., 2005, Melychiopharis: an atypical orb-weaving spider from South America (Araneae: Araneidae), Zootaxa 1016 (1), pp. 57-64 : 59-62

publication ID

https://doi.org/ 10.11646/zootaxa.1016.1.7

publication LSID

lsid:zoobank.org:pub:951ED609-5311-4C83-A58E-77A6E7890F80

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5049348

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/F13487F4-FFC1-FFF4-8C4F-B42EFC83B1D9

treatment provided by

Felipe

scientific name

Melychiopharis cynips Simon
status

 

Melychiopharis cynips Simon View in CoL

Figures 1–11 View FIGURES 1–3 View FIGURES 4–10 View FIGURE 11

Melychiopharis cynips Simon 1895: 905 View in CoL , figs. 972–973 (Female holotype from the Amazon Basin, in the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, not found, probably lost). Roewer 1942: 911; Bonnet 1957: 2765; Levi 2002: 562; Platnick, 2005 (in Theridiidae View in CoL ).

Diagnosis. See generic diagnosis above.

Description. Male. Carapace longer than wide, widest at the middle. Carapace, sternum and legs red­brown. Dorsum of opisthosoma yellow, with a large central and four marginal black patches. Venter orange. Eyes subequal in size ( Fig. 1 View FIGURES 1–3 ). Anterior median eyes separated by 1.5 diameters, 1.0 diameter from posterior medians. Lateral eyes approximately 3.0 diameters from the anterior medians. Median ocular quadrangle almost square. Height of clypeus equal to 1.5 diameters of anterior median eyes. Leg articles thin. Opisthosoma almost as long as wide. Dorsum covered with a single, dish­shaped scutum, with a lateral flange ( Fig. 1 View FIGURES 1–3 ). Venter soft, with an anterior and a posterior sclerotized area posterior to the epigastric groove. Anterior sclerotized area with a marked posterior sulcus ( Fig. 4 View FIGURES 4–10 ). Colulus small, without setae. Total length 1.9. Carapace 0.9 long, 0.6 wide. Femur I 0.64, patella and tibia 0.66, metatarsus 0.46, tarsus 0.25. Patella and tibia II 0.61, III 0.49, IV 0.65. Opisthosoma 0.9 long, 0.6 wide. Tegulum elongated mesally, with a rounded, sclerotized hump. Median apophysis distally bent. Paracymbium curved, convex, and rectangular in dorsal view ( Figs. 6–8 View FIGURES 4–10 ).

Female. Body shape and coloration as in male, except for prosoma orange and opisthosoma yellow with five black patches. Relative eye interdistances as in male. Height of clypeus 2.5 diameters of anterior median eyes. Total length 2.5, carapace 1.1 long, 0.6 wide. Femur I 0.8, patella and tibia 0.8, metatarsus 0.5, tarsus 0.3. Patella and tibia II 0.7, III 0.6, IV 0.7. Opisthosoma 1.4 long, 1.3 wide. Epigynum median depression extending posteriorly, beyond epigastric sulcus. Copulatory openings located on the anterior corners of the median depression, not visible in ventral view. Copulatory ducts long, twisted, and encapsulated. Spermathecae oval and close together. Fertilization ducts long, dorsal to the spermathecae ( Fig. 10 View FIGURES 4–10 ).

Natural history. One male specimen was collected by beating on the understory vegetation inside a 1 ha dry land forest fragment in Central Amazonia (IBSP 48718). The specimens from Reserva Florestal Adolpho Ducke were collected by fogging on the canopy of three tree species: Pouteria glomerata (Sapotaceae) , Micropholis guyanensis (Sapotaceae) , and Corythophora alta (Lecythidaceae) . Unfortunately no additional natural history observations were obtained for any specimen, and it is not known whether or not this species builds webs.

Distribution. Northern, northeastern and central Brazil ( Fig. 11 View FIGURE 11 ).

Material examined. BRAZIL: Amazonas: Manaus, Fazenda Esteio , 10.IX.2002, F.N.A.A. Rego leg. , 1♂ ( IBSP 48718 View Materials ); Reserva Florestal Adolpho Ducke , canopy fogging, 20.VII.1995, J.C.H. Guerrero leg. , 1♂ ( MPEG); 16.VIII.1995, 1♀ ( MPEG); 15.X.1995, 1♂ ( IBSP 51612 View Materials ); 1.IV.1996, 1♂ ( INPA) . Sergipe: Santa Luzia do Itanhi, Mata do Crasto (11°23'S, 37°24'W), 9–13.IX.1999, A.D. Brescovit et al. leg., 1♀ ( IBSP 50364 View Materials ) GoogleMaps . Goiás: Goiânia , 18.VI.1942, F. Lane leg. , 1♀ ( MZSP 1099 View Materials ) .

MPEG

Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi

INPA

Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazonia

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Arthropoda

Class

Arachnida

Order

Araneae

Family

Araneidae

Genus

Melychiopharis

Loc

Melychiopharis cynips Simon

Santos, Adalberto J., Brescovit, Antonio D. & Levi, Herbert W. 2005
2005
Loc

Melychiopharis cynips

Levi, H. W. 2002: 562
Bonnet, P. 1957: 2765
Roewer, C. F. 1942: 911
Simon, E. 1895: 905
1895
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