Epicadus pustulosus ( Mello-Leitão, 1929 )

Machado, Miguel, Teixeira, Renato Augusto & Lise, Arno Antonio, 2018, There and back again: More on the taxonomy of the crab spiders genus Epicadus (Thomisidae: Stephanopinae), Zootaxa 4382 (3), pp. 501-530 : 515-516

Epicadus pustulosus ( Mello-Leitão, 1929)

Figs 14A–D , 15E

Tobias pustulosus Mello-Leitão, 1929: 86 , figs 183–184. Machado et al. 2015: 572, figs 12–24. Tobias monstrosus Simon in Mello-Leitão, 1929: 87 , figs 185–186.

Epicadus pustulosus (Mello-Leitão) . Machado et al. 2017: 448, figs S7D, S 8F.

Type material: Holotype (original designation): subadult female, Fonte Boa [2°28'5.16"S, 66°8'29.49"W, Amazonas, Brazil] ( MNHN 4560 , examined).

Other material examined. BRAZIL: Acre: 1 male, Senador Guiomard ( Reserva Extrativista de Catuaba ), 10°08'43"S, 67°43'29"W, 2002, E.F. Morato ( IBSP 135286 ) ; 1 male (IBSP 135287); 1 male (IBSP 135289); 1 male (IBSP 135290); 1 female (IBSP 135291); 1 male ( IBSP 135292 ); all same locality and collection data . Rondônia: 1 female, Porto Velho , 8°48'10"S, 63°55'05"W, 20 January 2012, D.F. Candiani ( MZSP 45458 ) ; 1 female, 4 July 2012, A.A. Nogueira (MZSP 51068); 1 female, 8 July 2012, R.P. Indicatti ( MZSP 53085 .; Bahia: 1 female, Gandu, Fazenda São Rafael (cocoa forest), 13°44'38"S, 39°29'05"W, 5 November 1968 ( MNRJ 1351 ) ; 1 male, Una, Reserva Biológica de Una , 15°12'32"S, 39°11'45"W, 15–28 November 2000, A.D. Brescovit et al. ( IBSP 46728 ) . Espírito Santo: 1 male, São Mateus, Reserva Floresta da Cia. Vale do Rio Doce , 19°09'05"S, 40°04'14"W, July 1997, A.J. Santos ( IBSP 27015 ) . São Paulo: 1 female , São Paulo, Parque Modelo , 22°42'24"S, 46°48'34"W, August 1958, M. Kramer ( IBSP 137989 ) ; 1 male, Mogi das Cruzes, Manuel Ferreira , Birituba-Açu , 23°29'22"S, 46°09'59"W, May 2001, E.K. Kashimata & R. Martins ( IBSP 56568 ) ; 1 female, Parque Estadual da Ilha do Cardoso , 25°8'1.02"S, 47°57'41.94"W, 23–25 August 1999, G. Machado ( MZSP 21592 ) . ECUADOR: Cotopaxi: 1 male, Rio Napo , 0°59'46"S, 78°25'18"W, January 1972, Bordon ( MACN 18958 ).

Diagnosis. Females of E. pustulosus are very similar to those of E. caudatus in their cryptic bark-dweller habitus with rugose tegument and predominant dark-brown coloration. Both species also share squared leg segments and protuberant anterior femora suffused with many conical tubercles. However, E. pustulosus can be distinguished by the yellow blister-shaped sockets on the ventral surface of femora I and II and by the anterior projection on the epigynal plate, which covers the copulatory openings entirely. Males can be easily recognized by their equal-sized, short and spiniform opisthosomal projections, by a basal indentation on the DTA and by its curvature (pointing to the dorsum of the cymbium).

Description. See Machado et al. (2015).

Distribution. BRAZIL: São Paulo, Espiírito Santo, Bahia; ECUADOR: Cotopaxi; PANAMA: Panama City, Colón ( Fig. 17A ).

Variation. Most of the specimens examined by Machado et al. (2015) present a predominantly brown coloration. Here, we present two additional color variations for the females of E. pustulosus : dorsum of prosoma and opisthosoma black with front and legs yellow ( Figs 14A, B ) and brown with distal portion of femora I and dorsum of opisthosoma yellow ( Figs 14C, D ).

Figures

FIGURE 14. Color variations of females. A–D Epicadus pustulosus (Mello-Leitão, 1929) (A, B MZSP 45484; C, D MZSP 51068); Scale bars: 2 mm (A, C), 1 mm (B, D). Color variations of females of E–F Epicadus taczanowskii (RoeWer, 1951): Photo credits:Kenji Nishida (E); Arthur Anker (F).

FIGURE 15. Female specimens in vivo. A–C Epicadus caudatus (Mello-Leitão, 1929) A nuptial guard, B egg-sac guarding behavior, C diagnostic orange blister-shaped setae sockets); D E. granulatus Banks 1909; E Epicadus pustulosus (Mello- Leitão, 1929), diagnostic yelloW blister-shaped setae sockets. Photo credits: Alfredo Colón Archilla (A, B, C); Morley Read (D); Paul Bertner (E).

FIGURE 17. Data of distribution records of Epicadus species compiled from Machado et al. (2015, 2017); Silva-Moreira and Machado (2016); present study.