Systematic revision of the pantropical whip spider family Charinidae Quintero, 1986 (Arachnida, Amblypygi)
Author
Miranda, Gustavo Silva de
81150D94-592A-4CE5-8E88-E60F557A4341
Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. & Entomology Department, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, USA.
smiranda.gustavo@gmail.com
Author
Giupponi, Alessandro P. L.
434112AC-B212-43E8-A5D9-2F5D5619AFC4
Laboratório de Referência Nacional em Vetores das Riquetsioses, LIRN-IOC-FIOCRUZ, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
agiupponi@gmail.com
Author
Prendini, Lorenzo
C2D080D0-75DB-4DA1-A101-AB4DCF50FF0A
Arachnology Lab, Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, USA.
lorenzo@amnh.org
Author
Scharff, Nikolaj
F84D2235-66D2-460C-820D-80024068759D
Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. & Entomology Department, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, USA. & Zoology Section, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
nscharff@snm.ku.dk
text
European Journal of Taxonomy
2021
2021-09-24
772
1
409
http://dx.doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2021.772.1505
journal article
4042
10.5852/ejt.2021.772.1505
b65bb5a9-bbe7-49a4-af44-4b4c03121288
2118-9773
5536410
9B82A32F-0A07-47E3-8684-FED7C8EBF1E9
Charinus kakum
Harms, 2018
Fig. 83
;
Table 6
Charinus kakum
Harms, 2018: 46–50
, figs 1–5.
Diagnosis
Based in part on
Harms (2018)
, this species may be separated from
C. madagascariensis
and other African species of
Charinus
by means of the following combination of characters: median and lateral eyes well developed; median ocular tubercle well developed; female gonopod sucker-like; cheliceral claw with five teeth; pedipalp femur with three dorsal spines and three ventral spines; pedipalp patella with three dorsal spines and two ventral spines; pedipalp tarsus with two dorsal spines; tibia of leg I with 24 articles, tarsus I with 41 articles; leg IV basitibia with three pseudo-articles; distitibia
sc
and
sf
series each with four trichobothria.
Charinus kakum
differs from
C. milloti
in the number of teeth on the cheliceral claw, with five teeth in
C. kakum
and four teeth in
C milloti
, and from
C. loko
sp. nov.
in the number of pseudo-articles in the basitibia of leg IV, with three articles in
C. kakum
and four articles in
C. loko
sp. nov.
The number of teeth on the cheliceral claw also separates
C. kakum
from
C. fagei
, in which nine teeth are present. The unique shape of the genital plaque and female gonopod separate
C. africanus
from
C. kakum
.
Etymology
Noun in apposition taken from the
type
locality, Kakum National Park in
Ghana
(
Harms 2018
).
Type material
Holotype
GHANA
•
♀
;
Central Province
,
Kakum National Park
,
track to Treehouse
,
under flat rock near forest floor
;
05°21′21.23″ N
,
01°22′55.87″ W
;
13 Dec. 2017
;
D. Harms
and
B.K. Williams
leg.;
ZMH A893
[not examined].
Measurements
See
Table 6
.
Distribution
Known only from the
type
locality in Kakum National Park,
Ghana
.
Natural history
The
holotype
was collected under a rock in a small rocky outcrop near a dry creek-bed, in closed-canopy primary rainforest. The female possessed a brood sac and carried
seven eggs
.
Harms (2018)
noted that this was the smallest whip
spider
in western Africa and might have a preference for rocky boulders in densely vegetated areas, under which it retreats.
Ricinulei
(
Ricinoides
sp.
) and unidentified schizomids were observed at the same outcrop.