Cicurina (Cicurella) vespera Gertsch, 1992

Hedin, Marshal, Derkarabetian, Shahan, Blair, Jennifer & Paquin, Pierre, 2018, Sequence capture phylogenomics of eyeless Cicurina spiders from Texas caves, with emphasis on US federally-endangered species from Bexar County (Araneae, Hahniidae), ZooKeys 769, pp. 49-76 : 58

Cicurina (Cicurella) vespera Gertsch, 1992 Figs 1 , 2 , 3 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , Suppl. materials 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.

Cicurina vespera Gertsch, 1992: 111, figs 93-94.

Cicurina vespera Cokendolpher, 2004: 53, figs 65-66.

Cicurina vespera Paquin & Dupérré, 2009: 53, figs 118-119, 134.

Cicurina loftini Cokendolpher, 2004: 41, figs 5, 10, 37-39; syn. n.

Cicurina loftini Paquin & Dupérré, 2009: 27, figs 46-47, 134; syn. n.

Diagnosis.

Based on well-supported nuclear phylogenomic analyses (Figs 1 - 2 , 7 ), sister taxon to a clade including C. baronia , C. neovespera , and C. bullis . Cicurina vespera is morphologically very similar to the above taxa (Figure 7 , Cokendolpher 2004, Paquin and Dupérré 2009), best separated by geographic allopatry (Figure 8 ). This species can be distinguished from neighboring or sympatric ME clade members using genetic data, spermathecal morphology, male palpal morphology, or TI index.

Description.

Female spermathecal morphology as described in Paquin and Dupérré (2009) and Cokendolpher (2004). Male palpus with relatively broad, truncate cymbium, compact tegulum, origin of embolus rotated slightly clockwise from 6 o’clock (Figs 9 , 12 ).

Distribution.

R clade member known from 16 cave or karst features in the Culebra Anticline KFR (Figure 10 ); possibly also from GCBC.

Discussion.

The low TI index, rounded spermathecae holotype C. vespera type specimen is either 1) actually from Bracken Bat Cave, but was mislabeled or placed into an incorrect vial, or 2) is actually from GCBC, and represents a northern disjunct from most Culebra Anticline C. vespera populations, although we note that direct evidence for such an extension does not exist in the Government Canyon KFR (Figure 11 ). If the latter, rare sympatry must exist in GCBC, as other known specimens from this location represent C. madla .

Figures

Figure 1. Phylogenetic tree from RAxML analysis of 399 UCE loci, 70 % (399 _ 70) occupancy matrix. Bootstrap values below 75 not shown. Geography and morphology highlighted. Abbreviations: ME (= mostly elongate) spermathecae clade, R (= rounded) spermathecae clade. Further details regarding specimen codes and locations found in Suppl. material 5. Inset: sampled Texas counties.

Figure 2. Phylogenetic tree from BEAST analysis of 399 _ 70 UCE matrix. Posterior probability values above 0.95 shown. Inset: Boxplots of TI values (from Suppl. material 6) for ME and R clade members from Bexar County (for ME clade, two small juveniles and Stahl Cave specimens not included).

Figure 3. Phylogenetic tree from RAxML analysis of COI mitochondrial data. Previously published sequences with corresponding GenBank numbers (AY ), some with cave location codes as in Paquin and Hedin (2004). Bootstrap values above 70 shown only for major lineages. Bootstrap values within C. madla shown on Figure 6, those for C. loftini shown on Figure 10.

Figure 7. Morphology of R clade with corresponding 399 _ 70 UCE RAxML phylogeny (not all bootstrap values shown). Holotype female spermathecal images from Paquin and Duperre (2009), used with permission. Images not to scale.

Figure 8. Distribution of R clade in Bexar and Comal counties, with corresponding 399 _ 70 UCE RAxML phylogeny. Different species designated by different colors. Cave locations approximate.

Figure 9. Morphology of adult C. loftini with corresponding 399 _ 70 UCE RAxML phylogeny. Imaged specimens highlighted on phylogeny; images of specimen TK _ 188520 from J. Ledford, specimen TK _ 188686 from J. Cokendolpher (via Symbiota Collections of Arthropods Network). Scale bar: 0.5 mm.

Figure 10. Distribution of C. loftini in Culebra Anticline KFR, with corresponding COI RAxML phylogeny. Different mtDNA microclades designated by different colors. Cave locations approximate.

Figure 11. Anomalous geographic distribution of C. venii and C. vespera type specimens. All views ventral.

Figure 12. Male palpal morphology of C. madla and C. vespera (left palp, ventral view). Specimens from Stevens Ranch Trash Hole Cave (CIC _ 1745) and Robbers Cave (TX _ 241) from PP personal collection. Image of specimen TK _ 188519 from Joel Ledford. Abbreviations: CB = cymbium, T = tegulum, E = embolus. Scale bar: 0.5 mm.