Hortophora flavicoma (Simon, 1880) Framenau & Baptista & Oliveira & Castanheira, 2021

Framenau, Volker W., Baptista, Renner L. C., Oliveira, Francisca Samia M. & Castanheira, Pedro de S., 2021, Taxonomic revision of the new spider genus Hortophora, the Australasian Garden Orb-weavers (Araneae, Araneidae), Evolutionary Systematics 5 (2), pp. 275-334 : 275

Hortophora flavicoma (Simon, 1880) comb. nov.

Epeira flavicoma Simon 1880: 168-169.

Araneus flavicoma (Simon).- Berland 1924: 220.

Eriophora flavicoma (Simon).- Archer 1951: 21.

Type material.

Holotype of Epeira flavicoma Simon, 1880: Female, Canala (21°31'S, 165°57'E, New Caledonia), Coll. E. Simon (likely MNHN). Not examined.

Remarks.

Epeira flavicoma Simon, 1880 was described based on a female from New Caledonia. Simon (1880) diagnosed the species at the time from H. capitalis comb. nov. by colour differences. Berland (1924) reported both species from New Caledonia, specifically the Loyalty Islands, and differentiated them both by colour and the length of the epigyne, being much longer in H. flavicoma comb. nov.

The detailed treatment of this species is not part of this project, but it is clear that Simon’s (1880) original description and Berland’s (1924) depiction of the species conforms to the diagnosis of Hortophora gen. nov., specifically with respect to the long epigyne scape. We therefore transfer the species to Hortophora gen. nov., H. flavicoma comb. nov., pending a revision of Pacific species of the genus.