Pellenes (Pellenattus) peninsularis (Emerton)

Maddison, Wayne P., 2017, New species of Habronattus and Pellenes jumping spiders (Araneae, Salticidae, Harmochirina), ZooKeys 646, pp. 45-72 : 59-62

Pellenes (Pellenattus) peninsularis (Emerton) Figs 72-81, 82

Pellenes peninsularis Emerton, 1925: p 68, fig. 6 (Dm) (male holotype in Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard, examined, Fig. 72)

Pellenes wrighti Lowrie & Gertsch, 1955: p. 23, fig. 19, 20, 27 (Dmf), syn. n.. (male holotype in American Museum of Natural History, examined, Figs 73-74)

Notes.

The vial of Pellenes wrighti 's holotype includes the labels " Pellenes wrighti Lowrie & Gertsch ♂ holotype", " Pellenes peninsularis ♂, Ill., Kankakee Col, Pembroke TWP. SEC, Sept 8 1936, Coll. & Det. D.C. Lowrie", and "Pellens [sic.] sp. nov. ♂ ♀ ♀ from Ind. Porter Co., Tremont. 8 June 1929". The second (contradictory) locality label matches that expected for the female allotype of Pellenes wrighti , and may have been inserted or retained in error.

Lowrie and Gertsch (1955) compared Pellenes wrighti to Pellenes apacheus but made no comment about its differences from Pellenes peninsularis , despite the Pellenes wrighti holotype having been originally identified as Pellenes peninsularis . The holotypes of Pellenes peninsularis and Pellenes wrighti and other specimens from throughout the range bear no known features that would justify distinguishing two species. The bodies of specimens from Ontario and Nova Scotia are primarily black; those from the prairies of Minnesota, Montana and South Dakota are dusted with tan to orange scales, corresponding to their different substrates (dark rock outcrops in the eastern Canadian populations; prairies further west). There may be a small genitalic difference, in the size of the dorsal lobe of the cymbium, which appears to be larger in eastern than western populations (Figs 76, 78 versus Fig. 74). However, any difference would be slight, within the usual variability of a single species, and there is no indication of an abrupt transition in form in specimens arrayed from Nova Scotia through Montana. Otherwise, the male palp is consistent from west to east, with the TmA a small rounded flange pendant from the tip of the embolus (Figs 72, 73, 75, 77), the tibial apophysis leaning dorsally, and the cymbium with a prominent dorsal proximal lobe (Figs 74, 76, 78). It is possible that Pellenes apacheus is also conspecific, extending the trend to an even smaller cymbial lobe toward the southwest, but confirmation would require further study.

Additional material examined.

21♂♂ 19♀♀ in UBC-SEM: Canada: Nova Scotia: Pictou Co., Barneys River at route 104, 45.58617° N 62.22710° W, 22 June 2002, L.J. Maddison, D.R. Maddison, A.E. Arnold, DRM02.103 (1♂ 3♀♀). Ontario: Muskoka District, Dwight, 45.3384°N 79.0302°W, 22 May 1976, W. Maddison WPM#76-133 (1♂). Ontario: Muskoka District, Dwight, 45.3384°N 79.0302°W, 17 May 1980, W. Maddison, WPM#80-020 (15♂♂ 12♀♀). Ontario: Kenora District, Percy Lake, few mi E of Hawk Lake on HWY 17, 29 May 1977, W. & D. Maddison, WPM#77-122 (1♂ 1♀). U.S.A.: Minnesota: Anoka Co., Cedar Creek Natural History Area, Rg 23 W Twp 34 N Sect 34-35, 16 May 1977, D. & W. Maddison, WPM#77-025 (1♂ 2♀). North Dakota: Stark Co., S of Belfield, 74 km N of Bowman along HWY 85, 31 May 1982, D. Maddison, WPM#82-164 (1♂). South Dakota: Pennington Co., 12 mi W of Interior on HWY 44, 19 May 1977, W. Maddison, WPM#77-051 (1♂ 1♀).

Natural history.

This species occurs on rock outcrops in Nova Scotia and on the Canadian Shield of Ontario. Further west it occurs among grasses on the ground of prairies.