Alpaida cisneros Levi, 1988

Poeta, Maria Rita Muniz & Lise, Arno Antonio, 2015, On the males of the orb-weaving spiders Alpaida nigrofrenata (Simon, 1895), A. machala Levi, 1988, and A. cisneros Levi, 1988 (Araneae, Araneidae) and a new synonymy, Zootaxa 4000 (3), pp. 397-400 : 398

Alpaida cisneros Levi, 1988

( Figs. 5, 6 )

Alpaida cisneros Levi, 1988: 476 , figures 599–602. Female holotype from near Cisneros , Valle, Colombia. Deposited in Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ 1089, not examined). WSC 2015.

Material examined. ECUADOR, Pichincha: Pedro Vicente (road to Quito from Puerto Quito), 79°07’W, 00º05’S, ♂, 09–12.VII.1988, W. Maddison ( MCZ).

Note. Male and female were considered conspecific for having the same color pattern.

Diagnosis. The males of Alpaida cisneros resemble those of A. anchicaya (see Levi 1988, figure 591) in the color pattern ( Fig. 6 ) and in the embolus position, which is perpendicular to the cymbium. Alpaida cisneros can be distinguished from A. anchicaya by the conductor shape, by the short median apophysis, which barely surpasses the tegulum ( Fig. 5 ), and by the wide embolus (not filiform as in A. anchicaya ) (see Levi 1988, figure 592)

Description. Male (MCZ, Pichincha, Ecuador). Total length 2.96. Carapace length 1.55, width 1.30, height 0.60. Clypeus height 0.12. Sternum width 0.52. Abdomen length 1.50, width 0.94, height 0.90. Leg formula 1423. Leg lengths (I/II/III/IV): femur 1.90/1.46/1.10/1.50; patella+tibia 2.40/1.46/1.10/1.50; metatarsus 1.20/1.06/0.70/1.12; tarsus 0.60/ 0.54/0.42/0.50. Total leg 6.10/4.52/3.32/4.72. Eye diameters and interdistances: AME 0.10, ALE 0.06, PME 0.10, PLE 0.08; AME-ALE 0.14, PME-PLE 0.18, AME-AME 0.08, PME-PME 0.26. Median ocular area black and carapace pale yellow, with a pair of longitudinal black marks from the PLE to the thoracic furrow, as in females (see Levi 1988, figure 601). Sternum black. Labium and endites dark-gray with white apex. Chelicerae and legs pale yellow. Abdomen longer than wide. Dorsally, there are two anterior black rounded marks, with white pigment between them. There are also a pair of longitudinal white stripes from those rounded marks to a large black terminal mark ( Fig. 6 ), as in females of this species (see Levi 1988, figure 601). Venter with a median brown band.

Female: see Levi (1988: 476).

Distribution. Colombia: Valle ( Levi 1988). Ecuador: Pichincha ( Levi 1988).

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 6. Alpaida nigrofrenata (Simon, 1895). 1, Male palp, mesal; 2, male habitus. Alpaida machala Levi, 1988. 3, Male palp, mesal; 4, male habitus. Alpaida cisneros Levi, 1988. 5, Male palp, mesal; 6, male habitus. Abbreviations: A, terminal apophysis; C, conductor; E, embolus; M, median apophysis, P, paracymbium; PM, paramedian apophysis; R, radix, T, tegulum. Scale bars, 1, 3, 5, 0.25 mm; 2, 4, 6, 0.5 mm.