Asmea hayllari, Gray & Smith, 2008

Gray, Michael R. & Smith, Helen M., 2008, A New Subfamily of Spiders with Grate-shaped Tapeta from Australia and Papua New Guinea (Araneae: Stiphidiidae: Borralinae), Records of the Australian Museum 60 (1), pp. 13-44 : 40-42

Asmea hayllari n.sp.

Figs 8e , 19a–f

Type material. Papua New Guinea: Sandaum Province: HOLOTYPE:?, SAM NN19579, semi moss forest bordering the Nong-Ilam River systems N & E of Starr (sic) Mts, 6000'–7000', New Guinea 15–22 May 1965, T. Hayllar. (See comments on locality and coordinates below) . PARATYPE:!, SAM BS1120, cave, Oksapmin , 4,800 ft, T.P.N.G., 22 May 1965, T.Hayllar ( ASME). (See comments on locality data below)

Diagnosis. Differs from males of other species by the short, notched RDTA and smoothly rounded TL. Epigynal fossa with a narrow median septum.

Description

Male (holotype). BL 7.96, CL 3.96, CW 2.78, CapW 1.59, EGW 1.12, LL 0.61, LW 0.57, SL 1.76, SW 1.55. Legs: 1423 (I: 18.25; II: 15.25; III: 12.08 [RHS, estimated, tarsus missing]; IV: 15.50); ratio tibia I length:CW = 1:0.61. AME>PME>ALE≥PLE. Clypeus height 1.75× AME width.

Gray & Smith: Stiphidiid spiders with grate-shaped tapeta 41 Metatarsi I, II weakly bowed and flattened. Male palp ( Fig. 19a,b ). Distal cymbium short, conical. Apical margin of cymbial flange strongly offset. TL rounded, offset but not separated from base of embolus. MA processes adjacent, lateral process weakly sclerotized, widening and truncated apically. Tibia with 3 strong prodorsal bristles; RVTA laterally broad; RDTA keel short and notched.

Female: (BS1120). BL 10.17, CL 5.00, CW c. 3.00, CapW c. 2.33 (carapace damaged), EGW 1.43, LL 0.73, LW 0.73, SL 2.12, SW 1.92. Legs: 1423 (I: 20.08; II: 17.00; III: 14.33; IV: 17.33 [RHS]); ratio tibia I length:CW = 1:0.72. PME>AME>ALE≈PLE. Clypeus height 3× AME width. Epigynum ( Fig. 19c–f ). Fossa longer than wide with narrow septum. Internal genitalia with very broad copulatory ducts and relatively small spermathecae (cf. A. capella ).

Distribution. North-eastern Star Mountains, Sandaum Province, Papua New Guinea.

Etymology. The species is named in honour of Tom Hayllar, member of the Australian Star Mountains Expedition of 1965 and collector of the type material and other specimens of Asmea .

Comments on locality and coordinates. Paratype female locality —the label data for this specimen gives the collection locality as “cave, Oksapmin”, a reference also found in the ASME diary notes provided by Tom Hayllar. Oksapmin is a village locality placed some 80 km east of Telefomin. However , all collecting done during the 1965 ASME took place in areas to the west of Telefomin , from which the expedition started and finished—the Oksapmin area to the east of Telefomin was neither sampled nor visited. Contemporaneous diary accounts and recollections record the paratype female as being collected at “a cave near Oksapmin after leaving the Ilam River” (T. Hayllar, pers. comm.). All of this makes it likely that “Oksapmin” is actually a misspelling of Okapmin, a village placed west of Telefomin near the Ilam River.Accordingly, the coordinates for Okapmin are given as the approximate location for the female paratype in Fig. 8e (5°07'S 141°31'E) .

Holotype male locality — Hayllar’s ASME diary notes indicate that this specimen was collected about 1.5 days before the female during a seven day march along the Nong-Ilam River system toward “Oksapmin” (= Okapmin). This suggests that the male specimen was collected approxi- mately 30 km from Okapmin. This assumption was used to approximate location coordinates for the male specimen (5°04'S 141°20'E) in Fig. 8e . The relative proximity of these collecting sites provides additional support for the male/ female conspecificity assumed here.

Figures

Fig. 8. Distribution records: (a), Jamberoo spp.: J. johnnoblei, d; J. boydensis, h; J. actensis, p; J. australis, s. (b), Couranga spp.: C. kioloa, d; C. diehappy, h. (c), Karriella spp.: K. treenensis, N; K. walpolensis, s. (d), Elleguna spp.: E. major, n; E. minor, d. (e), Asmea spp.: A. akrikensis, p; A. hayllari, s; A. capella, h; A. mullerensis, N.

Fig. 19. Asmea hayllari. (a,b), male palp (holotype): a, ventral; b, retrolateral. (c–f), epigynum (SAM BS1120): c, ventral; d, lateral; e, posterior; f, dorsal—internal genitalia. Scale lines 0.5 mm: upper, a,b; lower, c–f.