Cryptachaea blattea ( Urquhart 1886 ) Urquhart, 1886

Vink, Cor J., Dupérré, Nadine, Paquin, Pierre, Fitzgerald, Brian M. & Sirvid, Phil J., 2009, The cosmopolitan spider Cryptachaea blattea (Urquhart 1886) (Araneae: Theridiidae): Redescription, including COI sequence, and new synonymy, Zootaxa 2133, pp. 55-63 : 57-60

Cryptachaea blattea ( Urquhart 1886) new combination

( Figs 1–6 )

Theridium blatteus Urquhart 1886: 190 , Pl. 7, Fig. 2 (female); Urquhart 1892: 223; Hutton 1904: 238, as Theridion blatteus .

Theridium setiger Urquhart 1886: 196 , Pl. 8, Fig. 3 (female); Urquhart 1892: 223; Hutton 1904: 239, as Theridion setiger .

Theridium tuberculum Urquhart 1887: 104 (female); Urquhart 1892: 223; Hutton 1904: 239, as Theridion tuberculatum ; Levi 1963: 220, as Theridion tubercula .

Theridium albo-gullatum Urquhart 1887: 108, Pl. 8, Fig. 11 (male); Urquhart 1892: 223, as Theridium albo-guttatum; Hutton 1904: 239, as Theridion albo-guttatum.

Theridion acoreensis Berland 1932: 74 , Figs 1–2 (female); Bacelar 1937: 161; Machado 1941: 22, Figs 18–21; Roewer 1942: 461, as Theridion acoreense ; Bonnet 1959: 4448, as Theridium assorense . NEW SYNONYMY.

Dipoena tubercula (Urquhart) ; Bryant 1933: 10, Figs 16, 42 (male and female).

Dipoena blattea (Urquhart) ; Bryant 1935: 57 (female); Roewer 1942: 422; Parrott 1946: 69; Bonnet 1956: 1502.

Achaearanea geochares Levi 1955: 20 , Figs 39–40, 46 (male and female).

Achaearanea acoreensis (Berland) ; Denis 1962: 60, Figs 57–59; Levi 1963: 220; Levi 1967a: 179, Figs 12–14 (male and female); Sedgwick 1973: 349; Wunderlich 1992: 408, Figs 567–569 (male and female); Arnedo et al. 2007: 341; Borges and Wunderlich 2008: 268.

Achaearanea teja Levi 1967b: 8 , Figs 8–10 (female).

Achaearanea blattea (Urquhart) ; Fitzgerald and Sirvid 2003: 29, Figs 3 a–c (male and female)

“Unidentified species b” Vink et al. 2004: 154.

Cryptachaea acoreensis (Berland) ; Yoshida 2008: 39.

Type specimens. Holotype Ψ, not examined. NEW ZEALAND: Auckland: Te Karaka [37°5'S, 174°52'E], Auckland, coll. A.T. Urquhart.

Holotype Ψ, Theridium setiger . Not examined. NEW ZEALAND: Auckland: Te Karaka [37°5'S, 174°52'E], Auckland, coll. A.T. Urquhart.

Holotype Ψ, Theridium tuberculum . Examined. NEW ZEALAND: Auckland: Te Karaka [37°5'S, 174°52'E], Auckland, coll. A.T. Urquhart ( CMNZ).

Syntypes 2 ɗ, Theridium albogullatum . Examined. NEW ZEALAND: Auckland: Te Karaka [37°5'S, 174°52'E], Auckland, from webs amongst long grass, June–July, coll. A.T. Urquhart ( CMNZ).

Holotype Ψ, Theridion acoreensis . Not examined. AZORES ( MNHN).

Holotype ɗ, allotype Ψ Achaearanea geochares . Examined. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: California: Monterey [36°36'N, 121°53'W], October 1945, coll. A.F. Archer ( AMNH).

Holotype Ψ, Achaearanea teja . Examined. CHILE: Provincia de Valdivia: Isla Teja [39°47'S, 73°16'W], Valdivia, on farmland, 6 March 1965, coll. H.W. Levi ( MCZ).

The types of Theridium blatteus and T. setiger are not in CMNZ where all of Urquhart's existing types specimens are housed ( Court & Forster 1988; Nicholls et al. 2000; Paquin et al. 2008). They are also not in the Otago Museum, Dunedin, New Zealand, which houses New Zealand's largest collection of spiders (C. Fraser, personal communication). We consider the types of T. blatteus and T. setiger lost. Although we weren’t able to examine the types of T. blatteus and T. setiger , the illustrations and descriptions ( Urquhart 1886) are adequate enough to be sure of the species’ identity.

Other material examined. NEW ZEALAND: Chatham Islands: Waitangi [43°57'S, 176°33'W], Chatham Island, beaten from vegetation next to beach, 2 February 2007, coll. P.J. Sirvid, 1 Ψ ( MONZ) (GenBank EU935470 ). Henga Scenic Reserve [43°51'S, 176°34'W], Chatham Island, mature dunes, grass/ shrubs/trees, pitfall trap, 11–18 November 2005, coll. N.R. Curtis & M.A. McIntosh, 1 Ψ, 1 immature ( MONZ). Mid Canterbury: Lincoln University farm [43°38'S, 172°28'E], pitfall trap under Macrocarpa hedge, 9 October 1996, coll. M.H. Bowie & C.J. Vink, 1 Ψ ( LUNZ). Lincoln [43°38'S, 172°28'E], 5 August 1996, 1 Ψ ( NZAC [voucher specimen of “unidentified species b” ( Vink et al. 2004)]). Lincoln [43°38'S, 172°28'E], long grass, 28 November 2008, coll. C.J. Vink, 2 Ψ (AgR9727, AgR9728) (GenBank FJ555049 , FJ555050 ). Lincoln [43°38'S, 172°28'E], in building, 9 December 2008, coll. M.R. McNeill & C.J. Vink, 1 Ψ (AgR9743) (GenBank FJ555052 ). Marlborough Sounds: Allports Island [41°14'S, 174°3'E], Queen Charlotte Sound, pitfall trap, May 1997, coll. C. Grose & B.M. Fitzgerald, 1 Ψ ( MONZ). Allports Island [41°14'S, 174°3'E], Queen Charlotte Sound, pitfall trap, October 1997, coll. C. Grose & B.M. Fitzgerald, 1 Ψ ( MONZ). Allports Island [41°14'S, 174°3'E], Queen Charlotte Sound, pitfall trap, November 1997, coll. C. Grose & B.M. Fitzgerald, 1 Ψ ( MONZ). Nelson: Brooklyn [41°06’S, 172°59’E], grass in orchard, 23 March 2009, coll. C.J. Vink & S.J. Crampton, 1 Ψ (AgR9823) (GenBank FJ917387 ). Wellington: Raukawa Street, Stokes Valley [41°11'S, 174°59'E], in garden litter, 12 February 2005, coll. B.M. Fitzgerald, 1 ɗ ( MONZ). Raukawa Street, Stokes Valley [41°11'S, 174°59'E], in grapes in garden, 17 March 2006, coll. B.M. Fitzgerald, 1 Ψ ( MONZ). Raukawa Street, Stokes Valley [41°11'S, 174°59'E], in garden, 17 November 2008, coll. B.M. Fitzgerald, 1 Ψ ( MONZ). Raukawa Street, Stokes Valley [41°11'S, 174°59'E], in garden, 30 November 2008, coll. B.M. Fitzgerald, 1 ɗ, 5 Ψ ( MONZ) (GenBank FJ555051 , FJ555053 , FJ555054 ). Papaitonga Reserve [40°39'S, 175°14'E], sifted from leaf litter, 22 February 2008, coll. P. Paquin, 1 Ψ ( CPAD) (GenBank EU935469 ). Taranaki: Stratford [39°20'S, 174°10'E], 1700 feet, 1923, coll. H. Bellinger, 2 Ψ ( MCZ 54615). Bay of Plenty: Mokoia Island [38°4'S, 176°17'E], Lake Rotorua, 7 February 2000, coll. B.M. Fitzgerald, 1 Ψ ( MONZ). Moutohora Island [37°51'S, 176°58'E], 4–10 February 1999, coll. B.M. Fitzgerald, 1 ɗ, 1 immature ( MONZ). Coromandel: Korapuki Island [36°39'S, 175°50'E], Mercury Islands, 4 December 1996, coll. B.M. Fitzgerald, 1 immature ( MONZ). AUSTRALIA: New South Wales: Homebush [33°52'S, 151°5'E], taken from Japanese insulator, 18 Jul 1955, coll. Mr. Saxby, 1 Ψ (AM KS83752). Norfolk Island [29°02'S, 167°57'E], 1 Ψ (AM KS83753). CHILE: Provincia de Concepción: Concepción [36°50'S, 73°3'W], 12 October 1976, coll. T. Cekalovic, 2 Ψ ( MCZ 56068). Provincia de Quillota: La Cruz [32°50'S, 71°14'W] 18 January 1973, coll. W. Sedgwick 4 Ψ ( MCZ 56069). UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: California: Los Angeles [34°3'N, 118°14'W], near houses, 30 March 1941, 2 Ψ ( MCZ 56066). Westwood [34°3'N, 118°25'W], Los Angeles County, February 1952, R.X. Schick, 1 ɗ, 2 Ψ ( MCZ 56067). Alameda County, UC Berkeley campus, near Strawberry Creek [37°52'N, 122°15'W], 21 February 2008, coll. K. Kazansky, 1 ɗ ( AMNH) (GenBank EU935471 ).

Diagnosis. Cryptachaea blattea can be distinguished from other Cryptachaea species by the epigynum of the female, which has a protruding knob with a circular opening on the anterior surface ( Fig. 3 ) and the arrangement of the male pedipalp, particularly the shape of the short embolus, which lies against the conductor ( Fig. 5 ).

Description. Colour: carapace dark yellow to dark brown or black; sternum dark brown; abdomen with black and white pattern ( Figs 1, 2, 6 ), which can be variable; dark area on anterior surface of abdominal tubercle and white on posterior surface, which extends as whitish pattern back to white patch above spinnerets; legs yellow-white with dark brown annulations.

Chelicerae with one promarginal tooth. Leg 4 with tarsal comb, which can be absent or reduced in some New Zealand species of Theridiidae ( Forster & Forster 1999) . Abdomen with small tubercle just posterior to mid-dorsal point ( Fig. 2 ), not as pronounced in male. Eyes subequal in size. Epigynum has protruding knob with circular opening on anterior surface ( Fig. 3 ); internal genitalia simple, ear-shaped, paired spermathecae ( Fig. 4 ). Male pedipalp ( Fig. 5 ) with a short embolus that lies against conductor; cymbium extends well beyond bulb, tegulum spherical.

Dimensions (mm). Female Wellington, Stokes Valley (male Wellington, Stokes Valley): total length 2.25 (1.72); carapace length 0.71 (0.80), width 0.62 (0.73), height 0.27 (0.24); abdomen length 1.54 (0.92), width 1.20 (0.80); sternum length 0.47 (0.44), width 0.36 (0.42). Size range: female body length 2.2–3.2, male body length 1.7–2.4.

DNA sequences. Mitochondrial COI (GenBank accession number EF449594 ), 16S ( EF449620 ), and nuclear 18S ( EF449547 ), 28S ( EF449569 ) and histone H3 ( EF449528 ) DNA sequences were reported in Arnedo et al. (2007). Here we report new mitochondrial COI DNA sequences (see Table 1). COI sequences from six New Zealand specimens (haplotype 1) were identical. Three of the New Zealand specimens from Lincoln and Brooklyn had unique sequences (haplotypes 3, 4 and 5) that differed from the other New Zealand specimens by three, seven and four nucleotides respectively. Sequences from the North American specimen (haplotype 2) differed from the majority of the New Zealand specimens (haplotype 1) by four nucleotides and differed from the two New Zealand specimens from Lincoln (haplotypes 3 and 4) and Brooklyn (haplotype 5) by one, seven and two nucleotides respectively. We observed ten variable nucleotide positions, nine of which were synonymous transitions and one sequence (haplotype 5) contained a nonsynonymous transition.

Natural history. Found in long grasses, low shrubs, and leaf and twig litter in regenerating scrub and young forest, where it builds a small web. In New Zealand, Chile and the Azores it has been found in agroecosystems ( Levi 1967b; Vink et al. 2004; Borges & Wunderlich 2008).

Distribution. New Zealand (South Canterbury, Mid Canterbury, Marlborough Sounds, Nelson, Wellington, Taranaki, Bay of Plenty, Coromandel, Auckland), Chile (Provincia de Valdivia, Provincia de Concepción, Provincia de Quillota), USA (Hawaii, California, Washington), Canada (British Columbia), Saint Helena, Republic of Cape Verde, Portugal (Porto, Azores, Madeira), Belgium. Borges and Wunderlich (2008) noted that C. blattea was found in Colorado, but this is likely to be a typographical error and should have been recorded as California (P.A.V. Borges, personal communication). We record C. blattea for the first time from Australia (New South Wales and Norfolk Island).

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 6. Cryptachaea blattea (Urquhart 1886). 1. Habitus of female, dorsal view; 2. Female abdomen, lateral view, small tubercle arrowed; 3. Epigynum, ventral view; 4. Internal genitalia, dorsal view; 5. Male pedipalp, ventral view; 6. Male abdomen, dorsal view. Scale bars for figures 1, 2, 6 = 1.0 mm, 3 – 5 = 0.1 mm. Abbreviations used: E, embolus; C, conductor; T, tegulum; Cy, cymbium; S, spermathecae.