Barronopsis floridensis ( Roth 1954 )

Stocks, Ian Christopher, 2009, Systematics and natural history of Barronopsis (Araneae: Agelenidae), with description of a new species, Zootaxa 2270, pp. 1-38 : 33-34

Barronopsis floridensis ( Roth 1954)

Figs. 43–44 , 69

Agelenopsis (Barronopsis) barrowsi Chamberlin & Ivie 1941: 602 , 623; Plate VII, figs. 43–45 (male). Agelenopsis (Barronopsis) floridensis Roth 1954: 3 –4, figs. 5-6 (male).

Barronopsis floridensis Roth & Brame 1972: 41 , figs. 55–56 (male, female). Brignoli 1983: 470. Roth & Brown 1986: 5. Platnick 1989: 401. Platnick 1997: 618. Platnick 2009.

Types. Male holotype and paratype from Levy County, Florida (H.K. Wallace, 1949), in AMNH (holotype examined).

Remarks. Roth (1954: 3) did not examine specimens used by Chamberlin & Ivie (1941) in their description of B. barrowsi , but felt that their figures 43–45 were of Agelenopsis (Barronopsis) floridensis .

Diagnosis. Characters as for males of B. texana , except for apical section of embolus. In B. floridensis upper and lower lamellae of second coil incompletely merge and twist over each other subdistally forming a trough that narrows to a blunt tip ( Figs. 43–44 ). Tip also has smoothly curved 90° elbow. No fine sculpting of embolus tip at 400X and no truncated lamellae with intervening membrane are evident (present in B. texana and B. jeffersi ). Females diagnosed as members of B. texana group by tooth-like epigynal projections and copulatory duct twist with a slight distal enlargement where twist begins. Females not readily separated from other B. texana group females, except weakly from B. jeffersi and B. texana respectively by lack of ovate pale patches on the cephalothoracic junction surrounded by ring of black pigment, and by distribution.

Description. Tab. 2–5. Male: n=13. TW 2.20–3.57 (2.81±0.47), CW 1.22–1.86 (1.52±0.24), DSL 3.19– 4.94 (4.02±0.64), ITL 2.43–3.69 (3.07±0.42). Male holotype: TW 2.81; CW 1.52; DSL 4.10; TL 3.42.

Female: n=38. TW 1.82–3.27 (2.56±0.32), CW 1.06–1.94 (1.46±0.18), DSL 2.96–4.83 (3.76±0.45), ITL 1.98–3.34 (2.52±0.32).

Distribution. Collection label data suggest that B. floridensis is restricted to Florida south of roughly 30° N (where it is sympatric with B. barrowsi and to South Bimini Island, Bahamas, approximately 150 km east of Miami, Florida.

Natural history. Collection label data from South Bimini specimens, as well as some Florida data, suggest that B. floridensis has a slightly different phenology than other Barronopsis species. From Bimini, one penultimate male was collected in May 1951 and, numerous adult females and juveniles (one of which matured as a male in mid-June) were collected in February. Labels from probable B. floridensis female specimens collected in south Florida suggest that females, at least, are present well into April.

Material examined. United States. FLORIDA: Hillsborough County, N of Tampa (Ivie), 26 August 1933: 2 males ( AMNH). Levy County, (Wallace), 15 November 1949: 1 male. Manatee County, Bradenton, in nursery (Chancy), 9 December 1963: 1 male (FS). Marion County, Ocala National Forest, W of Central Tower (Edwards & Choate), 29 November 1979: 1 male, 2 females (FS). Martin County, Port Mayacca (Pinter), 29 December 1965: 1 male ( MCZ). Putnam County, University of Florida Conservation Reservation (HKW), 4 December 1952: 1 male (FS). Sarasota County, Myakka State Park (Roth), 14 February 1970: 4 males, 27 females ( CAS); 6F ( AMNH). Seminole County, 16km SE Sanford, hole on cement post on Florida highway 46, 7 December 1950: 2 males, 1 female (FS). Bahamas, South Bimini, subadult male 17 February 1970 (Roth), adult molt 12 June 1970: 1M ( CAS). South Bimini. (Roth), 17 February 1970: 5 females ( CAS).

Figures

FIGURES 43 – 44. Barronopsis floridensis (Roth), South Bimini Island, Bahamas. 43, left palpus. Prolateral view. Scale bar = 0.4 mm. 44, embolus tip. Scale bar = 0.2 mm.