Psalmopoeus victori Mendonza, 2014

Cifuentes, Yeimy & Bertani, Rogerio, 2022, Taxonomic revision and cladistic analysis of the tarantula genera Tapinauchenius Ausserer, 1871, Psalmopoeus Pocock, 1985, and Amazonius n. gen. (Theraphosidae, Psalmopoeinae), Zootaxa 5101 (1), pp. 1-123 : 96-97

Psalmopoeus victori Mendonza, 2014

( Figs 19 , 145 , 307–310 )

Psalmopoeus victori Mendonza, 2014: 729 , figs 1–13, 18–20, 27, 29–31; Gabriel and Sherwood 2020: 395, figs 24–31. Psalmopoeus copanensis Gabriel & Sherwood, 2020: 388 , figs 3–4. New synonymy.

Psalmopoeus sandersoni Gabriel & Sherwood, 2020: 390 , figs 8–14. New synonymy.

Psalmopoeus petenensis Gabriel & Sherwood, 2020: 391 , figs 15–16. New synonymy.

Diagnosis. Females of P. victori resemble those of P. reduncus by the spermathecae lacking lobes ( Fig. 309 ). They can be distinguished by the longer spermathecae, distal area well sclerotized ( Fig. 309 ) and reddish setae over legs III, IV ( Fig. 310 ). Males resemble those of P. reduncus by the embolus being less than 2.5 times tegulum length. They can be distinguished from P. reduncus by lacking a constriction in proximal part of embolus (Mendonza 2014: figs 18–20).

Type material. Holotype male of P. victori Mendoza, 2014 from Mexico, Veracruz, Mpio. San Andrés Tuxla [18°26’N, 95°12’W], 26 August 2008, V. H. Jimenéz coll. Deposited at Colección Nacional de Arácnidos , México D. F, CNAN-T0086 ; Paratypes 3 males ( CNAN-T0806 ), from type locality, 14-XII-2012 ; 1 female ( CNAN-T0087 ), from type locality 19-I-2009, V. Jiménez and J. Mendoza coll. ; 1 female ( CNAN-T0088 ) from Veracruz, 19-I-2009, V. H. Jiménez and S. Santacruz coll. ; 1 male and 1 female at Oxford Univerity Museum of Natural History , U.K., (OUMNH-2011-087), from type locality, J. I. Mendoza coll. 26-V-2010, deposited by E. Hijmensen, not examined . Holotype female of P. copanensis Gabriel & Sherwood, 2020 , from Copan, Honduras [14°50’, 89°08’W], deposited at MCZ 746617 , not examined . Holotype male of P. sandersoni Gabriel & Sherwood, 2020 , from British Honduras, I. T. Sanderson coll., deposited at the BMNH 1953.4 .7.382, not examined . Holotype female of P. petenensis Gabriel & Sherwood, 2020 , from Guatemala, Petén, Uaxactún [17°23’N, 89°38’W], H. H. Bartlett coll., March–April 1931, deposited at MCZ 74620, not examined .

Material examined. GUATEMALA: Izabal [15°40’N, 89°29’W], Sierra de Santa Rosa Cruz, Finca Semuc , 700 m. a. s. l., on tree in silk retreat, 1 meter off ground, 1 female, B. Lamar col., January 1991 ( MZUSP 76545 ) .

Distribution. Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras ( Fig. 145 ).

Remarks. Psalmopoeus victori was recently described from México ( Mendoza 2014) in detail. We examined a single female from Guatemala, extending the known distribution of the species.

Psalmopoeus specimens from northern Central America, north of Costa Rica, are rare in collections, preventing a better understanding of the morphological variation of the species. Three new species were recently described from close localities, no more than 300 km from each other, in Belize ( P. sandersoni ), Guatemala ( P. petenensis ) and Honduras ( P. copanensis ) ( Gabriel and Sherwood 2020), all based on single old specimens. The authors used a “new methodology for delineation of Psalmopoeus females through evaluation of spermathecae”, consisting of measurements of apical lobe, base, length and neck width of the spermathecae and distance between the two spermathecae. These are basically what spider taxonomists use for decades in species diagnoses using proportions or percentages to make clear what they are referring to. However, spermathecae are well known by their variability and is usually difficult to understand which characteristic will be of use to define a species without examining several specimens. In the case of the three recently described species, two females and one male, a single specimen was available to the authors, therefore, the variability could not be assessed.

Psalmopoeus copanensis , described from Copan, Honduras, was distinguished from P. victori by the width between the receptacle lobes being wider than between basal spermathecae width ( Gabriel and Sherwood 2020). In other words, the spermathecae are narrower distally than at their bases. The published figure ( Gabriel and Sherwood 2020, fig. 3) shows spermathecae with a wide base and narrow tip, and more sclerotized in its distal part. They are compatible with that of P. victori (Mendonza 2014: fig. 27) and also with a specimen we examined from Guatemala, Izabal, ca. 100 km from the type locality of P. copanensis ( Fig. 309 ). The small differences in shape among those spermathecae may be due to morphological variation, which is common in theraphosids, and do not justify to keep P. copanensis as a distinct species. Therefore, we consider P. copanensis a junior synonym of P. victori .

Psalmopoeus sandersoni , described from Belize with a single male, was distinguished from P. victori by the slightly tapered apex of the embolus (moderately tapered in P. victori ) ( Gabriel and Sherwood 2020). However, there is only minor differences between the embolus of P. victori (Mendonza 2014: figs 18–21) and P. sandersoni ( Gabriel and Sherwood 2020: figs 8–12), probably due to morphological variation. As the two species cannot be distinguished, we consider P. sandersoni a junior synonym of P. victori

Psalmopoeus petenensis was described with a single female from Guatemala, Petén, Uaxactún ( Gabriel and Sherwood 2020), close to the boundary with Mexico. Gabriel and Sherwood (2020) distinguished it “by spermathecal morphometrics” and the reader is directed to a table with measurements data without the information on which of those measurements are being considered as diagnostics. The spermathecae figure ( Gabriel and Sherwood 2020) shows no lobes and longer spermathecae than those of P. reduncus , resembling those of P. victori . As there is no diagnostic character which could separate the two species, we consider P. petenensis a junior synonym of P. victori .

Figures

FIGURE 19. Single cladogram obtained with setk.run and concavity 10.239258 (continued), showing the resolution of Psalmopoeinae clade. Absolute and relative Bremer support are in each node.

FIGURE 145. Map showing geographic records (dots) of Psalmopoeus species. Psalmopoeus cambridgei (red), P. reduncus (orange), P. ecclesiasticus (purple), P. emeraldus (light blue), P. plantaris (brown), P. pulcher (green), P. irminia (yellow), P. langenbucheri (blue), P. victori (black).

FIGURES 307–310. Psalmopoeus victori. (307–310) female (MZUSP 76545). 307, left maxilla showing lyra (mirrored). 308, basal chelicerae showing strikers. 309, spermathecae. 310, living female, Photo: Rick C. West. Scale bars = 1 mm.