Ancepitilobus howensis, Richardson, Barry J., 2016

Richardson, Barry J., 2016, New genera, new species and redescriptions of Australian jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae), Zootaxa 4114 (5), pp. 501-560 : 507

Ancepitilobus howensis sp. nov.

Figs 1–16

Trite concinna Rainbow 1920: 267 (part), table 31, figs 114, 116.

Type material. Holotype: 1M, Lord Howe Island, Station 31, trail on N face of North Hummock, 159.07°E, 31.53°S, 2 Jun. 1971, M. Gray (AMS KS 22279); Paratypes: 1F, Lord Howe Island, 159.03°E, 31.55°S, Feb. 1971, M. Gray (AMS KS 22280); 1M, Lord Howe Island, 159.08°E, 31.92°S, 1 Jul. 1923, A. Musgrave, G.P. Whitley (AMS KS 22282).

Etymology. The name, to be treated as a Latin adjective, refers to the island from which the material was collected.

Remarks. The bulk of the syntype series of Trite concinna does not belong to that genus or species. To maintain nomenclatural stability, they are here described as a new species.

Diagnosis. As for genus.

Description. Male: As for genus. Dimensions: holotype, CL 2.35, EFL 0.87, CW 1.61, AEW 1.24, AMEW 0.74, PEW 1.24, AL 2.48, P1+T1 1.80, L1 4.18 (1.27 + 0.93 + 0.87 + 0.68 + 0.43), L2 3.16 (1.11 + 0.68 + 0.37 + 0.62 + 0.37), L3 3.72 (1.24 + 0.62 + 0.68 + 0.74 + 0.43), L4 4.49 (1.49 + 0.68 + 0.90 + 0.93 + 0.50).

Female: As for genus. Dimensions: paratype: CL 2.35, EFL 0.99, CW 1.73, AEW 1.24, AMEW 0.74, PEW 1.73, AL 2.91, P1+T1 1.61, L1 3.72 (1.24 + 0.87 + 0.68 + 0.56 + 0.37), L2 3.50 (1.21 + 0.68 + 0.68 + 0.56 + 0.37), L3 3.90 (1.24 + 0.62 + 0.68 + 0.80 + 0.56), L4 4.71 (1.55 + 0.80 + 0.99 + 0.93 + 0.43).

Distribution and biology. Known only from Lord Howe Island ( Fig. 16 ). Lord Howe Island is an isolated, Australian island 700 km north-east of Sydney in the Tasman Sea. It has only been in existence 6.9 my and could not, of itself, be the long term sanctuary for a salticid lineage. However, the long term survival of such a lineage could occur as a metapopulation moving between ephemeral volcanic islands on the margin of the Australia plate, rather than Lord Howe Island itself being the presumptive home of the lineage, is a possible alternative ( Heads 2009, Colloff 2012) to it being simply a recent arrival from an unknown source.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 8. Ancepitilobus howensis sp. nov. 1 – 4 male holotype (1 dorsal view, 2 lateral view, 3 ventral view, 4 anterior view); 5 – 8 female paratype (5 dorsal view, 6 lateral view, 7 ventral view, 8 anterior view). Scale: male 1 mm, female 2 mm.

FIGURES 9 – 16. Ancepitilobus howensis sp. nov. 9 – 11 left male palp, holotype (9 prolateral view, 10 ventral view, 11 retrolateral view); 12 – 15 female genitalia, paratype (12 dorsal view, 13 cleared, dorsal view, 14 ventral view, 15 ventral view); 16 map showing similar distributions of Ancepitilobus howensis, Trite grayi and Tara gratiosa comb. nov. Scale: 0.2 mm.