Agorioides cherubino, Maddison, Wayne P. & Szűts, Tamas, 2019

Maddison, Wayne P. & Szűts, Tamas, 2019, Myrmarachnine jumping spiders of the new subtribe Levieina from Papua New Guinea (Araneae, Salticidae, Myrmarachnini), ZooKeys 842, pp. 85-112 : 85

Agorioides cherubino sp. n. Figs 42-50, 90

Type material.

Holotype: male in UBC–SEM, specimen code PNG2008-2854, with data PAPUA NEW GUINEA: Southern Highlands Province: Putuwé, junction of Lagaip & Uruwabwa Rivers. 5.231 S 142.532 E. 570 m a.s.l. 23-26 July 2008. W Maddison & Luc Fimo Tuki leg. WPM#08-019. On leaf litter.

Etymology.

In the Levis’ country home they hosted many animals, domesticated and not. One of these was a dog of multifarious ancestry, Cherubino, named after the character in Mozart’s opera The Marriage of Figaro. The spider resembles the dog in having a hairy, grizzled appearance.

Diagnosis.

Differs from A. papagena in having the tibia of the male palp distinctly narrower than the cymbium (Figs 42 vs. 51), the cephalic area distinctly higher (Figs 44 vs. 53), and in the black body with a dusting of white setae. The bulb of the palp is rotated slightly more than in A. papagena (see Diagnosis for that species).

Description.

Male (holotype). Carapace length 2.16; abdomen length 2.27. Carapace (Figs 44-50): Strangely shaped, as described for the genus, with a constriction between the PME and PLE. Thoracic hump prominent (Fig. 44). Ocular quadrangle occupies more than half of the length of the carapace. Clypeus extremely narrow. Chelicera: Vertical, simple. Teeth not examined for fear of damaging the specimen. Palp (Figs 42, 43): Embolus wrapping around bulb more than once; RTA simple and unbranched. Legs with relatively few short setae, except a greater density yields weak fringes beneath metatarsi and tarsi 2-4 and tibiae 3-4. First tibia with seven pairs of long ventral macrosetae; first metatarsus with two pairs. First femur distinctly swollen in proximal half, shaped like a bird leg’s drumstick (Figs 47, 49). Fourth trochanters distinctly longest, longer than the fourth tarsi (Figs 44, 48). Colour in life (Figs 48-50): Black body with fully or partly erect white setae on the sides and back of the carapace, the abdomen, and the femora of the fourth legs. First and fourth femora black; other segments translucent white to honey with darker lines or patches. Colour in alcohol (Figs 44-47): Carapace brown with black around eyes. Abdomen black except paler around the constriction and anteriorly. Clypeus dark, with only a few setae. Chelicerae honey coloured. Palp black. Legs pale except black on proximal half of first femur, brown to black fourth femur, and black lines on anterior faces of legs 2-4 and posterior faces of legs 3 and 4.

Female. Unknown.

Additional material examined.

One penultimate instar male (specimen PNG2008-2765, in UBC–SEM), with same data as holotype, also from leaf litter. It has a black body and leg markings as in holotype, but is more glabrous, with only a few white setae.