Artema magna Roewer, 1960

Aharon, Shlomi, Huber, Bernhard A. & Gavish-Regev, Efrat, 2017, Daddy-long-leg giants: revision of the spider genus Artema Walckenaer, 1837 (Araneae, Pholcidae), European Journal of Taxonomy 376 (376), pp. 1-57 : 41-44

Artema magna Roewer, 1960

Figs 1 , 155–169

Artema magna Roewer, 1960: 43–45 , figs 14a–h (♀, Afghanistan).

Diagnosis

The male specimen we tentatively assign to this species differs from all known congeners by the cheliceral armature: each male cheliceral process with unique median projection ending with two modified hairs (arrow in Fig. 164 ) that appear isolated and not linked (by further hairs) to main modified hairs ridge as in A. nephilit sp. nov. Female differs from all congeners by wide epigynal plate (~2.5 × as wide as long) and by distinctively protruding median posterior margin ( Figs 168–169 ).

Material examined

Holotype

AFGHANISTAN: ♀ (together with 1 juv.), Konar valley, Qachgar cave , near Nurgal [34.61° N, 70.76° E], 6 Feb. 1958, K. Lindberg leg. ( NHMG A 196).

Other material

PAKISTAN: 1 ♂, assigned tentatively (see Notes below), Baluchistan Province, Quetta Town [30.18° N, 66.99° E], in building, 27 Jul. 2005, S.V. Ovchinnikov leg. ( ZMMU).

Description

Male ( Pakistan: Quetta; assigned tentatively)

MEASUREMENTS. Total body length 9.3, carapace width 4.3. Leg 1: 54.8 (14.0 + 1.8 + 15.8 + 20.3 + 2.9), tibia 2: 11.8, tibia 3: 9.0, tibia 4: 12.0; tibia 1 L/d: 39. Distance PME–PME 210 μm, diameter PME 230 μm, distance PME–ALE 100 μm, distance AME–AME 30 μm, diameter AME 210 μm.

COLOR. Carapace light ochre to beige with small brown spots laterally forming few small lines near median pit, with light brown median band that splits at posterior margin of ocular area to brown lines following base of ocular area and light brown band medially on ocular area; clypeus with wide ochre brown band below AME that fades towards dark brown edge of clypeus (as in Fig. 155 ); legs ochre to light brown with dark rings on femora subdistally, patellae + tibiae proximally, and tibiae subdistally, tips of femora and tibiae pale ochre; sternum ochre, with brown margins and median light brown dots forming cross-like pattern; abdomen beige without pattern.

BODY. Ocular area slightly elevated; carapace with median pit and distinct posterior furrow; clypeus unmodified; sternum wider than long (3.0/2.1); chelicerae as in Figs 162–164 , with frontal row of ~17 modified (cone-shaped) hairs on each side with median projection ending with two modified hairs that appear isolated and not linked to main modified hairs ridge; without stridulatory ridges; Abdomen globose and high; gonopore with four epiandrous spigots.

PALPS. As in Figs 156–158 ; coxa unmodified; trochanter with short ventral projection; femur with short, somewhat pointed retrolateral process proximally; ventral large membranous area proximally bordered on both sides by sclerotized ridges; femur-patella hinges close together dorsally; patella very short; procursus with proximal dorsal process, with weakly developed ventral pocket, with three weak distal dorsal notches on prolateral margin ( Fig. 160 ); bulb with membranous embolus rising from base of processes a and b, process a slightly spiraling with pointed tip; process b elongated and pointed, process c robust, strongly curved towards prolateral ( Fig. 160 ), process d low rounded projection on ventral side of bulb ( Fig. 159 ).

LEGS.Without spines;with long curved hairs, especially on tibiae and metatarsi; retrolateral trichobothrium on tibia 1 at 10%; prolateral trichobothrium present on all tibiae; pseudosegmentation not visible.

Female (holotype)

In general similar to male; tibia 1: 17.8; abdomen beige with lateral gray stripes with large marks dorsally ( Figs 165–166 ); stridulatory files laterally on chelicerae present; epigynum ~2.5 × wider than long, median posterior margin protruding ( Figs 168–169 ); epigynal plate consisting of two swollen sclerotized lateral areas, pale median area, and dark median anterior sclerite; pair of projections anterior to epigynum (AEP) oval, not prominent; sternum with light brown dots forming cross-like pattern more distinct than in male.

Natural history

The female holotype was collected in a cave. The only known male was collected inside a house, together with a male of a different, unnamed species (see Artema sp. c below).

Distribution

If the male from Pakistan is correctly assigned to this species, then Artema magna may have a wide distribution along the mountain ridge from north-eastern Afghanistan to south-western Pakistan.

Notes

We tentatively assign the male from Pakistan to A. magna mainly because both this male and the female holotype show some specific similarities to A. nephilit sp. nov. rather than to the geographically closer A. doriae and A. transcaspica . Males of A. magna and A. nephilit sp. nov. share the pair of inner projections on the cheliceral process and cheliceral lateral shape, while females have wider epigyna than A. doriae and A. transcaspica .

The dubious Artema ziaretana ( Roewer, 1960) is based on a single juvenile specimen originating from near Jalalabad (located only ~ 35 km from the type locality of A. magna ) and may well be a synonym of A. magna .

Undescribed putative species

The following specimens are not formally described either because of small sample sizes (two putative species are represented by only one specimen each) or because of unclear species limits. Our aim here is to direct future collecting efforts while avoiding the potential taxonomic problems resulting from formal descriptions based on inadequate data. For more specific justifications see individual descriptions below. During the final editing of the manuscript we received further specimens from southern Iran (Fars Prov., Khonj, Khan Cave, 27.7° N, 53.3° E, M.S. Tahami leg., in ZMSU) that seem to represent yet another species.

Figures

Figs 1–2. 1. Known distributions of species of Artema except A. atlanta Walckenaer, 1837. The Japanese record of A. doriae Thorell, 1881 is not shown as it is based on a single introduced specimen. 2. Known distribution of Artema atlanta. Green dots: specimens examined; black dots: specimens not examined (data from: Banks 1898; Beatty et al. 2008; Blackwell 1958; Bösenberg & Lenz 1895; Brignoli 1981; Bryant 1940, 1948; Caporiacco 1928, 1948, 1949; Chamberlin 1924; Chrysanthus 1967; Colmenares 2008; Denis 1953; Doleschall 1857; Dyal 1935; Franganillo 1926a; Gao & Li 2010; Gertsch & Davis 1942; Gonzalez-Sponga 2005; Karsch 1879, 1892; Leardi in Airaghi 1902; Lessert 1936; Majumder & Biswas 1993; Marples 1955; Mello-Leitão 1942; Millot 1946; Moenkhaus 1898; F.O.Pickard-Cambridge 1902; Petrunkevitch 1925, 1929; Pocock 1900; Saaristo 2001; Simon 1885, 1894; Taczanowsky 1874; Thorell 1895, 1898; Vinson 1863; Yaginuma 1970). Records from Israel, Belgium, and Britain are not shown as they are based on single introduced specimens.

Figs 155–161. Artema magna Roewer, 1960. 155. Female prosoma (NHMG A 196, Afghanistan, Konar Valley). 156–158. Male left pedipalp (ZMMU, Pakistan, Baluchistan Province, Quetta): prolateral, dorsal, and retrolateral views. 159–161. Male left bulb and procursus: prolateral, dorsal, and retrolateral views. Scale lines: 155–158 = 1 mm; 159–161 = 0.5 mm.

Figs 162–169. Artema magna Roewer, 1960. 162–164. Male chelicerae (ZMMU, Pakistan, Baluchistan Province, Quetta), lateral and frontal views (arrow: distinctive median projection). 165–166, 168. Female abdomen (NHMG A 196, Afghanistan, Konar Valley): lateral, dorsal, and ventral views. 167, 169. Epigynum and anterior epigynal projections (AEP): lateral and ventral views. Scale lines: 162–164, 167, 169 = 0.5 mm; 165–166, 168 = 1 mm.