Karaops jawayway, Crews, 2023

Crews, Sarah C., 2023, But wait, there's more! Descriptions of new species and undescribed sexes of flattie spiders (Araneae, Selenopidae, Karaops) from Australia, ZooKeys 1150, pp. 1-189 : 1

Karaops jawayway sp. nov.

Figs 14A-F , 13E , 15A, E , Maps 1 , 5

Material examined.

Holotype: Northern Territory • ♀ (reared in captivity); Savannah Way, on road to Roper Bar, out of Limmen NP; vic. 14°45'50.44"S, 134°29'50.47"E; 11 Jun. 2016; S. Crews leg.; at dusk, under rocks on steep, shaley hillside with many, many shed snakeskins; sel_1349; SCC16_075; (MAGNT A004905) . Other material examined: 1 imm., same data as holotype; sel_1350; (MAGNT A004906) .

Diagnosis.

Females of Karaops jawayway sp. nov. are similar to those of K. nitmiluk sp. nov. and K. dawara but can be distinguished by the copulatory ducts. In K. jawayway sp. nov., they are wide from their origin at the epigynal windows, narrowed posteriorly, and curved outward within the first third of their length (Fig. 14D, F ), whereas in the other two species, the copulatory ducts are of mostly uniform diameter throughout their length, and are straight or only slightly curved anterior to posterior. In K. jawayway sp. nov. the sclerotized parts of the copulatory ducts are more than one diameter of the sclerotized ducts away from the epigynal windows, and the ducts are mostly horizontal. In K. nitmiluk sp. nov., the sclerotized portion of the copulatory ducts nearly reaches the epigynal windows, and the sclerotized portion of the ducts have coils that generally run anterior to posterior. In K. dawara , the ducts are horizontal and quite thin, with longer lengths between turns, and the accessory bulbs are easy to discern, found at the anterior end of the copulatory ducts.

Description.

Female (holotype). Total length 4.69. Carapace: length 2.07, width 2.56. Chelicerae: promargin with five teeth, two near base of fang smaller than others, retromargin with three teeth. Eyes: AER slightly recurved, PER strongly recurved; diameters AME 0.13, ALE 0.10, PME 0.19, PLE 0.24; interdistances AME-PME 0.04, PME-ALE 0.09, ALE-PLE 0.26, PME-PME 0.78, ALE-ALE 1.12, AME-AME 0.39, PLE-PLE 1.31. Sternum: length 1.23, width 1.30. Abdomen: length 2.62, width 2.38. Color (in life Figs 13E , 14B , 15A /preserved Fig. 14A ): Carapace: brown with two pairs of darker marks behind eye area, three pairs of dark marks laterally/orange-yellow, more contrast between dark and pale parts, setose with patches of white setae behind and lateral to eyes. Chelicerae: yellow-brown, paturon with a longitudinal curved mark frontally, setae sparse. Maxillae: whitish orange. Labium: brown, pale distally. Sternum: yellowish brown. Abdomen: dorsally mostly different shades of brown, from dark to pale, white setal patches across anterior, dark brown spots laterally, brown medial line extended laterally ~ 1/3 way from anterior to posterior, then narrowed, then extended outward again posteriorly, white setal tufts at edges of dark brown areas, dark brown at posterior/mostly dark with a few orangish spots; ventrally yellowish. Legs: brownish yellow, Cx II and III with black stripe prolaterally, Tr with dark mark prolaterally, Fm with dark mark/dusky area at Tr-Fm joint, Fm I with pair of dark lines centrally on prolateral side, dusky annulation near Pt, Fm II-IV with jagged pairs of lines basally and medially, with dusky annulation near Pt, Pt dusky at Fm-Pt joint, Ti with dark annulations, one at Pt-Ti joint, other between that and Ti-Mt joint, Mt with dark annulation at either end, Ta tip dark; spination leg I Fm d 1-1-1, pr 1-1-0, Ti v 2-2-2-2-2-2, Mt v 2-2-2-2; leg II Fm d 1-1-1, Ti v 2-2-2-2-2-2, Mt v 2-2-2-2; leg III Fm d 1-1-1; leg IV Fm d 1-1-1; leg formula 3241; measurements leg I 7.37 (2.27, 0.95, 1.87, 1.32, 0.96); leg II 8.92 (2.76, 0.99, 2.44, 1.59, 1.14); leg III 10.44 (3.27, 1.03, 2.68, 2.26, 1.2); leg IV 9.68 (3.18, 0.82, 2.32, 2.29, 1.07). Palp: spination Fm d 0-1-2 (left), 0-1-3 (right); 1.87 (0.55, 0.36, 0.44, 0.52; both claws missing,). Epigyne: EP somewhat rectangular, rounded anteriorly, wider posteriorly than anteriorly; MF with large unsclerotized area and EWs; LLs close but not in contact medially Fig. 14C, E ). Endogyne: CDs unsclerotized from EWs, then connected to sclerotized portion anterolaterally; ABs small, difficult to discern; S located posteriorly; FDs directed posterolaterally (Fig. 14D, F ).

Male. Unknown.

Etymology.

Jawayway is the name of a spring near the type locality in the Ngalakgan language of the Ngalakgan people that are the traditional owners of the area. Noun in apposition.

Distribution.

Known from only the type locality (Fig. 15E ), Savannah Way near Roper Bar, Northern Territory.

Natural history.

Karaops jawayway sp. nov. occurs in the McArthur subregion of the Gulf Fall and Uplands bioregion. This region comprises spinifex grasslands with eucalypt woodlands. The climate is monsoonal, with more rainfall in the north than the south. There appears to be little known about the arthropods of the subregion ( Bastin 2008). The female matured in the rainiest, hottest part of the year. This species was found under smaller rocks on top of larger rocks on a shaley, steep hillside with an inordinate amount of shed snake skins (Fig. 15A, E , Suppl. material 2: tables S1, S3).

Discussion.

The internal ducts and other features of the endogyne are very difficult to see and were temporarily stained with chlorazol black. This species did extremely well in captivity, with sel_1350 molting 11 times and still not reaching adulthood or even penultimate stage (given the size, this was probably the antepenultimate molt). Other research indicates that Selenops spp. go through numerous instars before reaching adulthood (18) (unpubl. data). Specimen sel_1350 molted quite often, sometimes slightly more than two weeks apart. For additional information, see the Suppl. material 2. The collection site was quite close to that of Karaops kennerleyorum sp. nov.; however molecular data indicate that these two species are not closely related (Suppl. material 1).

Figures

Map 1. Map of Australia showing areas that are expanded in subsequent figures. CD = Central Desert group, D = Karaops dawara group, F = Karaops francesae group, K = Kimberley group, UA = species that are not assigned to a group, PG = Pilbara-Gascoyne group.

Map 5. Species of the Karaops dawara species group; green = Karaops yumbu, pink = Karaops dawara, blue = Karaops nitmiluk sp. nov., purple = juvenile from Cutta Cutta Cave, orange = juvenile from Wongalara Wildlife Sanctuary, red = Karaops jawayway sp. nov. Juveniles are treated as distinct species based on molecular data.

Figure 13. Karaops nitmiluk sp. nov. and Karaops jawayway sp. nov. from the Karaops dawara species group A Karaops nitmiluk sp. nov., Leliyn, Nitmiluk National Park, Northern Territory (sel _ 1342, MAGNT A 004898) B same C same, epigyne D same, endogyne E Karaops jawayway sp. nov., holotype, Savannah Way, Northern Territory (sel _ 1349, MAGNT A 004905). Scale bar: 0.2 mm.

Figure 14. Karaops jawayway sp. nov., holotype, Savannah Way, Northern Territory (sel _ 1349, MAGNT A 004905) A preserved B alive C epigyne, pink = median field, blue-violet = epigynal windows, yellow = lateral lobes D endogyne, yellow = accessory bulbs, blue = spermathecae, red = fertilization ducts, green = posterodorsal fold, AB = accessory bulb E epigyne F endogyne. Scale bar: 0.2 mm.

Figure 15. Karaops jawayway sp. nov. and Karaops yumbu of the Karaops dawara species group A Karaops jawayway sp. nov., Savannah Way, Northern Territory B Karaops yumbu, Browns Range, Western Australia, night C Karaops yumbu habitat, Wolverine pre-pit, Browns Range, Western Australia D Karaops yumbu, Browns Range, Western Australia, night E habitat of Karaops jawayway sp. nov., Savannah Way, Northern Territory F Karaops yumbu, Browns Range, Western Australia (sel _ 1293, WAM T 155669) G same H same. Scale bar: 1 mm.