Eperiella alsophila Rix & Harvey, 2010

Rix, Michael & Harvey, Mark, 2010, The spider family Micropholcommatidae (Arachnida: Araneae: Araneoidea): a relimitation and revision at the generic level, ZooKeys 36 (36), pp. 1-321 : 68-69

Eperiella alsophila Rix & Harvey , sp. n.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:39F75041-0C29-4B76-AF30-65C126B04D3C

Figs 7J , 47D , 109–111, 112A–B, 115–119, 212

Type material. Holotype male: 25–27 km N. of Chaitén , Palena province, Región de los Lagos, Chile, 40 m, moss Berlese from wet virgin forest, 17.I.1986, N. Platnick, T. Schuh ( AMNH).

Paratypes: Allotype female, same data as holotype ( AMNH); 2 males and 1 female, same data as holotype (AMNHSEM♁) .

Other material examined. CHILE: Región X (Los Lagos): Chiloé: Chiloé Island, 5 km N. of Quellon , 105 m, Berlese from modified forest, floor litter and moss, 1.XII.1981, N. Platnick, T. Schuh, 3♀ (AMNHSEM ♀). Llanquihue : Alerce Andino , near Laguna Fria , Berlese from mixed forest with Fitzroya cupresoides , 41°30'30"S, 72°37'00"W, 21.XII.2000, J. Miller, F. Alvarez, J. Coddington, 1♀ ( NMNH). Región XI ( Ibáñez del Campo ): Aisén: Parque Nacional Queulat, near Puerto Cisnes, 500 m, wet forest, 6.II.1985, N. Platnick, O. Francke, 2♁, 1♀ ( AMNH) ; 30 km N. of Puyuhuapi , 100 m, sifted moss on logs, 29.I.1985, S. & J. Peck, 1♁, 1♀ ( AMNH) .

Etymology. The specific epithet is derived from the Greek ‘alsos’, meaning ‘grove’ ( Brown 1956), and refers to the cool temperate rainforests in which this species occurs.

Diagnosis. Males and females of Eperiella alsophila can be distinguished from E. hastings by the presence of normal, pigmented eyes (Fig. 109C). Both sexes can also be recognised by the Chilean distribution (Fig. 212). In the field this species is likely to be confused only with the sympatric species Normplatnicka chilensis , which has a very different male pedipalp and female epigyne.

Description. Holotype male: Total length 0.78. Carapace 0.41 long, 0.33 wide. Abdomen 0.46 long, 0.33 wide. Leg I femur 0.34. Cephalothorax, legs tan-yellow; abdomen pale olive-cream. Carapace raised anteriorly, not fused to sternum except around petiole; dorsal surface of pars cephalica slightly convex in lateral view. Eight eyes present on anterior margin of pars cephalica; AME very small, less than 0.5x diameter of ALE; PME touching mesally. Chelicerae without bulging anterior projec- tions; promargin with two peg teeth. Legs relatively short (leg I femur-carapace ratio 0.83); macrosetae absent. Abdomen oval, covered with hair-like setae; dorsal scute and lateral sclerotic strips absent. Pedipalpal patella with retrolaterally-directed, hooked lRPA and ornate, ridged cuticular microstructure; tegulum smooth, with curved, marginal ETR; embolus very long (length >> 5× width), coiling 1.5x around margin of tegulum, distally with expanded, ‘trumpet-shaped’ morphology (Fig. 111).

Allotype female: Total length 0.75. Carapace 0.39 long, 0.31 wide. Abdomen 0.47 long, 0.35 wide. Leg I femur 0.32. Cephalothorax, legs tan-yellow; abdomen pale olive-cream with darker tan-yellow epigyne. Carapace raised anteriorly, not fused to sternum except around petiole; dorsal surface of pars cephalica slightly convex in lateral view. Eight eyes present on anterior margin of pars cephalica; AME very small, less than 0.5x diameter of ALE; PME almost touching mesally. Chelicerae without bulging anterior projections; promargin without peg teeth. Legs relatively short (leg I femur-carapace ratio 0.82); macrosetae absent. Abdomen oval, covered with hair-like setae; dorsal scute and lateral sclerotic strips absent. Pedipalp entire, five-segmented. Epigyne with distinctive, ‘drumstick-shaped’ external morphology (Fig. 109D); receptacula with posterior spermathecae; insemination ducts coiled around receptacula; fertilisation ducts ventrally-looped (Figs 112A–B).

Distribution. Known only from southern Chile, in Región Ibáñez del Campo (Aisén province) and Región de los Lagos (Chiloé, Llanquihue and Palena provinces) (Fig. 212).

Remarks. Eperiella alsophila is a remarkable Chilean textricellin, very similar to the rare and highly restricted Australian species E. hastings . It is known only from the cooltemperate rainforests of southern Chile, in the regions surrounding Chiloé Island, and has usually been collected in direct sympatry with Normplatnicka chilensis (Fig. 212).

Figures

Figure 7. The genera of Micropholcommatidae, illustrated with habitus photographs of representative male specimens. A–D tribe Micropholcommatini: A Micropholcomma caeligenum Crosby & Bishop B Pua novaezealandiae Forster C Austropholcomma florentine sp. n. D Tricellina gertschi (Forster & Platnick). E–M tribe Textricellini: E Eterosonycha aquilina sp. n. F Epigastrina fulva (Hickman) G Raveniella peckorum sp. n. H Rayforstia vulgaris (Forster) I Normplatnicka lamingtonensis (Forster)] Eperiella alsophila sp. n. K Algidiella aucklandica (Forster) L Taliniella nigra (Forster) M Tinytrella pusilla (Forster). N Patelliella adusta sp. n., tribe Patelliellini. O–P subfamily Taphiassinae: O Olgania excavata Hickman P Taphiassa robertsi sp. n. Q–R subfamily Gigiellinae: Q Gigiella milledgei sp. n. R Gigiella platnicki sp. n. Note that Guiniella tropica (Forster) is not illustrated.

Figure 47. Diagnostic characters of the derived Textricellini (i.e. all textricellin genera except Tinytrella), illustrated with scanning electron micrographs: A–B three peg teeth on the cheliceral promargin of male Normplatnicka lamingtonensis (Forster) (left) and male Rayforstia vulgaris (Forster) (right) C–D ornate, ridged cuticular microstructure on the pedipalpal patella of male N. lamingtonensis (left) and male Eperiella alsophila sp. n. (right).