Taliniella nigra ( Forster, 1959 ) 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 : 73

Taliniella nigra ( Forster, 1959) , comb. n.

Figs 7L , 127–128, 131–135, 138C

Textricella nigra Forster, 1959: 279 , figs 10–13 (holotype male from Little Barrier Island, Auckland, New Zealand, in Canterbury Museum, not examined). Brignoli, 1983: 375. Platnick, 2009.

Selected material examined. NEW ZEALAND: North Island: Auckland: Little Barrier Island, 9.XII.1950, 1♁, 1♀ ( AMNH). Hawke’s Bay: Makahu Spur, Kaweka Range, 24.II.1971, J. Townsend, 23♁, 36♀ ( AMNH). Waikato: Te Aroha Mountain (written ‘Te Aroho’), 6.V.1946, J. Salmon, 1♀ ( AMNH). Wellington: Aorangi Mountains, Haurangi, 2.IX.1965, J. Townsend, 2♁, 4♀ (AMNHSEM♁ ♀).

Remarks. Taliniella nigra is a dark brown species with a complex male pedipalpal patella, recognised by Forster (1959) as different to all other Textricellini in New Zealand. It has a relatively widespread distribution on the North Island, although morphological variation exists across the range of this species ( Forster 1959). It can be distinguished from T. vinki by the absence of a dorsal scute on the male abdomen (Fig. 127A) and by the shorter embolus (Fig. 134A).

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.