Sicarius albospinosus Purcell, 1908

Lotz, L. N., 2012, Present status of Sicariidae (Arachnida: Araneae) in the Afrotropical region, Zootaxa 3522, pp. 1-41 : 3-4

Sicarius albospinosus Purcell, 1908

( Figs. 2A, 3A, 4A, 5A)

Sicarius albospinosus Purcell, 1908: 224 ; Lawrence, 1938: 215, f. 1; Newlands 1986: 45, f. 13–15.

Types: 5 specimens from Namibia: Lüderitz Bay (Angra Pequena), Great Namaqualand, [2639'S, 1509'E], L. Schultze, April 1903 & January 1904 ; 1♀ and 1juv. from Namibia: Lüderitz Bay (Angra Pequena), Great Namaqualand, [2639'S, 1509'E], L. Schultze [examined in part, see note] .

Note: Purcell’s (1908) description of the species was based on the first 5 specimens listed, but from his description these seem to be all juveniles. At the end Purcell (1908) also describes the adult female and mentions 1 juvenile. Newlands (1986) refers to a female holotype and 2 nymphal paratype from the NMNW collection (SMN 35351), however they did not belong to the NMNW collected ( Irish, 1985). A female and 2juveniles were found in the SAMC collection (SAM-ENW-X 150521) that seem to be part of the type material mentioned by Purcell (1908). The label with these specimens read: Sicarius albospinosus Purc. / ♀ (ex typ.) / Lüderitz B. Gr. Namaq. / L. Schultze 1/04. These specimens is here designated as female lectotype and 2 juv. paralectotypes.

Diagnosis: Leg femora in both sexes with long, thin enlarged setae dorsal ( Fig. 2A), in all the other species these setae widen to a certain extent medially. Male embolus ending in a thin pointed apex ( Fig. 3A), this is similar to most of the other species except for S. spatulatus where the embolus apex is broad and blunt. Female spermathecae consist of four long finger-like sacs that branch close to the copulatory tube end, and the copulatory tube has a small triangular lateral extension slightly below the spermathecae ( Fig. 4A); in S. damarensis , S. hahni and S. testaceus the branching is further away from the copulatory tube end, in S. dolichocephalus the copulatory tube is very short and the spermathecae is unbranched and in S. spatulatus the copulatory tube is a broad chamber to witch the spermathecae is joined with thin tubes.

Female: (SAM-ENW-X150521): TL = 11.5; CL = 5.5; CW = 5.6; CLL = 0.7. AME-LE 0.6; Eye diameter 0.2.

Leg measurements:

Distribution: Sicarius albospinosus is distributed along the central and southern coastal areas of Namibia ( Fig.

5A).