Charinus pescotti Dunn, 1949

Miranda, Gustavo Silva de, Giupponi, Alessandro P. L., Prendini, Lorenzo & Scharff, Nikolaj, 2021, Systematic revision of the pantropical whip spider family Charinidae Quintero, 1986 (Arachnida, Amblypygi), European Journal of Taxonomy 772, pp. 1-409 : 167-169

Charinus pescotti Dunn, 1949

Figs 94 , 101–102 ; Table 7

Charinus pescotti Dunn, 1949: 8–11 , figs 1–3.

Charinus pescotti – Monteith 1965: 87. — Baehr 1974: 101–104, fig. 1. — Harvey 1985: 157; 2003: 7. — Delle Cave 1986: 162, fig. II. — Gray & Robinson 1986: 218–224, figs 1–16. — Quintero 1986: 208, fig. 12. — Weygoldt 2006b: 30–32, figs 40–44. — Harvey et al. 2012: 8. — Gibbons et al. 2019: 498, 500–503, figs 1f–g, 2.

Diagnosis

This species may be separated from other species of Charinus in Oceania by means of the following combination of characters: chelicerae with small tooth projecting from retrolateral surface of basal segment, opposite to bifid tooth; retrolateral surface of cheliceral claw with two patches of setae, basally and subdorsally; pedipalp coxa with seta encircled by round carina and three setae on margin; setiferous tubercle present between ventral spine 1 and proximal margin of pedipalp femur; leg I with first tarsal article similar in length to sum of subsequent four articles.

Charinus pescotti is the only species with elongated first tarsal article to have 41 articles on tarsus I. All other species with the same character, i.e., proximal tarsal article longer than the length of the subsequent three to ten articles combined ( C. carvalhoi sp. nov., C. longitarsus , C. magalhaesi sp. nov., and C. montanus ), have less than 40 tarsal articles.

Etymology

Patronym honoring R.T.M. Pescott ( Dunn 1949).

Type material

Holotype AUSTRALIA • ♀; Queensland, Barron Falls ; 1923; G.F. Hill leg.; NMV [not examined].

Additional material

AUSTRALIA • 1 ♂, 1 subad. ♂, 1 juv.; Freshwater Creek, at Crystal Cascades , 10 km S of Freshwater; 17°00′ S, 145°40′ E; 12 Jul. 1986; M.S. Harvey and P.J. Vaughan leg.; WAM T577 89 • 2 juv. ♀♀; Crystal Cascades , NE of Cairns; [16°57′43.04″ S, 145°40′47″ E]; 24 Aug. 1980; M.S. Harvey leg., WAM T57788 • 1 ♀; Flying Fish Point, Innisfail ; [17°29′45.53″ S, 146°04′17.03″ E]; 21 Jan. 1975; R.J. Raven leg.; WAM T57787 • 1 ♀ juv.; Iron Range, West Claudie River ; 12°43′ S, 143°17′ E; 3–10 Dec. 1985; G. Monteith and D. Cook leg.; rainforest; QM S38779 • 2 juv.; West Claudie R. [river], Iron Range ; 50 m a.s.l.; 3–10 Dec. 1985; G. Monteith and D. Cook leg.; rainforest; QM S38787 • 1 ♂; 2 km WNW of Cape Tribulation; [16°04′50.84″ S, 145°26′38.9″ E]; 23 Sep.–7 Oct. 1982; QM S38776 • 2 ♀♀, 1 ♂, 9 juv.; 2 km WNW of Cape Tribulation (site 2); [16°05′16.44″ S, 145°26′26.82″ E]; 23 Sep.–7 Oct. 1982; Monteith, Yeates and Thompson leg.; QM S38788 • 1 ♀; NeS of Pilgrim Sands, Cape Tribulation ; [16°04′06.68″ S, 145°27′53.49″ E]; 28 Aug. 1988; R. Raven, T. Churchill and J. Gallon le g.; QM S38792 • 2 ♂♂; Queensland, Home Rule ; 15°44′46.7″ S, 145°17′47.7″ E; L. Monod and G. Romand; 23 Jul. 2006; 191 m a.s.l.; walking track to waterfall, lowland rainforest, in between stones/in rock crevices; AMCC [ LP 6367 ] • 1 ♂; Queensland, Crystal Cascades ; 16°57′58.3″ S, 145°40′45.9″ E; 10 Jul. 2006; 46 m a.s.l.; L. Monod leg.; rainforest, in rock cervices and in shallow burrows under stones, near a creek; AMCC [ LP 6366 ] .

Supplementary description

CARAPACE. Median eyes and median ocular tubercle well developed ( Fig. 101A ); pair of setae on median ocular tubercle; lateral eyes well developed, seta posterior to lateral ocular triad; lateral ocular triad well separated from margin of carapace; frontal process triangular ( Fig. 101C ).

STERNUM. Tritosternum projected anteriorly with typical setation ( Fig. 101B ); other sternal platelets wide, with seta on each lateral border and some smaller setae in between; pentasternum with two setae anteriorly and without seta in membranous region.

OPISTHOSOMA. Ventral sacs and ventral sac cover absent.

GENITALIA. Posterior margin of female genital operculum slightly convex; gonopod cushion-like (see Weygoldt 2006: figs 41–42) and slightly sclerotized basally. Male gonopod ( Fig. 102A–C ) with border of fistula and lateral lobes sclerotized; lateral lobe 2 fimbriate ( Fig 102E ); dorsal lobe with more ventral position, situated behind lateral lobe 1 ( Fig. 102D ); processus internus short ( Fig. 102F ).

CHELICERAE. Small tooth projecting from retrolateral surface of basal segment, opposite to bifid tooth; retrolateral surface of claw with two patches of setae, basally and subdorsally; claw with four teeth; row of eleven or twelve setae on prolateral surface of basal segment; bifid tooth on basal segment with dorsal cusp larger than ventral cusp.

PEDIPALPS. Coxal dorsal carina with seta encircled by round carina and three setae on margin. Femur with four dorsal spines (one specimen with five dorsal spines on one pedipalp) and four ventral spines ( Fig. 101E–F ); setiferous tubercle between ventral spine 1 and proximal margin. Patella with three dorsal spines and three prominent setiferous tubercles proximal to spine III ( Fig. 101E ); prominent setiferous tubercle distal to spine I, one-third length of spine I; two ventral spines (one specimen with three ventral spines on one pedipalp); setiferous tubercle between spine I and distal margin. Tibia with ventral spine distally and seta between spine and distal margin. Tarsus with two dorsal spines, distal spine long, more than half length of tarsus, proximal spine one-third length of distal spine ( Fig. 101D ); several long, narrow setae ventral to distal spine; cleaning organ with 24–29 setae in ventral row.

LEGS. Tibia of leg I with 23 articles; tarsus I with 41 articles; first tarsal article similar in length to sum of subsequent four articles, and second article very short (mean size of first article: 0.89 mm; mean sum of subsequent four articles: 0.81, n=4). Leg IV basitibia with four pseudo-articles, trichobothrium bt situated in distal third of pseudo-article; distitibia trichobothrium bc situated closer to sbf than to bf, sc and sf series each with five trichobothria.

Measurements

See Table 7.

Distribution

Known only from Queensland, Australia.

Natural history

Epigean, found on the forest floor. See Gray & Robinson (1986) for a detailed study of the ecology of C. pescotti .

Remarks

See Weygoldt (2006b) for a redescription of C. pescotti . The paratype from Savo Island, Solomon Islands, was misidentified. It is described below as Sarax dunni sp. nov.

Figures

Fig. 94. Map plotting known distributions of species of Charinus Simon, 1892 in Oceania, with inset for New Caledonia.

Fig. 101. Charinus pescotti Dunn, 1949 (AMCC [LP 6367]), general morphology, ♂. A. Habitus, dorsal view. B. Sternum, ventral view. C. Frontal process. D. Pedipalp tarsus, frontal view. E. Pedipalp, dorsal view. F. Pedipalp, ventral view. Scale bars: A–B, E–F = 1 mm; C = 0.1 mm; D = 0.5 mm.

Fig. 102. Charinus pescotti Dunn, 1949 (AMCC [LP 6367]), male gonopod.A. Ventral view.B. Posterior view. C. Dorsal view. D. Lateral lobe 1 and dorsal lobe. E. Lateral lobe 2. F. Lamina medialis and processus internus.