Maratus Karsch, 1878

Baehr, Barbara C. & Whyte, Robert, 2016, The Peacock Spiders (Araneae: Salticidae: Maratus) of the Queensland Museum, including six new species, Zootaxa 4154 (5), pp. 501-525 : 502

publication ID

https://doi.org/ 10.11646/zootaxa.4154.5.1

publication LSID

lsid:zoobank.org:pub:9C689664-C36A-46F8-B106-6EF6D18B1D50

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6059657

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/D709975B-C539-566C-2DB3-FD7B373DF9AF

treatment provided by

Plazi

scientific name

Maratus Karsch, 1878
status

 

Genus Maratus Karsch, 1878 View in CoL View at ENA

Maratus Karsch, 1878: 27 View in CoL . Type species designated by monotypy: Maratus amabilis Karsch, 1878 View in CoL , in Bonnet, 1957: 2713.

The endemic Australian Jumping spider genus Maratus View in CoL belongs to the Saitis View in CoL clade together with the salticid genera Saitis View in CoL , Jotus View in CoL , Prostheclina View in CoL , Hypoblemum , ‘Lycidas’, Maileus View in CoL , Barraina View in CoL and possibly Margaromma ( Zhang & Maddison, 2015) View in CoL . Zhang and Maddison (2015) suggested merging the genera of this clade into Saitis View in CoL . To explore this notion further it may be worthwhile to take a closer look into the ultrastructure of the embolic disc and the embolus which appear to have a lot of hidden characters not visible with a normal microscope ( Figs 1 View FIGURE 1 , 7 View FIGURE 7 , 11 View FIGURE 11 , 15 View FIGURE 15 ); however this paper does not aim to explore the monophyly of these genera, rather it is to describe a number of new species of the endemic Australian Peacock spider genus Maratus View in CoL found in the Queensland Museum Collection, obtained on Bush Blitz expeditions and elsewhere.

Diagnosis. Members of the genus Maratus share with other genera of the Saitis clade a relatively large male palpal bulb with a retrolateral sperm duct loop (RSDL), a large retrobasal tegular lobe (TL), a finger-like retrolateral tibial apophysis (RTA), an anticlockwise coiled embolus (E) and a lamella on the tegular shoulder (LTS) of the male palp ( Zhang & Maddison, 2015).

Maratus View in CoL can be separated from other Saitis View in CoL clade genera by males having an opisthosomal plate (often with lateral wings, flaps or a wide lateral fringe) covered with a dense layer of colourful iridescent setae ( Otto & Hill, 2012a), elevated to display to the female during courtship. Lateral ornamentation in the species here can be a minimal edge ( Figs 8 View FIGURE 8 E) as in M. anomalus View in CoL , M. julianneae View in CoL ; a larger flap which nearly always remains folded around the opisthosoma ( Fig. 12 View FIGURE 12 B) as in M. eliasi View in CoL ; or a big flap running along the whole side of the opisthosoma ( Fig. 16 View FIGURE 16 E), as in M. pavonis var. nornalup , M. volans View in CoL and M. speciosus View in CoL . Some Maratus View in CoL species have inflatable spinnerets which are used in the courtship dance [described in detail in Otto & Hill, 2012b] and shown here in ( Figs 12 View FIGURE 12 A, 13A) in the cases of M. eliasi View in CoL and M. ottoi View in CoL .

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Arthropoda

Class

Arachnida

Order

Araneae

Family

Salticidae

Loc

Maratus Karsch, 1878

Baehr, Barbara C. & Whyte, Robert 2016
2016
Loc

Maratus

Karsch 1878: 27
1878
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