Agorioides papagena, Maddison, Wayne P. & Szűts, Tamas, 2019

Maddison, Wayne P. & Szűts, Tamas, 2019, Myrmarachnine jumping spiders of the new subtribe Levieina from Papua New Guinea (Araneae, Salticidae, Myrmarachnini), ZooKeys 842, pp. 85-112 : 85

Agorioides papagena sp. n. Figs 51-59, 90

Type material.

Holotype: male in UBC–SEM, specimen code PNG2008-1706 and DNA voucher code d253, with data PAPUA NEW GUINEA: Southern Highlands Province: Tualapa, near Wanakipa. 5.283 S 142.498 E. 1000-1100 m a.s.l. 11-22 July 2008. W Maddison & Luc Fimo Tuki leg. WPM#08-008. Forest interior and riverside on leaf litter.

Etymology.

The Levis’ love of opera was reflected in their animals’ names, including their dog Papagena, named after the character in Mozart’s The Magic Flute. The spider does not look like the dog or the opera character. Although the holotype is a male, the species is named for the female that remains to be found.

Diagnosis.

Differs from A. cherubino in having the tibia of the male palp almost as wide as the cymbium (Fig. 51), flatter profile of the carapace (Fig. 53), and a distinctly orange body and legs. The bulb of the palp is rotated less in A. papagena than in A. cherubino , as seen by the orientation of the spermophores in Fig. 51 versus Fig. 42. Although this could be due to a slight expansion of the palp of the one known specimen of A. papagena , suggested by the offset of the tip of its embolus from the cymbial apical groove, this offset is of lesser angle than the difference in spermophore orientation.

Description.

Male (holotype). Carapace length 2.84; abdomen length 3.24. Structure of body, legs as in A. cherubino (Figs 53-57), with first leg having swollen femur (Figs 57, 58). Chelicera (Fig. 54): Vertical, though robust. Four retromarginal teeth. Palp (Figs 51, 52): Embolus wrapping around bulb more than once; RTA simple and unbranched. Tibia distinctly wider than in A. cherubino . Colour in life (Fig. 58): Orange, darkening to brown on the abdomen and with black around the eyes. Swollen femur of the first leg particularly bright orange. Some partially-erect white setae on carapace sides beneath the eyes, on thorax, and on fourth femora, but not as dense or distinct as in A. cherubino . Colour in alcohol (Figs 53, 54, 56, 57): Except for black around the eyes, carapace, legs and palpi are orange, darkest on the thorax and palest at the leg tarsi. Abdomen a muted orangish gray.

Female. Unknown.

Additional material examined.

One juvenile (specimen PNG2008-1676, in UBC–SEM, Fig. 59), similarly coloured, with same data as holotype, on leaf litter.