Amilaps, Maddison, Wayne P., 2019

Maddison, Wayne P., 2019, A new lapsiine jumping spider from North America, with a review of Simon's Lapsias species (Araneae, Salticidae, Spartaeinae), ZooKeys 891, pp. 17-29 : 17

Amilaps gen. nov.

Type species.

Amilaps mayana sp. nov.

Etymology.

An arbitrary combination of letters, composed to contain a reference to the Mayan word for spider ( “äm”, Christensen 1987) and to Lapsias , to be treated grammatically as feminine.

Diagnosis.

Differs from all described lapsiines in having a large sclerite (p in Fig. 3 ) cradling the tip of the embolus, and in having four retromarginal teeth on the chelicerae (two in all others; see Ruiz and Maddison 2012, Maddison 2012, Ruiz 2013). Differs from Lapsias , Soesiladeepakius , and Thrandina in lacking a prolateral pre-embolic spermophore loop (see Ruiz and Maddison 2012), although the loop may be present on the retrolateral side (see below under “Relationships”). Unlike most Lapsias species, Amilaps has the PME displaced medially, as far as the medial edge of the ALE.

Relationships.

The four retromarginal cheliceral teeth suggest that Amilaps is outside a clade including all previously described lapsiine genera, which share the synapomorphy of a reduction to two teeth ( Ruiz and Maddison 2012) from the plurident condition in other Spartaeinae. There are no clear characters linking Amilaps to any particular lapsiines: it lacks the highly reduced RTA of Lapsias , the round tegulum of Galianora , the large PME and robust median apophysis of Thrandina , and the many peculiarities of Soesiladeepakius and Lapsamita . The spermophore of Amilaps appears to lack the pre-embolic loop approaching the median apophysis, widespread in lapsiines (e.g., Figs 14 , 21 , 30 , 41 ; Maddison 2012: figs 7, 11, 12; see Ruiz and Maddison 2012: character 17). In Amilaps mayana the spermophore does in fact closely approach the median apophysis (MA), but on the retrolateral side of the bulb. In ventral view, it passes just retrolateral to the MA, but in retrolateral view it can be seen to be curved, reaching its ventralmost point just proximal to the MA. If this is the same pre-embolic loop but displaced retrolaterally, it hints to the possibility that the base of the embolus of A. mayana may be unusually large, occupying a large proportion of the prolateral side of the bulb.

If Amilaps is outside the clade of previous lapsiines, then an open question is whether it belongs with them at all. The tribe Lapsiini has no known morphological synapomorphies ( Maddison 2015) other than the reduction in cheliceral teeth ( Ruiz and Maddison 2012). Our understanding of morphology gives little reason to expect that salticids in the Americas left over once salticines and lyssomanines are removed would form a clade, but the molecular data suggests this, at least among those species studied ( Maddison et al. 2014). Amilaps is exactly that: a generalized salticid that is not a salticine or lyssomanine. Were it to have been found in New Guinea, Amilaps would fit equally happily among the cocalodines according to our current knowledge. Thus, its current placement among the lapsiines is tentative.

Figures

Figures 1 - 11. Amilaps mayana, sp. nov, male holotype 1 - 4 palp 1 ventral view 2 prolateral view 3 ventral view 4 retrolateral view 5 face 6, 7 carapace, dorsal view 8 body in alcohol 9 posterior ventral view of chelicera showing four retromarginal teeth 10, 11 living specimen. Abbreviations: e embolus, s spermophore, ma median apophysis, p sclerotized projection serving as conductor. Scale bars: 0.1 mm (1); 1.0 mm (6, 8).

Figures 12 - 18. Lapsias estebanensis, lectotype male 12 - 14 palp 12 ventral view 13 retrolateral view of tibia 14 ventral view 15 dorsal view of body 16 ventral view of body 17 oblique view of prosoma 18 chelicerae from below. Abbreviations: e embolus, c? scerite homologous to that called the conductor in other lapsiines, ma median apophysis. Scale bars: 0.1 mm (12); 1.0 mm (otherwise).

Figures 19 - 29. Lapsias ciliatus, lectotype male (19 - 25) paralectotype (26), and associated female (27 - 29). 19 - 21 Male palp 19 ventral view 20 retrolateral view of tibia 21 ventral view 22 male body from above 23 body from below 24 chelicera from below 25 face 26 paralectotype male body from above 27 epigyne from below 28 vulva from above 29 body of same female as 27, 28. Scale bars: 0.1 mm (19, 27); 1.0 mm (otherwise).

Figures 30 - 40. Lapsias cyrboides lectotype male (30 - 34, 36), paralectotype male (35), and female tentatively considered of this species (37 - 40). 30 - 32 Palp 30 ventral view 31 retrolateral view of tibia 32 ventral view 33 body from above 34 body from below 35 paralectotype male body from above 36 lectotype male face 37 epigyne from below 38 vulva from above 39 female body from above 40 body from below. Scale bars: 0.1 mm (30); 1.0 mm (otherwise).

Figures 41 - 51. Lapsias tovarensis lectotype male (41 - 47) and female tentatively considered of this species (48 - 51). 41 - 43 Palp 41 ventral view 42 retrolateral view of tibia 43 ventral view 44 body from above 45 body from below 46 face 47 chelicerae from below 48 epigyne from below 49 vulva from above 50 female body from above 51 body from below. Abbreviations: c? sclerite homologous to that called the conductor in other lapsiines. Scale bars: 0.1 mm (41); 1.0 mm (otherwise).