Argiope butchko LeQuier & Agnarsson

Agnarsson, Ingi, LeQuier, Stephanie M., Kuntner, Matjaz, Cheng, Ren-Chung, Coddington, Jonathan A. & Binford, Greta, 2016, Phylogeography of a good Caribbean disperser: Argiopeargentata (Araneae, Araneidae) and a new ' cryptic' species from Cuba, ZooKeys 625, pp. 25-44 : 33-35

Taxon classification Animalia Araneae Araneidae

Argiope butchko LeQuier & Agnarsson sp. n.

Etymology.

The species epithet, a noun in apposition, honors the memory of Dennis Butchko, an inspiring science teacher.

Type material.

Female holotype from Siboney, Santiago de Cuba (19.9608°N, 75.7076°W), April 1, 2012, Col. Team CarBio, deposited in the Smithsonian (NMNH). Two female paratypes, one from the type location and one from Sierra de Camaguey, Camaguey, Cuba (21.5916°N, 77.7882°W). Three male paratypes, one from holotype location, one from Sierra de Camaguey, Camaguey, Cuba, and one from Viñales, Sierra de los Órganos,Pinar del Rio, Cuba 22.6210°N, 83.7383°W. Paratypes will be deposited in the Smithsonian (NMNH).

Diagnosis.

Argiope butchko sp. n. differs from all other Argiope except Argiope argentata by the presence of the embolic distal curl (Levi, 2004: fig. 43, arrow). No distinct feature of the male palp and female epigynum were found that reliably diagnose Argiope butchko sp. n. from Argiope argentata .

Argiope butchko sp. n. and Argiope argentata can be diagnosed from one another, and other related Argiope species, on the basis of the following unique, synapomorphic, mtDNA nucleotide substitutions at the following standard DNA barcode alignment positions in each species (following Agnarsson et al. (2015)):

Argiope butchko : A (127), C (133), C (157) C (178), T (190), G (208), C (226), A (293), G (316), A (379, G (502), G (508), C (607); Argiope argentata : G (49), G (211), A (508), A (511), G (643).

Description.

Males and females of this species closely resemble Argiope argentata ( Fabricius 1775; Levi 1983; Levi 2004). Males have a distal curl on the embolus ( Levi 2004: fig. 43, arrow) and a median apophysis that is blunt at the tip (Figs 4m, o, 5). Females of Argiope argentata typically have a brown sternum with a median white line ( Levi 1968). In Argiope butchko sp. n. the posterior half of the sternum is white or off-white and the anterior half is brown with a small median white dot on the anterior edge (Fig. 4c). However, this feature is not clearly diagnostic as variation is observed in Argiope argentata . The epigynum of Argiope butchko sp. n. has a wider posterior plate than Caribbean Argiope argentata and a smaller anterior bulge (Fig. 4 G–I), but again variation in Argiope argentata outside the Caribbean suggests this feature is not diagnostic for the species.

Dimensions (mm). Holotype (female) - Total body length excluding chelicera 10.74, carapace length 5.00, carapace width 4.36. Leg I: femur length 8.28, patella and tibia length 8.63mm, metatarsus 8.00, tarsus 2.09. Leg II: patella and tibia length 8.06. Leg III: patella and tibia length 4.66. Leg IV: patella and tibia length 7.13.

Variation (mm). Female (N=4) - Total body length ranged from 10.29-10.74, carapace length 3.84-5.00, carapace width 3.16-4.36. Leg I: femur length 6.50-8.28, patella and tibia length 6.40-8.63, metatarsus 5.77-8.00, tarsus 1.80-2.09. Leg II: patella and tibia length 7.83-8.06. Leg III: patella and tibia length 3.73-4.66. Leg IV: patella and tibia length 4.66-7.13. Male (N=3) - Total body length ranged from 2.88-3.44, carapace length 1.70-1.88, carapace width 1.44-1.57. Leg I: femur length 1.62-2.14, patella and tibia length 1.99-2.37, metatarsus 1.74-1.88, tarsus 0.81-0.88. Leg II: patella and tibia length 1.41-1.90. Leg III: patella and tibia length N/A. Leg IV: patella and tibia length 1.40-1.63.

Distribution.

The species is restricted to Cuba.

Natural history note.

Three embolus tips were found embedded in the epigynum of a female Argiope butchko , one in the left opening and two in the right opening (Fig. 4 g–h) This is similar to Argiope argentata , which has been known to have up to five embolic tips in one female ( Jaeger 2012).