Platoecobius kooch, Santos & Gonzaga, 2008

Santos, Adalberto J. & Gonzaga, Marcelo O., 2008, Two new Neotropical spiders of the genera Oecobius and Platoecobius (Araneae: Oecobiidae), Zootaxa 1786 (1), pp. 61-68 : 65-67

publication ID

https://doi.org/ 10.11646/zootaxa.1786.1.5

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5124960

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/F67187B6-5177-FF92-FF66-970C943EFEA8

treatment provided by

Felipe

scientific name

Platoecobius kooch
status

sp. nov.

Platoecobius kooch View in CoL sp. nov.

Figures 8–11 View FIGURES 8–10 View FIGURE 11

Type material. Holotype: Female from General Roca (39 o 02’S, 67 o 31’W), Province of Río Negro, Argentina, October 1963, Bachmann coll., deposited in MACN GoogleMaps . Paratypes: Two females from the same locality as the holotype, deposited in MACN GoogleMaps . Female from the same locality, deposited in IBSP 79531 View Materials GoogleMaps . Female from Los Altares (43 o 51’S, 68 o 48’W), Province of Chubut, Argentina, 3–5.XI.1990, L.E. Peña coll., deposited in AMNH GoogleMaps . Female from Valle de las Ruinas (43 o 51’S, 68 o 15’W), Ruta Nacional 25, Province of Chubut, Argentina, 31.IX.1982, M.J. Ramírez coll., deposited in MACN GoogleMaps .

Etymology. The specific name refers to Kóoch, a deity from the mythology of the Tehuelche Indians, the original inhabitants of the Argentinean Patagonia. According to the creation myths of this people, Kóoch created the primitive ocean with his tears after many ages of crying of loneliness in the dark. The name is to be treated as a noun in apposition.

Diagnosis. Platoecobius kooch can be recognized by the anterior pit of the epigynum half-moon shaped and located close to the copulatory openings ( Figs. 9 View FIGURES 8–10 , 11 View FIGURE 11 ). In P. floridanus the anterior pit is deeply incised, Vshaped and is located distant from the copulatory openings ( Shear 1970: figs. 46, 47; Craig et al. 2005: fig. 43.8). The internal genitalia ( Fig. 10 View FIGURES 8–10 ) differ by the absence of the strongly sclerotised basal quarter of copulatory ducts, which is present in P. floridanus ( Shear 1970: fig. 47) and is usually visible through translucent epigynal integument ( Shear 1970: fig. 46; Craig et al. 2005: fig. 43.8). Additionally, P. kooch can be recognised by the retrolaterally bent fertilisation ducts and almost straight copulatory ducts (respectively straight and curved in P. floridanus, Shear 1970 : fig. 47).

Description. Male, Unknown.

Female (holotype). Carapace dark grey, darker on the margins. Ocular mound with a posterior bird-shaped dark spot ( Fig. 8 View FIGURES 8–10 ). All eyes white, except anterior medians. Clypeus, chelicerae, labium, endites and sternum brownish. Coxae and trochanters cream-coloured, dark grey laterally. Femora cream-coloured, with a median and an apical dark rings. Patellae, tibiae, and metatarsi cream-coloured, dark grey in the distal half. Tarsi cream-coloured. Pedipalp cream-coloured, with all segments except tarsus darker in the distal half. Abdomen dorsally black with lateral, sinuous white stripes from the anterior margin to posterior second third. Posterior portion of abdominal dorsum white. Paler areas of abdomen with a few white guanine spots. Sides black, venter cream-coloured. Spinnerets grey, darker on retrolateral sides. Cribellum divided, calamistrum occupying the basal two-thirds of the length of metatarsus IV. Epigynum very simple, with only the transverse septum delimiting copulatory openings and anterior pit ( Fig. 11 View FIGURE 11 ) and the fertilisation duct sclerotised capsules visible by transparency through the cuticle ( Fig. 9 View FIGURES 8–10 ). Internal genitalia with spermathecae collapsed, probably due to manipulation or dehydration by ethanol preservation. Copulatory and fertilisation ducts widely attached to spermathecal median wall, CD clearly less sclerotised than FD. Sclerotised capsule with a wide and short dorsal duct, possibly connected to uterus externus ( Fig. 10 View FIGURES 8–10 ). Total length 2.8. Carapace 0.67 long, 0.97 wide. Tibia I length 0.57, II 0.57, III 0.53, IV 0.6. Abdomen 1.9 long, 1.4 wide.

Variation. Total length 2.27–2.93; carapace width 0.97–1.07 (N=5). Some specimens have the abdomen almost completely black, with a pair of lateral and a posterior cream-coloured spots ( Fig. 8 View FIGURES 8–10 ).

Distribution. Southern Argentina.

Natural history. The holotype was found under a stone (M.J. Ramírez, personal communication).

MACN

Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales Bernardino Rivadavia

AMNH

American Museum of Natural History

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Arthropoda

Class

Arachnida

Order

Araneae

Family

Oecobiidae

Genus

Platoecobius

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