Anatea formicaria Berland, 1927

Smith, Helen M., Harvey, Mark S., Agnarsson, Ingi & Anderson, Gregory J., 2017, Notes on the Ant-mimic Genus Anatea Berland (Araneae: Theridiidae) and Two New Species from Tropical Australia, Records of the Australian Museum (Rec. Aust. Mus.) 69 (1), pp. 1-13 : 5

Anatea formicaria Berland

Figs 1–12 , 42

Anatea formicaria Berland, 1927: 55 , figs 1–7.

Not species figured bY Reiskind & Levi, 1967: 21, figs 1–6 (misidentification, we refer this to sp. “J5”, Fig. 41 ).

Diagnosis. Male: From other New Caledonian species shown in Figs 38–41, 43 by pedicel and carapace morphology and careful comparison of palp, particularly embolus length. From Australian species, leg I longer than leg III, pedicel with “node”, cymbium with extended apex, ventral abdomen with ventral plates (but note male of A. elongata sp. nov. is unknown). Female: from undescribed New Caledonian species by general morphology (as male) and details of genitalia; from Australian species by leg I longer than leg III, pedicel with “node”, dorsal scutum present.

Type material (not examined). 1♂ tYpe, 1♀ cotYpe, New Caledonia. Found by Berland (dried) in the collection of ants of Ernest André. Berland does not state what he did with the specimens.

Other material examined. NEW CALEDONIA: 1♀ QM S34107 , Rivière Bleu , Parc. 6, 22°05'S 166°40'E, 160 m, 9–22. iv.1987, L. Bonnet de Larbogne, J. Chazeau & A. & S. Tillier, Malaise trap, rainforest sassafras ; 1♂ QM S34113 , Rivière Bleu , Parc. 7, 22°05'S 166°40'E, 170 m, 25.xi–8.xii.1986, L. Bonnet de Larbogne, J. Chazeau & A. & S. Tillier, Malaise trap ; 1♂ 1♀ QM S20728 , Mt Koghis , 22°11'S 166°32'E, 500 m, 23–24.v.1987, R. Raven, rainforest, general and night collection ; 1♀, QM S107230 , Pic d’Amoa, N slopes, 20°58'S 165°17'E, 500 m, 27.xi.2003 – 30.1.2004, G. Monteith, with Pheidole sp. ant, flight intercept trap, SC11482 ; 1♂ KS.64090, Mt Panie , 20°38'S 164°46'E, 6.vi.1996, M. Moulds ; 1♀ WAM T86527, Col de Rossettes , 21°27'S, 165°28'E, 11.ii.1993, Harvey, M.S., Platnick, N. I., Raven, R.J., rainforest litter .

Size range. Male (n = 3). Carapace range, 0.75–0.80. Total length 2.05–2.15. Female (n = 3). Carapace range, 0.83–0.92. Total length 2.40–2.55. Berland (1927) gives the total length as 2.2 mm for the species. See Berland (1927) for full male description.

Distribution. Recorded from mountainous rainforest sites across the main island of New Caledonia ( Fig. 12 ).

Notes. The habitus and genitalia of A. formicaria male and female are figured for comparison with the Australian species. Figure 1 is repeated as Fig. 42 to compare with other New Caledonian species.

Whilst Berland (1927) admitted his hypothesis that A. formicaria was a mYrmecomorph could not be verified, he pointed out that it was found in a collection of ants and that the original collector had probably mistaken it for an ant; unfortunately, he did not (apparently) record which species or genera of ants the spiders were placed with in the collection. However, he comments (p. 53) that the spiders would match species of either Pheidole or Monomorium , both genera being well-represented in the New Caledonian ant fauna: En étudiant les Fourmis de Nouvelle-Calédonie, on trouve même sans trop de peine que l’Araignée se rapprocherait beaucoup d’un Pheidole ou d’un Monomorium , genres qui y sont très bien représentés.

Reiskind & Levi (1967) suggest different candidates as a model for the species they identify as Anatea formicaria (which we have re-identified as a closelY related species, “J5”, see Figs 41, 42 ), they write: “ Anatea formicaria is an accurate mimic of the small myrmicine ant Chelaner croceiventre (Emery) , 2.6 mm long, which has been collected at the same locality as the spider. The color pattern (dark brown anterior and light, yellow-brown posterior) of both is quite rare in ants and is also found in specimens of Xiphomyrma tenuierius Emery, 2.9 mm. long, and a species of Lordomyrma , 4.8 mm long, two myrmicine ants found in the same area of rain forest (E. O. Wilson, pers. comm.).” The colour description given above, does not match the specimens we have seen of either A. formicaria or “J5”, in which the cephalothorax is only slightly darker than the yellow-amber ground colour of the abdominal scute (see Figs 41, 42 ). This difference maY be due to time since preservation or could represent colour polymorphism within the species “J5”, as is recorded in some other myrmecomorphs (see examples in Cushing, 1997). Berland’s original description of A. formicaria (1927) gives colouration of cephalothorax, pedicel and abdominal scuta as “light reddish fawn” (“fauve rougeâtre clair”) but this is of minimal help as these were dried specimens of uncertain age.

Three of the Anatea samples we have examined each contain a single ant, which we deduce may have been included by collector or sorter of the specimens as a putative model. All three ants are of similar appearance (but may not be conspecific) and are from the genus Pheidole . The Pheidole specimens are of pale golden colour, similar to A. formicaria or our species “J5” (and possibly similar to juveniles of species “J1”). All these three Anatea species occur together: QM S10730 and QM S10732 that now contain A. fomicaria and species “J5”, respectively, were separated from QM S88025 , which now contains species “J1”; QM S88026 contains adults and a juvenile of species “J1” and a subadult A.? formicaria . Of note is the size of the ants, which at c. 1.6 mm total length are considerably smaller than adult Anatea of either similarly coloured species, and slightly smaller than the sub adult male Anatea spp. included in two of the samples.

Figures

Figure 12. Recorded localities of Anatea formicaria Berland in New Caledonia.

Figures 1–7. Anatea formicaria Berland, (1–4) male, habitus and eyes (AM KS.64090): (1) dorsal; (2) lateral; (3) ventral; (4) prosoma, frontal. (5–7) Female, habitus and opisthosoma (QM S34107): (5) dorsal; (6) lateral; (7) ventral. Scale bars (1, 5) 0.5 mm.

Figures 8–11. Anatea formicaria Berland, genitalia, (8, 9) male palpus (AM KS.64090):(8) prolateral;(9) retrolateral.(10.11) Female (QM S107230):(10) epigynum, ventral (cleared);(11) internal genitalia, dorsal. Scale bars 0.1 mm.

Figures 38–43. New Caledonian Anatea spp. and relatives, diversity (males, except (39) is female). (38) “J1” (QM S88025; the species in Figs 32–34). (39) “J2” (QM S34185; note spines on pedicel). (40) “J4” (QM S37719; with “node” but not greatly elongated pedicel). (41) “J5” (QM S107231; Reiskind & Levi’s species). (42) Anatea formicaria (AM KS.64090). (43) “J8” (QM S88024; another shortpedicel species with only a slight step, no “node”). “J3” and “J6” missing from sequence are the Queensland species. Scale bars 0.5 mm.