Alpaida machala Levi, 1988

Poeta, Maria Rita Muniz & Lise, Arno Antonio, 2015, On the males of the orb-weaving spiders Alpaida nigrofrenata (Simon, 1895), A. machala Levi, 1988, and A. cisneros Levi, 1988 (Araneae, Araneidae) and a new synonymy, Zootaxa 4000 (3), pp. 397-400 : 397-398

Alpaida machala Levi, 1988

( Figs. 3, 4 )

Alpaida machala Levi, 1988: 470 , figures 559–563. Female holotype from Buenavista (20 km of Machala ), El Oro, Ecuador, 20.XI.1942, R. Walls. Deposited in California Academy of Sciences (CAS, not examined). WSC 2015.

Material examined. ECUADOR, Pichincha: Pedro Vicente (Road from Quito to Puerto Quito), 79°07’W, 00°05’S, ♂, 09–12.VII.1988, W. Maddison ( MCZ).

Note. Male and female were considered conspecific for having the same color pattern.

Diagnosis. The male of Alpaida machala is similar to those of A. truncata (Keyserling, 1865) and A. queremal Levi, 1988 (see Levi 1988, figures 569; 577) in having an elongate median apophysis, which contours the tegulum laterally. Males of A. machala differ from those of A. quaremal (see Levi 1988, figure 569) by the developed cylindrical projection in the basis of the median apophysis, by the rectangular-shaped conductor, and by a particularly short embolus that is almost totally hidden by the conductor ( Fig. 3 ). A. machala can be easily distinguished from A. truncata by the median apophysis apex, which narrows abruptly in the latter species (see Levi 1988, figure 577) and also by the lack of a modified tibia II, diagnostic in A. truncata (see Levi 1988, figure 578).

Description. Male (MCZ, Pichincha, Ecuador). Total length 3.70. Carapace length 1.75, width 1.40, height 0.60. Clypeus height 0.08. Sternum width 0.54. Abdomen length 2.15, width 1.25, height 1.30. Leg formula 1,4=2,3. Leg lengths (I/II/III/IV): femur 2.25/1.85/1.35/1.85; patella+tibia 2.45/2.00/1.30/1.95; metatarsus 1.50/1.25/0.90/1.35; tarsus 0.70/0.60/0.50/0.55. Total leg 6.90/5.70/4.05/5.70. Eye diameters and interdistances: AME 0.12, ALE 0.10, PME 0.08, PLE 0.12; AME-ALE 0.12, PME-PLE 0.24, AME-AME 0.10, PME-PME 0.10. Median ocular area black, carapace and chelicerae pale yellow (see Levi 1988, figure 562). Sternum dark-brown. Labium and endites dark-brown with white apex. Legs I and II pale yellow, except by the tibiae, metatarsus, and tarsus that are light-orange; legs III and IV totally pale yellow. Abdomen longer than wide; dorsally, partially bordered by white pigment, with a discolored central area with longitudinal paired white marks and a transversal one posteriorly; also there are dusky rounded marks on shoulders, as in the female (see Levi 1988, figure 562). Venter with a dark-brown band from the spinnerets to the epigastric furrow, as the female (see Levi 1988, figure 563).

Female: see Levi (1988: 470).

Distribution. Ecuador: Pichincha and El Oro ( Levi 1988).

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 6. Alpaida nigrofrenata (Simon, 1895). 1, Male palp, mesal; 2, male habitus. Alpaida machala Levi, 1988. 3, Male palp, mesal; 4, male habitus. Alpaida cisneros Levi, 1988. 5, Male palp, mesal; 6, male habitus. Abbreviations: A, terminal apophysis; C, conductor; E, embolus; M, median apophysis, P, paracymbium; PM, paramedian apophysis; R, radix, T, tegulum. Scale bars, 1, 3, 5, 0.25 mm; 2, 4, 6, 0.5 mm.