Artoria emu, Do Prado & Baptista & Framenau, 2024

Do Prado, André W., Baptista, Renner Luiz Cerqueira & Framenau, Volker W., 2024, Taxonomy of the wolf spider genus Artoria in Western Australia (Araneae, Lycosidae, Artoriinae), Zootaxa 5547 (1), pp. 1-81 : 22-25

Artoria emu sp. nov.

Figs 9–10

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:BB8FA56D-0B7F-42F7-B483-0F159BA4FD18

Type material. Holotype male, 3.2 km SW Giles Point, Western Australia, AUSTRALIA, 23º15’58’’S, 119º08’02’’E, 29 August 2003 – 16 October 2004, ethylene glycol pitfall trap, CALM Pilbara Survey , site RHNC03 ( WAM T98120 ).

Other material examined. Only known from holotype.

Etymology. The specific epithet “emu ” is a noun in apposition and refers to the large, flightless Australian bird, Dromaius novaehollandiae ( Latham, 1790) , and the resemblance of the tegular apophysis of the males in ventral view to the profile of its head.

Diagnosis. The male pedipalp of A. emu sp. nov. resembles that of A. plicata sp. nov. with the distal portion of its tegular apophyses bearing a retrolateral rounded projection pointing basally and by having a poorly sclerotized basoembolic apophyses with rounded tip ( Figs 9C–E , 29C–E ). However, in A. emu sp. nov. the tegular apophysis is shorter and narrower, with an evenly rounded distal margin, and the retrolateral projection has robust, elevated and heavily sclerotized distal and proximal margins, which delimit a median latitudinal concavity ( Fig. 9C, D ), while in A. plicata sp. nov. the tegular apophysis has a plicated distal margin, and the retrolateral projection is thin, slightly translucent and with a central and rounded concavity ( Fig. 29C, D ).

Description. Male (holotype, WAM T98120).

Total length, 4.09. Carapace, length 2.29, width 1.36, brown, with a paler median longitudinal band, and lateral darker bands and a well-marked median line from between eyes to near fovea of same colour ( Fig. 9A ). Sternum, greyish-yellow suffused with dark grey stains ( Fig. 9B ). Eyes, diameter: AME: 0.10; ALE: 0.11; PME: 0.22; PLE: 0.19, anterior eye row procurved, evenly spaced. Chelicerae, evenly brown, two retromarginal teeth, subequal, and two promarginal teeth, apical largest. Labium, dark brown, with pale anterior rim ( Fig. 9B ). Legs, background colour yellowish-brown, with femur mostly brown, patella, tibia, metatarsus, and tarsus stained in brown ( Fig. 9A, B ). Opisthosoma, length 1.93, width 1.58, dorsum with background colour yellowish-brown, mostly covered with numerous black setae and with less numerous pale-yellow setae over the cardiac mark, which is ⅔ as long as the opisthosoma, and a V-shaped area near the posterior margin ( Fig. 9A ). Venter dark yellow, spinnerets dark brown ( Fig. 9B ).

Pedipalp ( Fig. 9C–E ), tibia trapezoidal in ventral view, narrower at its base; cymbium free tip ⅓ as long as the whole cymbium in ventral view, with three distal macrosetae; subtegulum inconspicuous in ventral view. Tegular apophysis small, shaped as an emu head profile in ventral view, with a narrow stalk bent retrolaterally. Basoembolic apophysis small, very sclerotized, subrectangular in ventral view. Embolus comma-like, narrow, and flat, gradually tapering to its acute and flexible tip. Terminal apophysis not very sclerotized, semicircular, broad, wider than the embolus, especially at its sharp apex.

Life history and habitat preferences. An interpretation of the reproductive period based on one male is not possible. In addition, the pitfall trap in which it was caught was exposed for more than a year. The occurrence of this species in the semi-arid Pilbara region is unusual as it is outside the general range of most Artoria species. It may represent a relictual species in a small mountain range.

Remarks. Artoria emu sp. nov. is only known from the holotype male found in the southern Hamersley Ranges in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. This distribution is outside the general Bassian and Torresian occurrence of the genus. No further specimens were found in the comprehensive Pilbara survey in which A. emu sp. nov. was collected (e.g., Durrant et al. 2010). As this single record is not from a conservation reserve, we propose the Priority 1 (P1) conservation status for this species (“Poorly known species—known from few localities, none on conservation land”) (WA Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016).

Distribution. Sole male known from Giles Point, in a semi-arid area of the Hamersley Ranges in the Pilbara region in north-western Western Australia ( Fig. 10 ).

Figures

FIGURE 9. Artoria emu sp. nov., male:A, dorsal habitus; B, ventral habitus; C–E, left pedipalp (C, ventral view; D, retrolateral view; E, embolic division, ventral view). A–E, (WAM T98120). Scale bars: A, B, 2.0 mm; C–E 0.2 mm.

FIGURE 10. Distribution of Artoria emu sp. nov., Artoria falcata sp. nov., and Artoria flavimana Simon, 1909.

FIGURE 29. Artoria plicata sp. nov., male: A, dorsal habitus; B, ventral habitus; C–E, left pedipalp (C, ventral view; D, retrolateral view; E, embolic division, ventral view). A–E, holotype (WAM T68736). Scale bars: A, B, 2.0 mm; C–E 0.2 mm.