Eterosonycha alpina Butler, 1932

Rix, Michael & Harvey, Mark, 2010, The spider family Micropholcommatidae (Arachnida: Araneae: Araneoidea): a relimitation and revision at the generic level, ZooKeys 36 (36), pp. 1-321 : 38-39

Eterosonycha alpina Butler, 1932

Figs 11D, 48–50, 51A–B, 56–60, 71A, 222

Eterosonycha alpina Butler, 1932: 115 , pl. 2, figs 7–13. Roewer, 1942: 357. Bonnet, 1956: 1803. Davies, 1985: 113. Platnick, 2009.

Textricella parva Hickman, 1945: 137 , figs 1–5, 16. Forster, 1959: 285, fig. 1. Forster & Platnick, 1981: 266, figs 16–17, 23–24. Brignoli, 1983: 375, 695. Davies, 1985: 114. Platnick, 2009. syn. n.

Type material (of E. alpina ). Syntype male and slide-mounted female: Mount Kosciusko, New South Wales, Australia, in sphagnum moss, I.1931 (♁)/ XI.1923 (♀), C. Oke ( NMV K099/K098).

Type material (of T. parva ). Syntype male and female: The Cascades, Mount Wellington, Tasmania, Australia, from moss, 26.VI.1943 ( AMS KS6694).

Selected material examined. AUSTRALIA: Tasmania: Mt Wellington, Lenah Valley , 27.IV.2007, M. Rix, 6♁, 7♀ ( WAM T77729) ; Mt Wellington, Woods Track to O’Grady’s Falls , 28.IV.2006, M. Rix, L. Boutin, 26♁, 49♀ ( WAM T94105 SEM♁ ♀) ; same data, 1♁ ( WAM T80030 DNA-MPE) ; Cuckoo Falls walk, near Scottsdale , 26.IV.2006, M. Rix, 20♁, 36♀ ( WAM T94106) .

Remarks. Eterosonycha alpina is a distinctive, relatively widespread species, found throughout Tasmania and on the Australian mainland north to at least southern New South Wales. Females possess an unmistakeable external epigyne ( Fig. 48D ) – a characteristic shared by most species of Eterosonycha . Specimens of this species can be extremely abundant in mossy habitats in Tasmania, and E. alpina is the dominant microspider in moss on Mount Wellington, near Hobart, Tasmania (an observation also noted by Hickman 1945).

Figures

Figure 48. Eterosonycha alpina Butler from Mount Wellington, Tasmania (WAM T77729): A male habitus, dorsal view B female habitus, dorsal view C male cephalothorax, antero-dorsal view D female abdomen, ventral view.