Missulena mainae, Miglio, Laura Tavares, Harms, Danilo, Framenau, Volker Wilhelm & Harvey, Mark Stephen, 2014

Miglio, Laura Tavares, Harms, Danilo, Framenau, Volker Wilhelm & Harvey, Mark Stephen, 2014, Four new Mouse Spider species (Araneae, Mygalomorphae, Actinopodidae, Missulena) from Western Australia, ZooKeys 410, pp. 121-148 : 133-135

Missulena mainae sp. n. Figs 1D, 9 A–J, 10 A–K

Missulena sp. 2: Main et al. 2000: 285.

Type material.

AUSTRALIA:Western Australia: holotype male, Cape Cuvier, Quobba Station, site CU6, 24°08'20.4"S, 113°26'43.9"E, 31 May−25 August 1995, pitfall trap (WAM T96782). Paratypes: 2 males, Cape Cuvier, Quobba Station, site CU5, 24°11'34.0"S, 113°27'17.4"E, 27 September−2 October 1994, dry pitfall trap, P. West et al. (WAM T96781); 3 males, same data, 29 May−25 August 1995, N. Hall (WAM T96783).

Etymology.

This species is named in honour of Barbara York Main in recognition of her substantial contributions to arachnology. She also was the first to recognize this taxon as a distinctive new species ( Main et al. 2000).

Diagnosis.

Males of Missulena mainae sp. n. differ from all other species by the uniformly red dorsal coloration of the carapace (pars cephalica and thoracica red; Figs 2D, 10C). Males share with Missulena pinguipes sp. n. the presence of a swollen metatarsus IV, but the character is less pronounced in Missulena mainae (Fig. 10K).

Description.

Adult male, based on holotype (WAM T96782). Medium-sized mygalomorph spider (total length 7.90).

Colour: carapace (Fig. 9C) pale red, margins pale red; eye region (Fig. 9B) pale red, anterior median eyes on black tubercle; chelicerae (Fig. 10I) pale red, fangs dark red; abdomen (Fig. 10F) pale grey with little spots of blue and light gray longitudinal streaks; sternum (Fig. 10H) pale red, margins contoured pale brown, sigillae pale red and spots pale brown; labium (Fig. 10G) and maxillae pale red; legs (Fig. 1D) brown, coxae and trochanter pale brown; spinnerets (Fig. 10J) pale gray, spigots white.

Carapace: 2.59 long, 2.77 wide; clypeus 0.09; fovea 0.75; caput and eye region (Fig. 9A) laterally elevated, strongly arched in a rectangular form; fovea (Fig. 9C) very deep and strongly procurved, medially extending as triangular depression, pars cephalica with few granulations around the eyes, behind the eyes and between the eyes and fovea, pars thoracica with bands of fine, random fissures centered around fovea (Fig. 9C).

Eyes: OQ 3.06 times wider than long, occupying 1.26 of cephalic width; OAW 2.20; OAL 1.65; IPF 0.80; width of anterior eye group 1.40, with of posterior group 1.25, OQ length 0.45; PME 0.10; PLE 0.13; ALE 0.11; AME 0.16, AME on tubercle, 0.24 long, 0.42 wide; AME inter-distance 0.07; AME to ALE 0.44; AME to PME 0.22; PLE to ALE 0.17; PLE to PME 0.13; PME inter-distance 0.79; PME to ALE 0.16; eye region (Fig. 9B) with reduced setation although some setae present anterior to AME, between lateral eyes and between posterior eyes and fovea.

Chelicerae: 1.42 long, 0.88 wide; distally broad, diagonal, slightly conical; edges smoothly rounded; without transverse ridges (Fig. 10I), with 2 lines of dorsal setae, prolateral with ca. 28 and retrolateral with ca. 15; with ca. 30 setae along inner margin of chelicera; rastellum (Fig. 9D, E) developed, pronounced, consisting of a sclerotised process with 11 strong conical spines and 16 disordered setae, 13 long setae extend forward from anterior margin of each chelicera and cover base of fang, setae largest on latero-ventral side; inner margin of cheliceral furrow with 3 rows of teeth (Fig. 10E); prolateral (inner) row with ca. 6 teeth, all teeth spaced; intermediate row with 5 proximal, spaced teeth; retrolateral (outer) row with 4 proximal, spaced teeth; with 2 distal teeth.

Maxillae: 1.31 long; 1.0 wide, longer than wide, almost square (Fig. 10C, D), ca. 96 pointed cuspules along entire anterior margin, distally pointed and extended into a prominent heel.

Labium: 0.80 long, 0.62 wide; conical, ca. 31 pointed cuspules anteriorly (Fig. 10G); labiosternal suture developed as a shallow groove; a pair of sigilla near labiosternal suture (Fig. 10H), developed as irregular, poorly-defined patches.

Sternum: 1.82 long, 1.71 wide; oval and rebordered (Fig. 10H), with prominent setae, arranged irregularly but denser lateral to labium; 4 pairs of sigillae, anterior pair smallest than others and undefined, second pair (anterior-posterior) smallest but well defined, third pair bigger than 2 anterior pairs and well defined, and posterior pair bigger than all others, roughly oval but not well defined, all sigillae slightly depressed.

Abdomen: 3.31 long, 2.54 wide; roughly oval (Fig. 10F); 4 spinnerets (Fig. 10J), PLS 1.00 long, 0.40 wide, apical segment domed; PMS 0.34 long, 0.15 wide.

Pedipalp: length of trochanter 1.0, femur 2.27, patella 1.0, tibia 2.09, tarsus 0.63; entire palp is aspinose, femur longer than tibia, tarsus terminally blunt (Fig. 9F); bulb pyriform and rather stout than globular (Fig. 9G−J), 2 strongly sclerotised sections connected by a velar median structure ( “haematodocha”); bulb strongly twisted proventrally (Fig. 9G, I); embolus short, with a proximal intumescence (BEI) in prolateral view, tapering and slightly twisted medially (Fig. 9G−J); embolus tip triangular in prolateral/retrolateral view and rectangular in ventral view, with a small lamella (EL) and without tooth (Fig. 9H).

Legs: with few brown setae, ventral setae of tibiae and metatarsi generally much longer and thicker than dorsal setae and bent towards the exterior; dorsal, lateral and ventral setae of tibiae and metatarsi longer than the diameter of respective segment; preening comb distal in tarsi, very small and plain; metatarsi I, II and III ascopulate, tarsi I, II, III and IV ascopulate but with ca. 20, 24, 17, 13 fine ventral setae distally, respectively; metatarsus IV with dense scopula ventrally across entire length. Leg measurements: Leg I: femur 1.55, patella 1.22, tibia 1.40, metatarsus 1.48, tarsus 0.88, total 6.55. Leg II: 2.22, 1.18, 1.44, 1.48, 1, 7.33. Leg III: 2.18, 1.18, 1.48, 1.48, 1.03, 7.37. Leg IV: 2.22, 1.29, 1.55, 1.55, 1.03, 7.66. Formula 4123.

Trichobothria: arranged in discontinuous rows; tibiae I–II with 2 proximal rows of 3 in retrodorsal and prodorsal position, respectively; tibiae III-IV with 2 rows of 2−3 in prodorsal/retrolateral position; metatarsi with 4 in mediodorsal position, tarsi I+II with 2, III+IV with 3, all trichobothria in mediodorsal position.

Leg spination: pedipalp aspinose; leg I: tibia rv1−0−1, v2−3−5, pv0−0−0, d0−0−0; metatarsus rv0−0−1, v2−6−5, pv1−1−2, d0−0−0; tarsus rv0−0−0, v3−6−7, pv0−0−0, d0−0−0; leg II: tibia rv1−0−0, v3−4−4, pv0−0−0, d0−0−0; metatarsus rv1−2−1, v2−5−4, pv1−1−2, d0−0−0; tarsus rv0−1−1, v3−4−8, pv0−1−0, d0−0−0; leg III: tibia rv0−0−0, v1−2−3, pv0−0−1, d0−1−7; metatarsus rv1−2−2, v4−6−8, pv1−0−1, d3−3−3; tarsus rv0−0−0, v1−4−4, pv0−0−1, d0−0−3; leg IV: tibia rv0−0−0, v1−2−2, pv0−0−1, d1−0−4; metatarsus rv1−2−2, v0−0−0, pv1−4−3, d2−1−3; tarsus rv1−1−3, v3−4−6, pv0−0−0, d0−0−2; patellae I, II without rasps and spines (Fig. 10A), patella III with ca. 28 rasps in 8 oblique rows dorsally, median rows shorter than lateral rows and with less spines, distal spines forming a interrupted crown of spines in the border of the article (Fig. 10B); patella IV with 12 rasps retrolaterally and 6 thick and short spines dorsally.

Tarsal claws: leg I: 3−2/2; leg II: 6−6/2; leg III: 6−5/3; leg IV: 5−5/3; claws slightly shorter than spines of tarsi.

Variation in paratypes (N=5): total length 5.27−6.09; carapace 2.36−2.63 long, 2.54−3.27 wide; number of labial cuspules 19−26, maxillary cuspules 86−108; rastellum with 10-13 thick and conical spines.

Distribution.

This species is known only from Quobba Station in the Carnarvon biogeographic region of Western Australia (Fig. 4).

Phenology and habitat preferences.

All specimens were collected in pitfall traps in a period between May and October. They were listed as Missulena sp. 2 in a survey of mygalomorph spiders of the southern Carnarvon Basin ( Main et al. 2000). The two sites are dominated by Acacia over dune substrates ( Burbidge et al. 2000, Appendix A; Wyrwoll et al. 2000).