Lissodesmus horridomontis sp. nov.

Figures 40, 41, 69hor, 70hor, 71hor, 73 (map)

Lissodesmus sp. NE5.— Mesibov, 1994: 134.

Material examined. Holotype. Male, Australia, Tasmania. Mt Horror, EQ 588513 (41°05'14''S 147°42'00''E), 200 m, 24.iv.1993, R. Mesibov, QVM 23:45829 (ex QVM 23:15491);

Paratypes. Male, Friend Creek, EQ862540 (41°03'37''S 148°01'33''E), 150 m, 25.xi.1992, QVM 23:15492 ; 4 males, Mt Horror, EQ604547 (41°03'23''S 147°43'07''E), 220 m, 18.iii.1993, R. Mesibov, QVM 23:15490 ; 7 females, same details, QVM 23:15484; 7 males, Speck Creek, EQ566549 (41°03'18''S 147°40'24''E), 290 m, 18.iii.1993, QVM 23:15497 ; 2 males, details as for holotype, AM KS91176 (ex QVM 23:15491); 2 males, details as for holotype, QVM 23:15491 .

Other material. 21 males, 17 females and 5 juveniles from Connors Road, Friend Creek, Martins Hill, Mt Horror, Oxberry Creek, Pearly Brook, Speck Creek and Tomahawk River (see “ Lissodesmus supplement” for details) .

Description. Male c. 13 mm long, H = 1.2 mm. In alcohol, most specimens under low magnification uniformly near-white. Antenna slender, not strongly clavate (Fig. 69 hor). Paranota reduced, R = 1.3 (Fig. 70 hor), posterior corners slightly turned up. Legs robust, tarsus shorter than femur (Fig. 71 hor), sphaerotrichomes lacking on leg 6 femur and prefemur. Epiproct with prominent paired, bluntly rounded projections. Telopodite (Figs 40, 41) reaching leg 5 when retracted. Solenomere arising at one-third to half the telopodite height, directed posterodistally at somewhat less than 45° to telopodite axis, terminating without subapical projection at slightly less than half the prefemoral process height. Tibiotarsus about as large as solenomere but slightly shorter, directed more or less parallel to solenomere, flattened posterobasally and terminating in a variably dentate edge with a small, bluntly pointed subapical projection on anterolateral surface. Femoral process arising at level of solenomere origin, straight, pointed, blade-like, directed distally and terminating at level of solenomere tip. Prefemoral process about as wide at origin as telopodite base, tapering slightly and bending laterally at about midheight with a coarsely toothed “shoulder” on the mesal side of bend, curving posteromesally with the tip flexed laterally at almost 180°, the tip bearing a comb of c. 10–15 long, basally directed teeth. Uncus prominent, arising just proximal to lateral bend in prefemoral process (just distal to solenomere tip), outer edge coarsely dentate.

Distribution and habitat. Known from wet eucalypt forest and cool temperate rainforest over c. 150 km 2 in north-east Tasmania (Fig. 73), from Williams Hill east to Old Chum Dam, and from 80 to 650 m. L. horridomontis is abundant in the western portion of its small range.

Etymology. Latin horridus (“frightful”) + montis (“mountain”), noun in apposition. Named for the type locality, Mt Horror.