Brasilionata, WUNDERLICH, 1995

Lopardo, Lara & Hormiga, Gustavo, 2015, Out of the twilight zone: phylogeny and evolutionary morphology of the orb-weaving spider family Mysmenidae, with a focus on spinneret spigot morphology in symphytognathoids (Araneae, Araneoidea), Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 173 (3), pp. 527-786 : 784

BRASILIONATA WUNDERLICH, 1995

FIGS 133G , 142O

Brasilionata Wunderlich, 1995: 545 .

Type species

Brasilionata arborense Wunderlich, 1995 by original designation and monotypy, holotype in AMNH, examined.

Familial placement and composition

Brasilionata is a member of the mysmeninae clade C128 (also comprising Mysmeniola , Microdipoena , and MYSM-019-MAD), and is sister to Microdipoena ( Fig. 161B ). Brasilionata is here represented by its type and only species B. arborense .

Monophyly and diagnosis

This Brazilian monotypic genus is only known by the male holotype specimen, and it is diagnosed by the following combination of autapomorphies: male palpal tibial rim scoop-shaped, cymbial fold with row of setae similar to surrounding setae (i.e. not minute), embolus with an apical switch in the coiling direction as in Microdipoena ( Fig. 133G ), uniform abdominal dorsal colour pattern and anterior median eyes separate ( Fig. 142O ). There appears to be a subtle depression between the anterior median eyes, which could also be synapomorphic for the genus ( Fig. 142O ; see Wunderlich, 1995: fig. 10), although it has not been explicitly proposed as such in previous studies. Brasilionata has been previously diagnosed by somehow vague characters (Wunderlich, 1995), which when examined within a revisionary context can be assigned to any other mysmenid genus or are simply symplesiomorphies: lack of femoral spot on male, no trichobothrium on metatarsus IV, eight eyes equal in size, one metatarsal prolateral clasping spine, male palpal femur, patella and tibia without structures, cymbium long and distally slender, with a cymbial process, and embolus with apophysis. We could not find an embolic apophysis and instead we report a coiling switch of the distal part of the embolus.

Figures

Figure 133. Mysmenidae male left palp (unless otherwise stated), cleared. A, MYSM-005-ARG (Mysmena), from Misiones, Argentina, dorsal view, right palp, inverted, arrow to cymbial groove (CyG); B, same, ventral view; C, MYSM-007-MEX (Mysmena), from Chiapas, Mexico, retrolateral view, arrows to CyG; D, Mysmena (= Kekenboschiella) awari, paratype, prolateral view; E, same, dorsal–retrolateral view; F, Mysmena (= Kekenboschiella) marijkeae, holotype, retrolateral view, right palp, inverted; G, Brasilionata arborense, holotype, retrolateral view, right palp, inverted; H, Mysmena (= Tamasesia) rotunda, type, prolateral view; I, same, retrolateral view, schematic drawing. See Appendix 3 for the list of abbreviations.

Figure 142. Composite images of Mysmenidae species: Mysmeninae and Trogloneta. A, B, Microdipoena nyungwe; A, male, lateral view; B, female, ventral view. C, Trogloneta granulum, female, ventral view. D, Mysmena (= Calodipoena) incredula, female, lateral view, inverted. E, Mysmena (= Calodipoena) mootae, female holotype, dorsal view. F, Mysmena (= Calomyspoena) santacruzi, female paratype, dorsal view. G–I, Mysmena (= Itapua) tembei; G, male holotype, lateral view, inverted; H, male holotype, frontal view; I, female paratype, frontal view. J–L, Mysmena (= Kekenboschiella) awari, male paratype; J, lateral view; K, dorsal view; L, ventral view. M, N, Mysmeniola spinifera, male holotype; M, lateral view; N, ventral view. O, Brasilionata arborense, male holotype, dorsal view, abdomen detached. Scale bars: 0.5 mm.

Figure 161. Hypothesis of relationships within Mysmenidae, taken from the results of the combined analysis from Lopardo et al. (2011) (see Fig. 160). New taxonomic (i.e. generic) status as proposed in our study is assigned to each representative; new combinations are emphasized in bold. Unambiguous morphological character optimizations are shown for every branch in the tree. Numbers below each node indicate node numbers. Empty and filled boxes represent homoplasious and non-homoplasious transformations, respectively. Major clades representing taxonomic decisions discussed in the text are highlighted in grey boxes.