Amblyothele ecologica, Russell-Smith & Jocqué & Alderweireldt, 2009

Russell-Smith, Tony, Jocqué, Rudy & Alderweireldt, Mark, 2009, A revision of the African wolf spider genus Amblyothele Simon, ZooKeys 16 (16), pp. 149-180 : 163

Amblyothele ecologica sp. n.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:09EB7788-204D-41EE-AE0E-47C23FA70227

Fig. 15 , Map 3

Diagnosis. The appearance of the epigyne is characteristic with a large rectangular notch on the posterior margin of the epigynal plate and the short converging ducts seen through the cuticle.

Etymology. The specific name is a Latinised form of the Greek for “household” and “knowledge” and is used in its modern sense of “environmentally friendly”, referring to its occurrence in an intercrop.

Type material. Holotype. Female. SOUTH AFRICA: Mpumalanga, Roodeplaat Research Station , 25°45’S 28°10’E, 1.III.1995, in tomato and basil intercrop, E. von Maltitz leg. ( NCA).

Description. Female. Total length 5.17 mm. Carapace. Length 2.17 mm, width 1.67 mm. Pale chestnut brown with dark grey striae radiating from fovea. Fovea long, 0.2 × length of carapace. Eyes. Anterior row slightly recurved. AME 0.9 × diameter of ALE, separated by 0.2 × their own diameter and almost touching ALE. Middle eyes 1.83 × diameter of AME, separated by 0.87 × their diameter. PLE 1.12 × diameter of PME, separated by 1.67 × their own diameter. Eye region dark black with a few dark setae. Chelicerae. Coloured as carapace and clothed in long pale setae. Retro-margin with two teeth, proximal largest. Pro-margin with three teeth, middle largest. Maxillae and labium. Maxillae 0.75 × length of labium, truncate at tip. Labium as wide as long at base, tapering to a rounded tip. Coloured as chelicerae. Sternum. Shield shaped and somewhat produced between hind coxae. Pale yellow with a scattering of dark setae. Legs: Pale brown. Relatively stout for genus. Ratio length/breadth of tibia IV 13.2. Leg IV 1.33 × length of leg I. Ventral spines of leg I; tibia 2+2, metatarsus 2+2+(2). Tarsal claws moderately long, with 5 long teeth. Abdomen. Dorsally chestnut brown suffused with grey and with 5 pairs of lighter spots along length, consisting of pale setae. Ventrally pale cream. Spinnerets. Long, PLS 2 × length of other spinnerets. Dorsally dark greyish brown, ventrally pale cream. Epigyne ( Fig. 15 ). In ventral view, large, with a conspicuous rectangular notch on the posterior margin of the epigynal plate. Ducts (as seen through cuticle), short narrow, curved and converging at the anterior end.

Male unknown.

Distribution. Known only from the type locality ( Map 3 ).

Figures

Map 3. Locality of A. ecologica.

Figures 14-15. 14 Amblyothele atlantica sp. n. epigyne of holotype, ventral view 15 A. ecologica sp. n. epigyne of holotype, ventral view. Scale: 0.1 mm.