Neotama corticola ( Lawrence, 1937 ) Foord & Dippenaar-Schoeman, 2005

Foord, S. H. & Dippenaar-Schoeman, A. S., 2005, First records of the genus Neotama Baehr & Baehr (Araneae: Hersiliidae) from the Afrotropical Region, African Invertebrates 46, pp. 125-132 : 128-130

Neotama corticola ( Lawrence, 1937) comb. n.

Figs 1–8

Hersilia corticola Lawrence, 1937: 226 ; 1938: 481; Smithers 1945: 5, 8; Benoit 1967: 15.

Diagnosis: Small to medium-sized spiders; very long legs; eye tubercle depressed; clypeus short; narrow flexible zone on metatarsi I, II, and IV; male palp with bulbus without any apophysis; embolus short, stout, curved ( Figs 1, 2 ); epigyne with spiniform lateral borders, median plate narrowed anteriorly ( Fig. 6 ); copulatory duct wide; spermathecae cylindrical, seminal receptacle simple, round with stalk; fertilisation ducts short, simple ( Fig. 6 ).

Description:

Female

Size (n = 4). TL 6.67 (6.32–7.13); CL 2.28 (1.76–2.63); CW 2.36 (2–2.7); OAL 0.2 (0.16–0.23); CLL 0.29 (0.2–0.4). AME diameter 0.23; AME-AME 0.21; AME-ALE 0.2; ALE diameter: 0.078; MOQ-AW 0.64; PME-PME 0.22; PME diameter 0.17; PMEPLE 0.23; MOQ-PW 0.55; PLE diameter: 0.15.

Colour: Carapace pale yellow to pale brown, with brown and white spots laterally; clypeus pale, white anteriorly; eye area dark around AME eyes and PER; white mark posteriad on eye tubercle; abdomen white with dark borders anteriorly; dorsally with lancet-shaped heart mark; posterior half of abdomen V-shaped, dark border around dorsal muscular pits, ventrum mottled white; posterior lateral spinnerets with no or faint annulation; legs pale yellow with dark brown patellae; femora and palps with faint annulation.

Carapace: As long as wide (CI 0.97); clypeus very short, 0.48 × median ocular quadrangle length, sloping; eye tubercle depressed;AME largest; eye ratio 1:0.47: 0.77: 0.72; MOQ-AW> MOQ-PW; chelicerae stout, 1.71 × longer than wide; one row of six minute teeth on retromargin.

Abdomen ( Fig. 5 ): Length 3.03, width 4.2, wider than long, widest in posterior third; four pairs of dorsal muscular pits, second pair large, oval; posterior lateral spinnerets 1.64 × length of abdomen; 2.82 × CW; tS 4.25 × bS.

Legs: Leg I longest, 3.23 × total body length; leg ratio 1:0.99:0.28:0.87; metatarsus I 8.29 × longer than tarus I; distal part of metatarsus 0.49 × proximal part; leg measurements: I- Fe 6.49, Pat + Tib 7.18, Mt I 8.93, Ta 0.98, total 21.8; II-6.01, 6.81, 8.09, 0.98, total 21.07; III-2.06, 2.06, 1.66, 0.64, total 5.95; IV-5.47, 5.74, 7.8, 0.86, total 19.16; Palp-1.13, 1.13, 0.94, total 3.38.

Epigyne ( Figs 6, 7 ): Wide (el/ew 0.58); spiniform lateral borders; median plate broad, narrows anteriorly; copulatory openings widely spaced; spermathecae cylindrical; seminal receptacle simple, round, stalked; fertilisation duct short, simple ( Fig. 7 ).

Male

Size (n = 3). TL 4.92 (4.83–5); CL 2.25 (2.16–2.33); CW 2.02 (1.88–2.16); OAL 0.56 (0.56–0.57); CLL 0.21 (0.19–0.22). AME diameter 0.22; AME-AME 0.12; AME-ALE 0.13; MOQ-AW 0.57; ALE diameter 0.09; PME-PME 0.19; PME diameter 0.13; PME-PLE 0.19; MOQ-PW: 0.44; PLE diameter 0.14.

Closely resembles females except: smaller; legs longer, 1.2–1.7 × longer; leg I very long, patellae dark; leg measurements: I- Fe 9.39, Pat + Tib 11.82, Mt I 18.68, Ta 1.12, total 37.22; II-7.5, 8.98, 10.88, 0.71, total 28.58; III-2.46, 2.44, 2.1, 0.6, total 7.25; IV- 6.75, 7.25, 11.07, 0.75, total 25.05; Palp-1.12, 0.77, 0.7, total 2.59.

Palps ( Figs1, 2 ): Tibia elongate, 1.5 × longer than wide; cymbium digiform, twice as long as wide, three apical spines; row of long white setae on prolateral border of cymbium arching over bulbus; bulbus round; sperm duct with basal loop; embolus circular, stout, apex acute; median apophysis absent.

Type material examined: ^ holotype, SOUTH AFRICA: KwaZulu-Natal: Durban, Bluff (29°53'S: 31°01'E), xi.1936, R.F. Lawrence, NMSA 74 ; paratype: 1 ^, same data .

Additional material examined: SOUTH AFRICA: KwaZulu-Natal: Umzinto, Vernon Crookes Nature Reserve (30°16'S: 30°37'E), 3 ơ, 5.i.1992, L.N. Lotz, NMBA 5957 ; Hluhluwe Game Reserve (28°09'S: 32°10'E), 2 ^, x.1935, R.F. Lawrence, NM 1149 ; Port Edward (31°03'S: 30°13'E), 1 ^, xi.1943, R.F. Lawrence, NM 4168 ; Ngome State Forest (27°52'S: 31°24'E), 2 ^, Northern KwaZulu-Natal, 1.ii.1988, L. Prendini, TMP 181653 ; ‘ Cascade’ farm (H. Lee) 10 km W Eshowe (28°53'S: 31°28'E), Ngotsche (Ntumeni) forest , 600 m a.s.l., 2 ^, 1 juv., 17–18.i.1984, C.E. Griswold, P. Croeser, R. Lee, P. Reavell (NMSA) ; Eastern Cape Province: Kudu Reserve (Fort Brown) near Grahamstown (33°07'S: 26°37'E), 1 ơ, 629 m a.s.l., on trunk of Combretum caffrum , 14.xii.1981, E. Nieman, J. Hoffman, NMSA ; Western Cape Province: Knysna, Diepwalle Forest Station , 22 km NE Knysna (33°57'S: 23°10'E), 600 m a.s.l., indigenous forest, 1 ^, 1 juv., 11–13.xi.1985, C.E. Griswold, J. Doyen, T.M. Griswold, NMSA .

Distribution: South Africa (forested areas of KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern and Western Cape) ( Fig. 8 ).

Natural history: Arboreal spiders found mainly on tree trunks in forests. Adult females were collected during October and November, adult males in January and July; arboreal, caught in forest on tree trunks.

Figures

Figs 1–7. Neotama corticola (Lawrence, 1937) comb. n.: (1) left palp ventral view, (2) left palp prolateral view, (3) carapace lateral view, (4) carapace anterior view, (5) female abdomen dorsal view with spinnerets, (6) epigyne ventral view, (7) epigyne dorsal view.Abbreviations: c – copulatory duct, e – embolus, f – fertilisation duct, lb – lateral borders, mp – median plate, s – spermatheace, sr – seminal receptacle. Scale bars = 0.5 mm.

Fig. 8. Distribution map for Neotama corticola (Lawrence, 1937) comb. n.