Typhochlaena seladonia C. L. Koch, 1841

Bertani, Rogerio, 2012, Revision, cladistic analysis and biogeography of Typhochlaena C. L. Koch, 1850, Pachistopelma Pocock, 1901 and Iridopelma Pocock, 1901 (Araneae, Theraphosidae, Aviculariinae), ZooKeys 230, pp. 1-94 : 10-13

Typhochlaena seladonia C. L. Koch, 1841 comb. restored Figs 1 –516– 23, 28

Mygale seladonia C. L. Koch 1841:39, Tab. CCC Fig. 716.

Typhochlaena seladonia : C. L. Koch 1850:75; Mello-Leitão 1923:335.

Avicularia seladonia : Simon 1892:171; Petrunkevitch 1911:50; Roewer 1942:255.

Iridopelma seladonia : Smith 1993:15 (transfer).

Iridopelma seladonium : Almeida-Santos et al. 2008:729; Platnick 2012.

Diagnosis.

Males differ from those of other species by the very long male palpal bulb embolus (Figs 1-3). The females differ by the long and slender spermathecae, spiraled distally (Figs 4-5). Additionally, males and females have cephalothorax metallic green and abdomen dorsum black with two series of six spots, the most anterior pair reddish, other yellowish (Fig. 22).

Types.

Holotype female of Mygale seladonia C. L. Koch, 1841 [dry, pinned] from Brazil, State of Bahia, Gomez, deposited at Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin (ZMB 2033), not examined, too brittle for mail.

Additional material examined.

Brazil: Sergipe: Santa Luzia do Itanhy, Mata do Crasto (11°23'S, 37°24'W) 1 immature male, A. D. Brescovit, 6 December 1996 (IBSP 115372); Bahia: Camaçari, Jacuipe [12°42'S, 38°07'W], 1 male, 1 female exuvium, T. Brazil ded., August 1980 (IBSP 4551); Salvador, Alphaville [12°56'S, 38°21'W], 1 female, G. G. Montingelli, 11 December 2001 (IBSP 109718).

Redescription.

Male (IBSP 4551). Carapace 4.6 long, 4.9 wide, chelicerae 2.4. Legs (femur, patella, tibia, metatarsus, tarsus, total): I: 5.6, 2.7, 4.0, 3.6, 2.0, 17.9. II: 5.5, 2.6, 3.7, 3.3, 1.7, 16.8. III: 4.7, 2.3, 3.4, 3.3, 1.7, 15.4. IV: 5.8, 2.4, 4.6, 4.6, 1.8, 19.2. Palp: 3.7, 2.0, 2.6, -, 0.9, 9.2. Mid-widths (lateral): femora I -IV = 1.1, 1.2, 1.2, 1.0, palp=0.8; patellae I–IV = 1.0, 1.1, 1.0, 1.0, palp = 1.0; tibiae I–IV = 0.9, 0.8, 0.8, 0.8, palp = 1.0; metatarsi I–IV = 0.7, 0.7, 0.6, 0.6; tarsi I–IV = 0.7, 0.7, 0.6, 0.5, palp = 0.9. Abdomen 5.2 long, 3.6 wide. Spinnerets: PMS, 0.6 long, 0.3 wide, 0.1 apart; PLS, 0.9 basal, 0.4 middle, 0.6 domed distal; mid-widths (lateral), 0.6, 0.4, 0.3, respectively. Carapace: length to width 0.94. Fovea 0.8 wide. Eyes: tubercle 0.1 high, length 0.6, width 1.3. Clypeus 0.3. Anterior eye row procurved, posterior slightly recurved. Eye sizes and inter-distances: AME 0.3, ALE 0.3, PME 0.1, PLE 0.2, AME–AME 0.2, AME–ALE 0.1, AME–PME 0.05, ALE–ALE 0.9, ALE–PME 0.2, PME–PME 0.7, PME–PLE 0.08, PLE–PLE 1.0, ALE–PLE 0.1, AME–PLE 0.2. Ratio of eye group width to length 2.54. Maxillae: length to width: 2.0. Cuspules: 46 spread over ventral inner heel. Labium: 0.6 long, 0.9 wide, with 58 cuspules spaced by one diameter from each other on the anterior half. Labio-sternal groove shallow, flat, sigilla not evident. Chelicerae: basal segments with seven teeth, the two more distal closely positioned, others spaced by at least one diameter from each other. Sternum: 2.1 long, 2.2 wide (Fig. 20). Legs: leg formula: IV I II III. Scopula: tarsi I–IV fully scopulate, IV divided by a four setae wide row. Metatarsi I–II fully scopulate; III 1/2 distal scopulate; IV 1/4 distal scopulate. IV divided by three wide row of setae. Spines absent on all legs and palps. Urticating hairs: type II (0.25 long, 0.01 wide) on the abdomen dorsum. Palp: embolus 2.4 in length, with a 60° curvature to the retrolateral side. Embolus basal, middle and distal width of 0.1, 0.07 and 0.03, respectively. Tegulum 0.6 long. (Figs 1-3). Cymbium: spiniform process lacking. Color pattern: carapace and chelicerae covered with metallic green setae, and pale yellow setae on both margins. Legs, palps, labium and sternum metallic green. Longitudinal stripes on femora, patellae, tibiae and metatarsi inconspicuous. Distal femora, patellae, tibiae and metatarsi rings very discrete, whitish. Abdomen dorsum black with two series of six spots. Most anterior pair reddish, other yellowish. Abdomen laterally and venter metallic green (Fig. 22).

Redescription.

Female (IBSP 109718) Carapace 5.4 long, 5.2 wide, chelicerae 2.5. Legs (femur, patella, tibia, metatarsus, tarsus, total): I: 4.2, 2.5, 2.5, 2.0, 1.7, 12.9. II: 3.7, 2.2, 2.4, 1.8, 1.7, 11.8. III: 3.5, 2.1, 2.1, 2.1, 1.4, 11.2. IV: 4.4, 2.1, 2.9, 2.7, 1.3, 13.4. Palp: 3.0, 1.9, 2.0, -, 2.3, 9.2. Mid-widths (lateral): femora I -IV = 1.1, 1.2, 1.2, 1.0, palp = 1.0; patellae I–IV = 1.3, 1.3, 1.2, 1.1, palp = 0.9; tibiae I–IV = 1.2, 1.2, 1.1, 1.0, palp = 1.0; metatarsi I–IV = 1.0, 0.9, 0.8, 0.8; tarsi I–IV = 1.0, 1.0, 0.8, 0.8, palp = 1.0. Abdomen 6.0 long, 4.0 wide. Spinnerets: PMS, 0.9 long, 0.3 wide, 0.1 apart; PLS, 0.7 basal, 0.3 middle, 0.3 domed distal; mid-widths (lateral), 0.6, 0.5, 0.4, respectively. Carapace: length to width 1.03. Fovea 0.8 wide. Eyes: tubercle 0.02 high, 0.7 long, 1.4 wide. Clypeus 0.3. Anterior eye row procurved, posterior slightly recurved. Eye sizes and inter-distances: AME 0.3, ALE 0.3, PME 0.1, PLE 0.2, AME–AME 0.1, AME–ALE 0.1, AME–PME 0.08, ALE–ALE 0.9, ALE–PME 0.2, PME - PME 0.8, PME–PLE 0.04, PLE–PLE 1.0, ALE–PLE 0.1, AME–PLE 0.2. Ratio of eye group width to length 2.72. Other characters as in male, except: maxillae: length to width: 1.6. Cuspules: ca. 50 spread over ventral inner heel. Labium: 0.8 long, 1.1 wide, with ca. 87 cuspules. Sternum: 2.3 long, 2.5 wide. Scopula: tarsi I–II fully scopulate, III with some sparse setae along its center, IV divided by a four setae row. Metatarsi I–II fully scopulate; III 1/2 distal scopulate; IV 1/5 distal scopulate. IV divided by three wide row of setae. Spines: metatarsi III and IV with two ventro-apical spines. Urticating hairs type II (0.43 to 0.48 long, 0.015 wide) on the abdomen dorsum. Genitalia: paired long, slender, curved, weakly sclerotized spermathecae spiraled distally.

Remarks.

Almeida-Silva et al. (2008) redescribed the female of Iridopelma seladonium (C. L. Koch, 1841) after examining photographs of the recently rediscovered holotype of Mygale seladonia C. L. Koch, 1841. They presented photographs of the holotype and an illustration displaying non-spiraled spermathecae from a fresh specimen from state of Bahia, Brazil. A female exuvium examined by myself in this work showed spermathecae with two folds (Fig. 4) and a dissected female showed a single fold spermathecae (Fig. 5). Spermathecae of exuvium could have been modified by the moulting process or by preservation conditions, but the dissected specimen is well preserved. The fold is not easily seen and possibly it was overlooked by Almeida-Silva et al. (2008). The unavailability of additional specimens prevented me from investigating this question more thoroughly.

Distribution.

Brazil, state of Sergipe and northeastern Bahia (Fig. 28).

Natural history.

One female was found under loose tree bark in Santa Luzia do Itanhy SE (September 1999). Fig. 23. Two females were found in a similar retreat in nature, in Bahia, and one specimen built a retreat with small pieces of tree bark in captivity ( Almeida-Silva et al. 2008).