Habronattus roberti Maddison

Maddison, Wayne P., 2017, New species of Habronattus and Pellenes jumping spiders (Araneae, Salticidae, Harmochirina), ZooKeys 646, pp. 45-72 : 52-55

Habronattus roberti Maddison sp. n. Figs 50-62, 63-68

Holotype.

Male specimen JAL14-0175 in CNAN- IBUNAM, with data: México: Jalisco: Estación de Biología Chamela, Calandria Trail, 19.501 - 19.505°N 105.035°W, 130 m elev., 23 Feb. 2014, W. Maddison & R. Sosa, WPM#14-038.

Paratypes

(5♂♂ 7♀♀). Same data as holotype (2♂♂ specimens JAL14-0184 and JAL14-0152 in UBC-SEM). México: Jalisco: Chamela estuary, 19.5290°N 105.0770°W, 2 June 1998, W. Maddison et al., WPM#98-070 (1♀ Fig. 52 in UBC SEM, 1♀ in AMNH). México: Jalisco: Estación de Biología Chamela, 19.498°N 105.045°W, 1-2 June 1998, W. Maddison et al., WPM#98-071 (1♂ specimen W257 Figs 50-51 in UBC SEM). México: Jalisco: Estación de Biología Chamela, Chachalaca Trail, 19.496°N 105.042°W 10 Feb. 2014, W. Maddison & H. Proctor, WPM#14-015 (1♂ specimen JAL14-9252 and 1♀ specimen JAL14-9239 in UBC-SEM). México: Jalisco: Estación de Biología Chamela, Viveros, 19.499°N 105.043°W, 90 m elev., 16 - 27 Feb. 2014, W. Maddison & H. Proctor, WPM#14-028 (1♀ specimen JAL14-0120 in UBC-SEM, 1♂ in AMNH). México: Jalisco: Estación de Biología Chamela, Viveros, 19.499°N 105.043°W, 90 m elev., 28 Feb. - 1 March 2014, W. Maddison, WPM#14-042 (1♀ in CNAN- IBUNAM, 1♀ in MCZ, 1♀ in MCZ).

Etymology.

Named after my late father, Robert John Maddison, who introduced me to the small things in nature through fishing bait and saturniid cocoons. When my brother and I developed interests in beetles and spiders, he offered to take the family on long collecting trips. His gentle encouragement let me find my own love for the riches of biodiversity.

Diagnosis.

Belonging within the clade whose males have modified first and third legs ( coecatus , viridipes and clypeatus groups), but not clearly belonging to any of the subgroups. Shows similarities to the viridipes species group (a ridge of raised scales between the PLE; courtship behaviour) but also to the clypeatus group (red-purple third patella; checkered or striped pattern visible in male AMEs). Unlike relatives with green legs, the yellow-green of the first leg of northern populations is weakly green and is restricted to the underside of the femur. Modifications of the third patella are small, in that respect resembling several species of the viridipes and clypeatus groups, but differing from those in having two small bumps dorsally on the patella (Figs 59-60, 67-68). Like Habronattus moratus (Gertsch & Mulaik, 1936), the raised ridge of scales between the PME appears from in front as a tuft over the PME (white arrow Fig. 66) and a broader raised ridge that is bimodal (lower at the midline; black arrow Fig. 66). Unlike Habronattus moratus , the palp’s bulb is reasonably well rotated ( Habronattus moratus , TmA base pointing to 90°; Habronattus roberti , TmA base pointing to 190°).

Description.

Male (focal specimen: holotype). Carapace length 2.3; abdomen length 2.3. Palp’s bulb well rotated, with embolus arising at 310° (Fig. 50). Tip of RTA in ventral view curves toward the prolateral, forming a hook, like that seen in Habronattus arcalorus Maddison & Maddison, 2016 and other clypeatus -group members. In retrolateral view, the RTA is more robust than usually seen in the viridipes group. Colour: Chelicerae light brown with a glabrous black patch in basal prolateral portion (Fig. 58). Palp femur pale brown with white setae distally; patella covered with white setae; tibia darker but with long white setae retrolaterally; cymbium covered with white setae. First leg with long fringe of white setae on ventral-retrolateral edge, longest distally; weak fringe ventrally and retrolaterally on patella and tibia; no prolateral fringe. One prolateral macroseta on tibia longer than usual, and only very slightly flattened. First leg black above, brown otherwise, palest beneath the femur where it is covered with white setae expanded at the tip (Figs 57-58). (In life, the integument of the femur shows no obvious green.) Other legs medium to dark brown with cream coloured scales. Second leg with prolateral side distinctly darker. Third femur with faint transverse bands of cream scales as in viridipes and clypeatus group (Fig. 56). Patella with a black spot on the prolateral side, and two protuberances dorsally, red-purple in life (Figs 59-60). (In some speci mens, the proximal half of the patella is yellowish-green, Fig. 69.) The prolateral face of the tibia has a narrow strongly white band proximally, then a black region, then a rising band of cream scales. Clypeus and sides of carapace brown. Ocular area dark, covered in grey-brown scales that grade to black between the PME. On the thorax, broad bands of cream scales extend from beneath PME and PLE to the posterior margin; these two bands are contiguous with the inverted V of cream scales between the PME. The integument underlying these thoracic bands is pale. Abdomen black to dark brown above with a broad cream basal band, and a central longitudinal band that is widest at front, sometimes contacting the basal band (Fig. 54). Venter with three longitudinal dark bands.

Female (focal specimen: paratype, specimen JAL14-9239, Figs 61, 62). Carapace length 2.3; abdomen length 2.4. Epigynum (Fig. 52) with central pocket parallel-sided, as typical for clypeatus and viridipes groups. Atrium small, crescent shaped, in front of a central pocket that has more or less parallel sides. Colour (Figs 61-62) pale except for dark patches on chelicerae in the same places as male. In alcohol there is a faint hint of the abdominal markings of the male.

Geographical variation.

Males from the coast of Jalisco, including the type locality and El Tuito, have brown faces (Fig. 58) and a third patella with a red-purple protuberance (Fig. 59). Males from north of the coastal mountain range, near El Grullo, have white hairs on the chelicerae and the border of the clypeus (Fig. 63), a third patella with no black spot and reduced protuberances that lack the red-purple colour (Fig. 68), and a first femur that is more obviously greenish (Fig. 63). Males from further north, in Nayarit, have an extensively white clypeus, a greenish first femur (Fig. 64), and a third patella with the black spot and protuberances that are black rather than red-purple. No difference was noted in the palpi, nor were striking differences noted in their courtship behaviours (see below, Natural History). It is possible that these forms represent separate species, but they are here retained together pending more data.

Additional material examined.

35♂♂ 7 ♀♀ in UBC-SEM: Coastal (typical) form: México: Jalisco: Chamela estuary, 19.5290°N 105.0770°W, 2 June 1998, W. Maddison et al., WPM#98-070 (5♂♂). México: Jalisco: north of El Tuito, 20.337°N 105.316°W, 3 June 1998, W. Maddison et al., WPM#98-072 (5♂♂ 1♀). México: Jalisco: Estación de Biología Chamela, Chachalaca Trail, 19.496°N 105.042°W, 10 Feb. 2014, W. Maddison & H. Proctor, WPM#14-015 (1♂). México: Jalisco: Estación de Biología Chamela, Viveros, 19.499°N 105.043°W, 90 m elev., 16 - 27 Feb. 2014, W. Maddison & H. Proctor, WPM#14-028 (1♂). México: Jalisco: Estación de Biología Chamela, 400-650 m on Calandria Trail, 19.5038 -19.5045°N 105.0334 - 105.0344°W, 19 Feb. 2014, W. Maddison & H. Proctor, WPM#14-034 (2♀♀). México: Jalisco: El Tuito, Rancho Primavera, 20.341°N 105.350°W, 600 m elev., 2 - 4 March 2014, W. Maddison & H. Proctor, WPM#14-044 (2♂♂). El Grullo form: México: Jalisco: Apulco, 19.737°N 103.903°W, 920 m elev., 31 May 1998, W. Maddison et al., WPM#98-064 (1♂). México: Jalisco: Los Yesos, near El Grullo, 19.750°N 104.067°W, 900 m elev., 1 June 1998, W. Maddison et al., WPM#98-065 (5♂♂ 1♀). México: Jalisco: Los Yesos, near El Grullo, 19.7508°N 104.0595°W, 870m elev., 1 June 1998, W. Maddison et al., WPM#98-066 (2♂♂ 1♀). Nayarit form: México: Nayarit: north of Compostela, 25 km S of Tepic, 21.323°N 104.921°W, 1000 m elev., oak woodland, 4 June 1998, W. Maddison et al., WPM#98-077 (5♂♂ 1♀). México: Nayarit: few km W of Compostela on highway 200, 21.2233°N 104.9382°W, 820 m, 4 June 1998, W. Maddison et al., WPM#98-078 (6♂♂ 1♀). México: Nayarit: few km W of Compostela on highway 200, 21.212°N 104.949°W, 870 m, 4 June 1998, W. Maddison et al., WPM#98-079 (2♂♂).

Natural history.

Collected in the tropical deciduous forests in Jalisco and Nayarit, México. It occurs on leaf litter (Fig. 100) along trails and small clearings (Fig. 101), exposed to the sun but with shade nearby. Courtship resembles that of the viridipes group, with an early stage in which the palps are waved in small circles and the first leg tips pointed at the female, followed by two transitional waves of the front leg, followed by a long period of asymmetrical flickers of the first legs. Coastal and Nayarit populations have similar displays (Coastal: ♂w259 https://youtu.be/rL24mLEkUxE, ♂w257 https://youtu.be/ty6p7NioFnU; Nayarit: ♂w261 https://youtu.be/i79aw5ju1EA, ♂w262 https://youtu.be/JV8AjMAgO58).

The pattern of light and dark spots or bands visible inside the male’s AME (Fig. 69) is an intriguing feature of Habronattus roberti and members of the clypeatus group. Maddison and Maddison (2016) discussed such visible patterns in the male eye as characteristic of the clypeatus group (Fig. 70; see also https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dq5ky7vjPYo). As one looks into the AME of most living salticids with translucent carapaces, one sees the colour changing from honey to black smoothly as the eye moves inside the prosoma and our line of sight moves from the side walls of the eye to the retina itself. The pattern of dark spots in Habronattus roberti and the clypeatus group is therefore unusual. It is unclear whether other Habronattus have such a pattern; the eye simply appears dark. In Habronattus roberti , as in the clypeatus group, the integument underlying the thoracic bands is unusually pale, which may permit light to enter the prosoma thus revealing the pattern. Given that this pattern is at the same focal plane as the ornamented third legs (Figs 69, 70), it is conceivable that the visibility of the eye pattern itself is a courtship ornament, enabled by the depigmented thorax.