Eriauchenius pauliani (Legendre, 1970)

Wood, Hannah M. & Scharff, Nikolaj, 2017, A review of the Madagascan pelican spiders of the genera Eriauchenius O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1881 and Madagascarchaea gen. n. (Araneae, Archaeidae), ZooKeys 727, pp. 1-96 : 1

Eriauchenius pauliani (Legendre, 1970) Figs 18, 32

Archaea pauliani Legendre, 1970: 21, figs 6-7, plate 3, fig. 4.

Type material.

Male holotype: as Archaea pauliani Legendre, 1970: Madagascar, Andohahelo (Fort Dauphin), 1800 m., Jan /1954, R. Paulian (examined, deposited in MNHN; MNHN 13/1970).

Other material examined.

No other material examined.

Diagnosis.

Male is distinguished from other " bourgini group" species by the distinctly shaped cephalon, that is triangular with a post-ocular pointed “head” (Fig. 18A), and also by the complete fusion of the sternum and carapace. Male is distinguished from other " bourgini group" species except E. milloti sp. n. and E. lukemacaulayi sp. n. (and presumably E. milajaneae sp. n., although the male is unknown) by the presence of a lateral process on the conductor (Figs 14 G–I, 17 D–I, 18 F–G, asterisk), which in only E. pauliani is as wide as long.

Description.

Male holotype (MNHN 13/1970, from Andohahelo, Fort Dauphin, Madagascar). Total length 2.39, carapace 0.97 long, 0.82 wide. Abdomen 1.30 long, 1.40 high. Carapace tilt angle 62.38°, tilt height (CtH) 2.57, constriction 0.54, head length 1.22, neck length 1.29 (Fig. 2). CtH divided by carapace length 2.65. Cephalon with AME on large bulge, and with postocular pointed head (Fig. 18 A–B). Cephalon with 4 small post-ocular spines at the crown, not on protrusions. Chelicerae 2.07 long, and with a short spine 0.31 from base of chelicerae that projects perpendicular to the cheliceral cuticle. Femur I 2.99 long. Sternum 0.41 long, 0.65 wide, but completely fused to the carapace; measurements were taken based on approximations of where the original sternum edge would have been. Carapace and sternum reddish brown with white setae, chelicera light reddish brown. Legs beige with reddish brown annulations on tibia and metatarsus. Abdomen beige, mottled with brown and with tufts of white setae (Fig. 18A). Pedipalpal bulb with a membranous sac above the base of the embolus, with a greatly exposed embolus that is encircled by the conductor. Conductor with basal part an uneven ridge shape (see the basal “c” in Fig. 18 F–G), with distal part that is narrow as it encircles the embolus, with a large, broad, bulge before tapering off. Conductor with lateral process that is as wide as long (Fig. 18 F–G, asterisk). Embolus broad but tapering at tip to a long, fine wire (Fig. 18I); the embolus tip is broken off of the left pedipalp (Fig. 18G, arrow), but is entire in the right pedipalp (Fig. 18I).

Female: The female paratype at MNHN was not available for examination.

Variation.

No other known material.

Natural history.

Specimens collected at 1800 m elevation.

Distribution.

Known only from the type locality, Andohahelo, in southeast Madagascar (Fig. 32). The distribution point in Fig. 32 is an approximation since the holotype label does not have latitude/longitude data.

Comments.

In E. pauliani the sternum is fused to the carapace, so the sternum measurements were based on an approximation of where the sternum border would be if this fusion was absent. In the type specimen the embolus tip is broken off in the left pedipalp (Fig. 18G - arrow), however the right pedipalp shows that the embolus tip is curved and much longer (Fig. 18I).