Hadronyche nadgee, Whitington & Harris, 2021

Whitington, Paul M. & Harris, Kerri-Lee, 2021, A New Species of Australian Funnel-web Spider (Mygalomorphae, Atracidae, Hadronyche) Redefines the Family Atracidae, Records of the Australian Museum (Rec. Aust. Mus.) 73 (4), pp. 115-122 : 116-119

Hadronyche nadgee sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:71E46225-1221-490B-A415-53E7C98C4661

Figs 1–5

Holotype male: AMS KS.131058 Wonboyn , New South Wales, 37°14'38"S 149°54'11"E, 9 June 2021. K.-L. Harris & P. Whitington . Paratypes (all adult males, same location and collector data as for holotype, but with different dates as follows) : AMS KS.131059, AMS KS.131060, QMS 116530, QMS 116531, 22 May 2020 ; AMS KS.131061, 14 June 2020 ; AMS KS.131062, 3 June 2021 ; AMS KS.131063, AMS KS.131064, 9 June 2021 .

Other material examined: (male) AMS KS.105558, SE Forests National Park, New South Wales, 10 km W of Brogo end of Dorrigo Road, 338 m, 16 June 2006, C. A. Car.

Whitington & Harris: an unusual funnel-web spider from NSW 117

Diagnosis

CL 3.85–4.80 (male). Small atracine spider. Differs from all other Hadronyche spp. in having a single row of 8–10 cheliceral teeth on promargin and no teeth along retromargin ( Fig. 3A ). Labium with a sparse cluster of cuspules (20–39) over anteroventral two-thirds ( Fig. 3D ). Females unknown.

Description (holotype male)

Size (mm). Carapace length 4.40, width 3.70. Abdomen length 3.70, width 2.80.

Colour (live). Carapace and legs chocolate brown. Chelicerae very dark brown. Abdomen ventrally and laterally pinkish brown. Abdomen dorsally has wide central plum-brown band with numerous small, unpigmented dots arranged in a regular pattern. Abdomen with a thin, even cover of short, dark hairs on all surfaces. (alcohol preserved): Carapace and chelicerae orange-brown, legs yellow-brown.Abdomen ventrally and laterally pale with a broad, plum-coloured, dorsal medial band.

Carapace. Longer than wide. Frontal width 3.20, height 2.50. Sparsely haired. Caput strongly raised ( CH /CW 0.68) and broad frontally (CFW/CL 0.73). Caput spans the anterior edge of the carapace. Fovea a transverse, procurved groove. Clypeus with cluster of 10–12 short bristles centrally, and one long bristle between AME. Pleura widest in line with fovea and coxae of leg III. Relative to the carapace width, pleurae are wider than in most other atracids (refer figures in Gray, 2010).

Eyes. In rectangular group on low tubercle, in two rows of four. Eye group length 0.60, width 1.20. Diameters: AME 0.30, ALE 0.30, PME 0.20, PLE 0.25.

Chelicerae. Robust cheliceral paturon. Cheliceral groove shallow. Single row of 9 cheliceral teeth along promargin (medial) of each paturon. No teeth along retromargin. Cluster of 3 small central teeth at base of groove.

Maxillae. Longer than wide. Strong coniform lobe anteromedially. Numerous cuspules (38) in medioventral region.

Labium. Wider than long (LL/LW 0.65). Sparse cluster of cuspules (32) over anteroventral two-thirds. Labiosternal sigilla wide and complete.

Sternum. Ovoid, longer (2.40) than wide (SW/SL 0.88). Posterior sigillae ovoid. Two anterior pairs of sigillae, smaller and indistinct.

Palps. Cymbium bilobed. Subtegulum smaller than tegulum. Middle haematodocha exposed. Embolus shaft weakly curved, medium length, flattened and twisted distally. Bulb length 1.10, width 0.55. Embolus length 0.70, midwidth 0.10. Femur thickened distally. Patella much wider than femur. Width of femur 0.60, patella 0.85, tibia 0.75. Length of femur 1.70, patella 1.00, tibia 1.90. Tibia without apophysis. Femur, patella and tibia aspinose.

Legs. 412–3. Lengths given in Table 1. Metatarsus I unmodified. Tibia II unmodified. Metatarsus II weakly sinuous, ventrally concave proximally, with slight apophyseal swelling. Tarsi III, IV longer and wider than tarsi I, II. Tarsus IV thickest in the distal mid section. Scopulae on ventral surface of all tarsi. Tarsi III, IV with wide band of thick, bent scopular hairs extending onto metatarsus. Scopulae weaker on tarsi I, II.

Tarsal claws. Tip of each tarsus bears 3 claws: a large superior pair and a smaller medial claw. Superior claws of legs I and II each with single row of 7–9 teeth of various sizes. The tooth row sigmoidal, extending from lateral (proximally) to medial edge (distally).

Trichobothria. Leg I: tibia 8, metatarsus 6, tarsus 6. Leg II: tibia 6, metatarsus 5, tarsus 6. Leg III: tibia 6, metatarsus 5, tarsus 8. Leg IV: tibia 9, metatarsus 7, tarsus 10. Palps: cymbium 4, tibia 8.

Leg spination. Spines on tarsi of all legs in two rows on either side of the scopula. Leg I: femur 0, patella 0, tibia 7, metatarsus 10, tarsus 5. Leg II: femur 0, patella 0, tibia 4, metatarsus 9, tarsus 6. Leg III: femur 0, patella 31 (p28 r3), tibia 6 (d1 p3 r1), metatarsus 14 (d5 p4), tarsus 7. Leg IV: femur 0, patella 12 (p12), tibia 5 (d1 p2), metatarsus 22 (d1 p3), tarsus 29.

Abdomen. Two pairs of spinnerets. Lateral pair (PLS) separated by more than width of basal segment, and with short, conical apical segment. PLS segment lengths: total 1.25, basal 0.55, middle 0.30, apical 0.40. PLS apical segment width 0.25. Median spinnerets each comprising a single segment: length 0.40, width 0.20.

A summary of morphological data for the nine type specimens, all male and including the holotype, is presented in Table 2.

Distribution. “South East Coastal Ranges”, a subregion of the South East Corner IBRA bioregion ( Australian Government, 2012).

Etymology. The name nadgee is a noun in apposition taken from the Nadgee Nature Reserve, the northwestern boundary of which is just 2 km from the type location.

Comments

All nine type specimens were discovered wandering at or near ground level on wet, cool nights (measured as 11°C on two occasions) in late Autumn and early Winter. The collection site for the holotype and eight paratypes is near the village of Wonboyn , 5 km from the coast in an area of dry sclerophyll forest classed as Lowland Gully Shrub Forest ( Keith & Bedward, 1999; Tozer et al., 2010) .

Upon collection these spiders were quite passive. When provoked, all except one simply rolled over and adopted a “play dead” pose ( Fig. 1B ). After a day in captivity, however, they became much more reactive. At the least provocation they would rear back with pedipalps raised and fangs exposed ( Fig. 1D ). One of the spiders wove a silken retreat overnight within a fold of moistened paper.

The other male (AMS KS.105558) examined was also collected in early Winter, also from a forest environment, but 25 km from the coast.

Figures

Figure 1. Hadronyche nadgee sp. nov., male (A, holotype AMS KS.131058; B, C, D, AMS KS.131064): (A) live, dorsal; (B) live and in “play dead” pose, ventral; (C) live, lateral; (D) live and in defensive pose, anterior.

Figure 2. Hadronyche nadgee sp. nov., male (A, B, D, holotype AMS KS.131058; C, AMS KS.131062): (A) cephalothorax, chelicerae, proximal segments of palps and legs I–III, dorsal; (B) sternum, leg bases, ventral mouthparts, palps, and chelicerae, ventral; (C) abdomen, fovea, femora legs III–IV, dorsal; (D) carapace, caput, eye group and clypeus, lateral. Scale lines A–C =1 mm, D = 0.5 mm

Figure 3. Hadronyche nadgee sp.nov., male (all holotypeAMS KS.131058):(A) cheliceral groove teeth,fangs and apical lobes of maxillae, ventral; (B) eyes and clypeus, dorsal; (C) sternum, ventral; (D) labium and base of maxillae, ventral; (E) spinnerets, posteroventral. Scale lines = 0.5 mm.

Figure 4. Hadronyche nadgee sp.nov., male (A, holotypeAMSKS.131058; B, AMSKS.131059;C,AMSKS.131062; D, AMS KS.131061): (A) palpal cymbium and bulb, left, anterodorsal; (B) palpal tibia, cymbium and bulb, right retrolateral; (C) palpal femur and patella, right, dorsal; (D) bulb removed from left palp, inset shows distal tip of embolus. Scale lines = 0.5mm, except D and D inset = 0.2 mm.

Figure 5. Hadronyche nadgee sp.nov., male (A, H,AMS KS.131059; B, F, G,AMSKS.131063; C,AMS KS.131061; D,AMS KS.131064; E, holotype AMS KS.131058): (A) tarsus I, right leg, dorsal; (B) distal tarsus II, ventral; (C) femur, patella, tibia, metatarsus, tarsus, left leg II, prolateral; (D) tibia II, right leg, retrolateral; (E) patella, tibia, metatarsus III, left leg, prolateral; (F) distal metatarsus and tarsus III, left leg, ventral; (G) distal metatarsus and tarsus IV, left leg, prolateral; (H) tarsus IV, right leg, dorsal. Scale lines = 0.5 mm