Myrmecotypus niger Chickering, 1937

Silva-Junior, Cláudio J. & Bonaldo, Alexandre B., 2024, A revision of the South American species of the ant-mimicking spider genus Myrmecotypus O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1894 (Araneae: Corinnidae: Castianeirinae), Zootaxa 5555 (4), pp. 451-496 : 462-466

Myrmecotypus niger Chickering, 1937

Figs 8A–J

Myrmecotypus niger Chickering, 1937: 35 , figs 42, 54 (holotype, ♀, from Barro Colorado Island, PANAMA: Canal Zone, in the Museum of Comparative Zoology, not examined); Reiskind 1969: 274, figs 241–242, 286.

Apochinomma formicoides Mello-Leitão, 1939b: 289 , figs 6–8 (holotype, ♀, from Vila de Salobra , Miranda, Mato Grosso do Sul, BRAZIL, destroyed in the 2018 MNRJ fire. syn. nov.

Note. The original description of Apochinomma formicoides is consistent with that of a species of Myrmecotypus . The illustrations of the habitus, ocular formula and epigyne provided by Mello-Leitão (1939) are informative, especially the epigyne in ventral view, depicting a transverse fold that is interrupted medially, a character only recorded for M. niger . This is the only species of Myrmecotypus known to occur in the State of Mato Grosso do Sul, being recorded from Corumbá and Brasilândia, which are nearly equidistant with Miranda, the type locality of Apochinomma formicoides .

Diagnosis. Males of M. niger resemble those of M. haddadi by the presence of a sclerotized RTP but differ from this and all other Myrmecotypus by the tibia I ventral spination 4-4 and male palp with hook-shaped RTP ( Fig. 8G ). Females resemble those of M. rubrofemoratus by the presence of a U-shaped band of black setae on the carapace but can be recognized by the epigynal transverse fold that is interrupted medially ( Fig. 8J ), whereas this fold is absent in M. rubrofemoratus (Perger & Rubio 2021: fig. 3B), and the tibia I ventral spination 4-4 (5- 5 in M. rubrofemoratus ).

Description. See Reiskind (1969): 274–275.

New records. BRAZIL: Pará: Tomé-Açu [02°43’43.3’’S, 48°14’’45.7’’W], 1♀, I.2010, Jailson leg. ( MPEG) ; Same data but 1♂, 9.X.2009, Dinaldo leg. ( MPEG) ; Mato Grosso: Diamantino, Nascente do Rio Paraguai [14°25’28.0’’S, 56°29’55.2’’W], 2♂ 1♀, 10. III.2002, J. Raizer et al. leg. ( IBSP, IB-48440 ) ; Mato Grosso do Sul: Brasilândia [21°03’21.2’’S, 52°19’25.1’’W], 1♂, 2000, Equipe IBSP leg. ( IBSP, IB-35310 ) ; Same data but 3♂ ( IBSP, IB-35617 ) ; Same data but 1♂ ( IBSP, IB-35308 ) ; Corumbá, Morro do Azeite [19°29’01.0’’S, 57°19’01.1’’W], 1♂, IV.1998, J. Raizer et al. leg. ( IBSP, IB-21979 ) ; São Paulo: Presidente Epitácio [21°50’37.9’’S, 52°10’17.2’’W], 1♂, 16.I.1999, ( IBSP, IB-23344 ) ; Rosana, São José do Rio Pardo [21°35’18.1’’S, 46°53’20.0’’W], 1♂, XII.1997, R. Bertani leg. ( IBSP, IB-14614 ) .

Distribution. Panamá to southeast Brazil ( Fig. 26 ).

Figures

FIGURE 8. Myrmecotypus niger Chickering, 1937. A–C, G–I male (MCN-23421), D–F, J–K. female (MPEG) A male, dorsal view; B same, lateral view; C same, ventral view; D female, dorsal view; E, same, lateral view; F same, ventral view; G male palp, ventral view; H same, retrolateral view; I female epigyne, ventral view; J same, dorsal view. White arrow indicating medial loop, black arrow indicating lateral loop.Abbreviations: E, embolus; RTP, retroapical tegular projection; CO, copulatory opening, CD, copulatory duct; ST II, secondary spermathecae; ST I, primary spermathecae; FD, fertilization duct. Scale: 1 mm.

FIGURE 26. Distribution records of species of Myrmecotypus.