Cosmophasis viridifasciata ( Doleschall 1859 )

Hurni-Cranston, Tiziano & Hill, David E., 2021, Three new jumping spiders of the genus Cosmophasis from Wallacea (Araneae: Salticidae: Chrysillini), Peckhamia 228 (1), pp. 1-84 : 56-58

11. Cosmophasis viridifasciata ( Doleschall 1859)

Figure 50 , Map ( Figure 1 ) #59

Salticus viridifasciatus Doleschall 1859 (♂) not Salticus fulvovittatus Doleschall 1859 (♀) not Thiania albo-cincta Thorell 1877 (♀) Maevia viridifasciata Thorell 1878 (♂ ♀) not Cosmophasis viridifasciata Simon 1901 (♂) not Cosmophasis viridifasciata Merian 1911 (♂ ♀) Cosmophasis viridifasciata Prószyński 1984 (♂ ♀)

Previously this was the only Cosmophasis species described from Ambon, and no photographs of the living animals are available. Earlier descriptions with English translations are provided here in Appendix 6. The original description by Doleschall (1859) is inadequate for the identification of this species, and there is no basis for suggestions by Doleschall or subsequent writers that S. fulvovittatus Doleschall 1859 , also from Ambon, is a synonym. The Thiania albo-cincta subsequently described by Thorell (1877), based on a female specimen collected in Kendari, Sulawesi by Beccari, is a mis-match with the brief description of S. fulvovittatus and there is no reason to associate this with C. viridifasciata . Thorell's later (1878) description of the male C. viridifasciata , based on specimens collected in Ambon by Beccari (~1874) differ only with respect to size from Doleschall's brief description, but this character by itself can vary. Subsequent drawings of specimens from Ambon in the Simon collection by Prószyński (1984), and more recent photographs of specimens collected by Beccari in Ambon, now in the Thorell collection, are in agreement ( Figure 50 ), and these provide a definitive description of both the male and the female of this species. Simon (1901) figured a male of a different species with the large tooth of the anterior margin of the fang groove in a medial rather than lateral (base of fang) position. Merian's (1911) figure of the male pedipalp clearly shows a different species from Kema, Sulawesi, with the origin of the embolus at a completely different position; his description of a female cannot be associated with any species in particular. Cosmophasis viridifasciata is known only from Ambon and has not been collected recently.

Diagnosis. The male Cosmophasis viridifasciata resembles the male C. thalassina in many respects, but can be separated from that species by the presence of two pairs of white spots on the sides of the opisthosoma, the first pair connected to the anterior marginal band one either side. In addition the origin of the embolus at a 320° position on the tegulum is quite different from either the ~160° position of C. thalassina , or the ~120° position of C. umbratica (see Figure 6 ; Appendix 1). The female C. viridifasciata also resembles several other species, including C. squamata , with respect to many characters including scale cover, but can be identified by the distinctive structure of the epigynum ( Figure 50 :8-10).

Figures

Figure 1. Known occurrence of Cosmophasis species in Sunda, Sahul and adjacent oceanic islands. Better-known species are identified in the key at upper right. See Appendix 1 for identification of the other species, most know from a single locality, by number. The new species described here are from Ambon and the Banda Islands within the Wallacean region (small yellow rectangle near the center), shown in more detail in Figure 2. Localities are based on references cited in Appendix 1, as well as reliable photographs posted in iNaturalist and FLICKR. Note that some records of C. thalassina (52, generally found to the south) and C. umbratica (57, generally found to the north) are most likely confused, as separation of these species may not be possible. Background image courtesy of NASA/USGS/Landsat.

Figure 6. Diagrammatic ventral views of left pedipalp of male Cosmophasis, showing the convention used here to estimate the rotation of the embolus (in red) from its tegular origin to its apex in the cymbial furrow. See Appendix 1 for estimates of this rotation by species, based on published drawings or photographs.

Figure 50. Male (1-7) and female (8-15) Cosmophasis viridifasciata from Ambon. 1-5, Photographs of a male specimen (Maevia viridifasciata) collected by Odorado Beccari, now in the Thorell collection at the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale Giacomo Doria di Genova. 4-5, Ventral and dorsolateral views of left pedipalp. Note the origin of the embolus in a position near 320°. 6-7, Drawings of a left pedipalp based on a specimen from Ambon in the Simon collection, now in the MNHN, Paris (Prószyński 1984). 8-9, Ventral (8) and dorsal (9) views of dissected female epigynum based on a specimen from Ambon in the Simon collection, now in the MNHN, Paris (Prószyński 1984). 10-15, Ventral view of epigynum (10) and other views of a female specimen (Maevia viridifasciata) collected by Beccari, now in the Thorell collection at the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale Giacomo Doria di Genova (CL 2.70, CW 2.15, AEW 1.80, PEW 1.80, EFL 1.08, CH 1.55, AL 3.60, AW 1.55). Thorell's collection includes a number of males, females, and immatures of this species. Image credits: 1-5, 10-15, copyright © Joanne Gardzińska, used with permission; 6-7, copyright © Jerzy Prószyński, used with permission. Images shown here can also be accessed in published or posted catalogs (Prószyński 2016, 2020; Metzner 2021).