Alpaida navicula (L. Koch, 1871) L. Koch, 1871

Framenau, Volker W., Scharff, Nikolaj & Levi, Herbert W., 2009, Not from “ Down Under ”: new synonymies and combinations for orb-weaving spiders (Araneae: Araneidae) erroneously reported from Australia, Zootaxa 2073, pp. 22-30 : 25

Alpaida navicula (L. Koch, 1871) comb. nov.

Figs 3 A–B

Epeira navicula L. Koch, 1871: 102 –103, pl. 8, figs 4, 4a, 4b.

Aranea roemeri Strand, 1908: 3 ; Strand 1916: 109. New synonymy.

Araneus naviculus (L. Koch) . Rainbow 1911: 189; Roewer 1942: 830; Bonnet 1955: 548. Araneus roemeri Strand. Petrunkevitch 1911: 312 ; Mello-Leitão 1927: 400; Roewer 1942: 851; Bonnet 1955: 586. Alpaida roemeri (Strand) . Levi, 1988: 469 –470, figs 551–554.

Types. Holotype of Epeira navicula L. Koch, 1871 : female, labeled “Sidney” and “collected by Novara” (NHMW 1866. I.10) (listed in L. Koch (1871) from Sydney, 33º53’S, 151º13’E, New South Wales, Australia) (examined).

Holotype Aranea roemeri Strand, 1908 : female, Joinville [Joinvile] [26º19’S, 48º52’W, Santa Catarina, Brazil], W. Ehrhardt, 1906 ( SMF 3380) (examined).

Remarks. A comparison of the holotype of Epeira navicula with the holotype of Alpaida roemeri undoubtedly supports a synonymy of both species; we can not see any differences in somatic and genitalic morphology between the two specimens that warrant a recognition as separate species. We therefore transfer Araneus naviculus to Alpaida , A. navicula (L. Koch, 1871) comb. nov. and consider it a senior synonym of A. roemeri . The species is currently only known from the holotype collected in southern Brazil ( Levi 1988), and the type locality “Sydney” published by L. Koch (1871) must be considered erroneous. The register of the MNHW lists “Sidney” as locality and “collected by Novara”, presumably referring to the Novara-Expedition (1857–1859), a circumnavigation of the globe by the Austrian Imperial war navy that visited both South America and Australia ( Treffer 1973).

Figures

FIGURE 3; Holotype female of Alpaida navicula (L. Koch, 1871) comb. nov. A, dorsal view; B, epigyne, ventral view. Scale bar: A, 2 mm; B, 0.1 mm.