Eusparassus dufouri ( Simon, 1932 )

Moradmand, Majid & Jäger, Peter, 2012, Taxonomic revision of the huntsman spider genus Eusparassus Simon, 1903 (Araneae: Sparassidae) in Eurasia, Journal of Natural History 46 (39 - 40), pp. 2439-2496 : 2445-2450

Eusparassus dufouri ( Simon, 1932)

( Figures 2 , 3 , 23C )

Micromata argelasia ( Walckenaer, 1805) – Latreille, 1818: 517 (misidentification, description of female, Spain); Dufour, 1820: 299, pl. 2 (misidentification).

Sparassus argelasius – Walckenaer, 1830: 108, pl. 7, fig. 1 (misidentification, male); Walckenaer, 1837: 584 (misidentification, female); Simon, 1875: 334 (misidentification); Simon, 1880: 290 (misidentification).

Eusparassus argelasius – Simon, 1903: 1020, 1025 (type species designation, new replacement name, description of the genus) – Järvi, 1912: 57, 175, figs 9, 10, 49, pl. 4; Järvi, 1914: 175; Roewer, 1928: 118, pl. 2, figs 38–39 (misidentification).

E. dufouri Simon, 1932: 890 (new replacement name). – Barrientos and Urones, 1985: 356, figs 4, 5; Urones, 2006: 102, figs 1–24.

Sparassus dufouri (Simon) – Levy, 1989: 138, fig. 20.

Type material

(syntype females unavailable, see notes below). Neotype: male ( SD 815 ), Portugal: Distrito de Portalgere , Montalvão, [39 ◦ 36 ′ N, 07 ◦ 31 ′ W] 6 May 2011, S. Henriques leg. ( SMF).

Other material examined

PORTUGAL: 1♂ ( SD 834 ), 1♀ ( SD 822 ), with same data as for neotype ( SMF) ; 1♂, Pulo do Lobo , May 2011, S. Henriques leg. ( SMF, SD 838 ) ; 1♀, Distrito de Beja: Serpa, Altenju , May 2011, S. Henriques leg. ( SMF, SD839 ) ; 1♂, 1♀, Pomarao , 120 m, (37 ◦ 34.5 ′ N 7 ◦ 32.100 ′ W) 19–22 May 2006, Cardoso et al. leg. ( ZMUC) ; SPAIN: 1♂, 1♀, Huelva Province: Alajar, Aracena , (37 ◦ 53 ′ 28 ′′ N 6 ◦ 33 ′ 40 ′′ W) 7 July 1969, A. Senglet leg. ( MHNG) ; 2♂♂, Jaén Province: Sierra de Cazorla, Guadalquivir , (37 ◦ 56 ′ 12 ′′ N 02 ◦ 57 ′ 30 ′′ W), 24 July 1971, A. Senglet leg. ( MHNG) ; 1♂, 1♀, Cordoba , 3 June 1909 ( MNCN) ; 1♀, Rabida , June 1959, V. Buddenbrock leg. ( SMF) .

Diagnosis

Closely related to E. levantinus but differing from it by much stouter embolus tip and more sickle-like dRTA in ventral view ( Figure 2A,C ); EM sheath-like and covering part of embolus tip in retrolateral view ( Figure 2B ); vulva differing from that of E. levantinus by glandular process located on a continuous part distinguishable from turning loop ( Figure 3C ).

Redescription

Male (n = 8). Medium-sized Eusparassus species ; Total length: 9.9–13.8, prosoma length 5.5–6.8, prosoma width 5.3–6.6, anterior width of prosoma 2.6–3.5, opisthosoma length 4.5–7.0, opisthosoma width 3.0–4.5. Eyes subequal, eye diameters (neotype): AME 0.40, ALE 0.32, PME 0.31, PLE 0.34; eye interdistances: AME– AME 0.22, AME–ALE 0.10, PME–PME 0.43, PME–PLE 0.42, AME–PME 0.32, ALE–PLE 0.22, clypeus height at AME 0.20, clypeus height at ALE 0.27.

Chelicerae with two anterior and three posterior teeth, cheliceral furrow without denticles; Basal segment of chelicerae at distal end close to base of fangs with one bristle ( Figure 2E ).

Leg formula: 2 4 1 3. Measurements of palp and legs (neotype): Palp 8.3 [2.7, 1.2, 1.0, 3.4], I 25.9 [7.2, 2.3, 6.8, 7.3, 2.3], II 28.7 [8.3, 2.9, 7.6, 7.5, 2.4], III 24.3 [7.2, 2.6, 6.1, 6.3, 2.1], IV 26.7 [7.9, 2.3, 6.8, 7.4, 2.3].

Spination. Palp 131, 000 / 001, 1111; Legs: Femur I–III 323 / 424, IV 321 / 322 / 422; Patella I–IV 000(1) / 101; Tibia I–IV 2024 / 2224; Metatarsus I–III 1014 / 2024, IV 3034 / 3(4)036.

Palp. As in diagnosis with cymbium nearly twice as long as tibia; tegulum shorter than embolus and tip of embolus proximad, embolic projection consists of a large sheath-like part distally and a hyaline part proximally ( Figure 2A–C ).

Female (n = 6). Total length: 16.2–17.5, prosoma length 8.0–8.5, prosoma width 6.7–7.7, anterior width of prosoma 4.3–4.5, opisthosoma length 8.2–9.0, opisthosoma width 4.5–6.0. Eye diameters: AME 0.45, ALE 0.41, PME 0.34, PLE 0.40; eye interdistances: AME–AME 0.35, AME–ALE 0.16, PME–PME 0.60, PME–PLE 0.58, AME–PME 0.48, ALE–PLE 0.42, clypeus height at AME 0.27, clypeus height at ALE 0.35.

Chelicerae with two anterior and three or four posterior teeth. Cheliceral furrow without denticles. Basal segment of chelicerae at distal end close to base of fangs mostly with one bristle or two bristles.

Leg formula: 2 4 1 3. Measurements of palp and legs: Palp 8.7 [2.3, 1.5, 1.7, 3.2], I 26.1 [7.5, 3.4, 6.2, 6.8, 2.2], II 28.5 [8.5, 3.5, 7.0, 7.3, 2.2], III 24.2 [7.4, 3.2, 5.7, 5.8, 2.1], IV 26.7 [8.0, 3.1, 6.3, 7.1, 2.2].

Spination. Palp 131, 000 (001), 1111, 1013; Legs: Femur I–III 323 / (3)424, IV 322(1) / 422; Patella I–IV 000(1) / 101; Tibia I–IV 1014 / 2024; Metatarsus I–III 2024, IV 3034 / 3036.

Epigyne / vulva. As in diagnosis, epigyne is longer than wide, AMLL are fused together and encircling MS entirely, EFB present and combined with AMLL ( Figure 3A ).

Colouration. Olive-brown with clearly banded legs; ventral opisthosoma with a Vshaped dark marking ( Figure 23C ).

Taxonomic notes

In the description of the genus Sparassus, Walckenaer (1805: 40) just listed Sparassus argelasius without a description (nomen nudum) along with the following nominal species: S. samaragdulus (Fabricius, 1793) , S. pallens (Fabricius, 1794) , S. roseus (Clerck, 1757) and S. ornatus (Walckenaer, 1802) [for more details see Jäger (1999: 3)]. One year later ( Walckenaer 1806: 146, table 2) he published a description and illustration of a male under the name Sparassus argelasius , which was a misidentification and was later transferred to the genus Olios . Walckenaer’s original description of Sparassus was actually based on species of the previously established genus Micrommata Latreille, 1804 and a single male of Olios argelasius . Latreille (1818) examining two female specimens from Spain tried to describe the female of Walckenaer’s species, “ Sparassus argelasius ”, and transferred it to Micrommata (sub Micromata argelasia ), but he failed to identify it correctly. This misidentification was pointed out later by Simon (1903: 1025), who described his new genus Eusparassus and cited Latreille’s description and indicated the type species as E. argelasius Latreille. But the Latreille misidentification was based on Walckenaer (1805) and the species name was already occupied by Olios argelasius (sub Sparassus ). Later, Simon (1932: 890) realized this confusion when he described and illustrated O. argelasius (Walckenaer) and proposed E. dufouri as a new replacement name (nomen novum) to substitute the previously established name E. argelasius . Simon noted that “the species described under the name Sparassus argelasius Latreille (in Simon 1875: 334) must take the new name (nom. nov.) as Eusparassus dufouri ”. Before proposing the genus Eusparassus, Simon in his publications (1875: 334; 1880: 290) used the nominal species “ Sparassus argelasius ” for describing E. dufouri . In the literature, Sparassus itself was used to record not only different species but also different generic taxa including Micrommata , Olios and Eusparassus .

Neotype designation

According to all the facts noted, Simon (1932) did not designate any name-bearing type specimen subsequently while referring to Latreille (1818). According to Article 72.4.2 of the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, when a new nominal species-group taxon ( E. dufouri ) is based on a published misidentification by an earlier author ( M. argelasia Lat. ), the type series consists of the specimens that had been misidentified. No material of Latreille can be traced in MNHN and it is generally understood that none exists. Consequently, it is necessary to designate a neotype for E. dufouri at this time to establish its identity, define the nominal taxon objectively and avoid taxonomic confusion with similar and closely related species in the Iberian Peninsula (i.e. E. levantinus Urones, 2006 ), in Northern Africa [i.e. E. oraniensis (Lucas, 1846) ] and in the eastern Mediterranean (i.e. E. walckenaeri ). There are two forms in the Iberian Peninsula, E. dufouri of uncertain identity, and E. levantinus , which was described by Urones (2006). The latter species is distributed in eastern and southern Spain but is replaced by E. dufouri in the western Iberian Peninsula. Accordingly, a neotype is designated for E. dufouri from the western Iberian Peninsula on the border of Portugal and Spain, in Montalvão. Based on the distribution map presented by Urones (2006) and also using the distribution records of the present study, type locality is selected to be as far as possible from the distribution range of E. levantinus . Specimens were freshly collected and DNA samples are available.

Known geographical distribution and habitat

Western Iberian Peninsula in Spain and Portugal, mostly under stones; under old tree bark in the southeast of Portugal (Barrancos Valley), including in Eucalyptus trees. (S. Henriques, personal observation).

Doubtful record

Simon (1932: 890) stated that the single report of the species from France (Pyrenees-Orientales) was actually collected in a shipment from Spain, Iberia.

Figures

Figure 2. Eusparassus dufouri Simon, 1932, neotype male from Chanca, Portugal (SMF): (A) left palp, ventral; (B) left palp, retrolateral; (C) tip of embolus and conductor, ventral; (D) eye arrangement; (E) left chelicera, ventral. Abbreviations: C, conductor; dRTA, dorsal retrolateral tibial apophysis; E, embolus; EM, embolus membrane; ET, embolus tip; H, haematodocha; SpD, sperm duct; ST, subtegulum; T, tegulum; vRTA, ventral retrolateral tibial apophysis. Scale bars: (A, B, D, E) 1 mm, (C) 0.5 mm.

Figure 3. Eusparassus dufouri Simon, 1932, female from type locality (SMF): (A) epigyne, ventral; (B) vulva, dorsal; (C) left vulva, anterio-dorso-lateral. Abbreviations: AMLL, anterior margin of LL; CD, copulatory duct; CO, copulatory opening; EF, epigynal field; EFB, epigynal field bridge; FD, fertilization duct; GP, glandular process; GPo, glandular pores; L, lumen; LL, lateral lobes; MS, median septum; SS, slit sensillum; TL, Turning Loop. Scale bars: (A, B) 1 mm, (C) 0.5 mm.

Figure 23. Ventral opisthosoma colouration, (A) Eusparassus walckenaeri; (B) Eusparassus xerxes comb. nov., (C) Eusparassus dufouri, (D) Eusparassus levantinus.