Aguapanela arvi Perafán, Cifuentes & Estrada, 2015

Perafán, Carlos, Cifuentes, Yeimy & Estrada-Gomez, Sebastián, 2015, Aguapanela, a new tarantula genus from the Colombian Andes (Araneae, Theraphosidae), Zootaxa 4033 (4), pp. 529-542 : 534-538

Aguapanela arvi Perafán, Cifuentes & Estrada sp. nov.

Figs 1–27 , 30–33 ; Table 2

Type material. Colombia, Antioquia: holotype male (ICN-Ar 7914), Medellín, Corregimiento Santa Elena, Piedras Blancas Ecological Park (6°17’44.8’’N, 75°30’04.7’’W), 2400 masl, 18 October 2013, C. Perafán, Y. Cifuentes & S. Estrada leg. Paratypes: allotype female (ICN-Ar 7915), data as holotype; 3 females (SUA-113, SUA-116 and SUA-117) from same data as holotype.

Additional material examined: 2 males (CEUA-Ar 266 and CEUA-Ar 230) from Medellín, Corregimiento Santa Elena, Vereda El Placer, 2400 masl, 3 July 2001 and 26 March 2002, respectively, J.G. Ochoa leg.; 1 male and 1 female (CEUA-Ar 89) from Caldas, 2100 masl, March 1997, H. Estrada & G. Parra leg.; 1 female (CEUA- Ar) from Medellín, Corregimiento San Cristobal, Vereda El Uvito, Sector El Arbolito, 2400 masl, 19 March 2006, J. García leg.

Etymology. The specific epithet is a noun in apposition taken from the locality where the holotype was found. Arvi means place with a very rich area in natural resources in a native indigenous language. This ancient indigenous people inhabited the Valle de Aburrá and the eastern Altiplano of the Cordillera Central from Colombia, where this species is distributed.

Diagnosis. See diagnosis of the genus.

Description. Male (holotype ICN-Ar 7914) ( Fig. 29 ). Total length, not including chelicerae or spinnerets 27; including chelicerae 30.2. Carapace length 13.8, width 13.5. Abdomen length 12.2. PLS: basal length 2.1, medial 1.9, distal 1.8. PMS length 1.7. Anterior eye row slightly procurved, posterior slightly recurved. Eyes sizes and interspaces: AME 0.3, ALE 0.53, PME 0.33, PLE 0.47, AME–AME 0.47, AME–ALE 0.13, ALE–ALE 1.23, PME–PME 1.1, PME–PLE 0.07, PLE-PLE 1.5, AME-PME 0.23, ALE-PLE 0.27. OQ elevated, sub-rectangular, surrounded by black setae, length 1.56, width 2.13, clypeus 0.06. Fovea transverse deep, straight, width 3.2. Cephalic area slightly raised, thoracic striae conspicuous with black setae ( Fig. 14 ). Basal segment of chelicerae with 11 well-developed teeth on furrow promargin and 6/8 (left/right) small teeth on proximal area of furrow; intercheliceral tumescense absent. Labium trapezoidal, length 1.63, width 2.7, with 8 cuspules ( Fig. 15 ). Maxillae sub-rectangular, with 46/79 (left/right) cuspules restricted to proximal prolateral angle ( Fig. 13 ). Labio-sternal junction wide in middle ( Fig. 13 ). Sternum length 5.4, width 5.8, with 3 pairs of sigilla. Sigilla oval, anterior pair smaller, posterior pair larger, separated from margin by their diameter ( Fig. 13 ). Tarsal scopula: I–IV densely scopulated; I and II entire; III entire but with few dispersed longer conical setae; IV divided by medial strip of longer conical setae. Paired claws with teeth on proximal half and central axis: I, 1 tooth; II, 3 teeth; III and IV, 4 teeth. Metatarsal scopula extent: I and II scopulate on distal 1/3; III less than distal 1/4; IV not scopulate. Palpal tibia elongate with long spines ( Fig. 23 ). Metatarsus I straight. Tibia I without apophysis ( Figs 21–22 ). Stridulatory setae ( Figs 1–12 ): plumose setae on prolateral coxae I–II, trochanters I–-II, femora I–II and retrolateral palpal coxa and trochanter, very few; thorns setae on retrolateral maxilla and coxa I. Stridulatory setae thicker on coxae, thinner on trochanter and smaller on femur; femur I extended proximal half, II proximal 1/3. Urticating setae: type III and IV present, and urticating setae of intermediate length and morphology between III and IV; type III located lateral of urticating setae patch and type IV on medial. Cymbium bilobed. Palpal bulb ( Figs 17–20, 24–27 ): subcylindrical, subtegulum less extended than usual in Theraphosinae , elongated curved embolus, ventrally concave, with two prolateral keels (PI and PS) very flat and developed on dorsal edge, PI sub-apically truncated. Colour (in vivo): cephalothorax, abdomen and legs black, femur darker; legs with reddish long setae. Abdomen ornamented with red long setae and dark patch of urticating setae. Spination (proximal to distal): femur: palp: 0V, 0D, 0-0-1P, 0R; I: 0V, 0D, 0-0-2P, 0R; II: 0V, 0D, 0-0-2P, 0R; III 0V, 0D, 0-0-1P, 0-0-1R; IV: 0V, 0D, 0-0-1P, 0-0-2R. Patella: palp: 0V, 0D, 0P, 0R; I: 0V, 0D, 0-1-0P, 0R; II: 0V, 0D, 0-1-0P, 0R; III: 0V, 0D, 0-1-0P, 0R; IV: 0V, 0D, 0P, 0R. Tibia: palp: 0-2- 2V, 0D, 1-4-1P, 0R; I: 2-4- 6V, 0D, 0-2-2P, 1-3-3R; II: 3-2- 2V, 0D, 0-3-3P, 0-3-2R; III: 1-2- 4V, 0D, 0-4-1P, 0-3-1R; IV: 0-3- 4V, 0D, 0-4-1P, 1-4-2R. Metatarsus: I: 0-6- 5V, 0D, 1-1-2P, 1-1-1R; II: 0-5- 3V, 0D, 1-3-2P, 1-1-1R; III: 2-4- 5V, 0-0-1D, 1-4-3P, 1-3-4R; IV: 2-9-10V, 0D, 0-3-4P, 1-3-4R. Tarsus: palp and legs: 0. Legs and palpal segments lengths in Table 2 .

Female (allotype ICN-Ar 7915) ( Fig. 30 ). Total length, not including chelicerae or spinnerets 28.5; including chelicerae 33. Carapace length 13.4, width 12.8. Abdomen length 14.6. PLS: basal length 2.4, medial 1.45, distal 1.8. PMS length 1.25. Anterior eye row procurved; posterior, slightly recurved. Eyes sizes and interspaces: AME 0.43, ALE 0.5, PME 0.43, PLE 0.46, AME–AME 0.37, AME–ALE 0.2, ALE–ALE 1.13, PME–PME 1.07, PME- PLE 0.07, PLE–PLE 1.43, AME–PME 0.1, ALE–PLE 0.3. OQ elevated sub-rectangular, surrounded by black setae, less than in male, length 1.97, width 2.1, clypeus 0.3. Fovea transverse deep, straight, width 3.15. Cephalic area slightly raised, thoracic striae conspicuous, less than in male, with black setae. Basal segments of chelicerae with 9/10 (left/right) well-developed teeth on furrow promargin and 10/8 (left/right) small teeth on proximal area of furrow, intercheliceral tumescense absent. Labium trapezoidal, length 2.2, width 3.4, with 2 cuspules. Maxillae sub-rectangular, with 71/74 (left/right) cuspules restricted on proximal prolateral angle. Labio-sternal junction narrow in middle. Sternum length 5.3, width 5.6, with 3 pairs of sigilla. Sigilla oval, anterior pair smaller, posterior pair larger, anterior pairs separated from margin by their diameter, posterior pair separated from margin slightly more than their diameter. Tarsal scopula: palp and I–IV densely scopulated; palp and legs I–II entire but with few dispersed longer conical setae; III divided by narrow line of longer conical setae; IV divided by wide medial stripe of longer conical setae. Paired claws: palp and legs I–II without teeth; III and IV with 3 teeth on proximal 1/3 and central axis. Metatarsal scopula extent: I scopulate on distal half; II distal 1/3; III less than distal 1/4; IV not scopulate. Stridulatory setae: as in male, but less dense. Urticating setae: as male. Spermathecae with two digitiform, elongated and granulated seminal receptacles, rounded and wide distally, attached to semicircular, wide membranous base ( Fig. 16 ). Colour (in vivo): as in male, but abdomen with red long setae abundant laterally. Spination (proximal to distal). femur: palp: 0V, 0D, 0-0-1P, 0R; I: 0V, 0D, 0-0-1P, 0R; II: 0V, 0D, 0-0-1P, 0R; III: 0V, 0D, 0-0-1P, 0R; IV: 0V, 0D, 0P, 0-0-1R. Patella: palp: 0V, 0D, 0P, 0R; I: 0V, 0D, 0P, 0R; II: 0V, 0D, 0P, 0R; III: 0V, 0D, 0-1-0P, 0R; IV: 0V, 0D, 0P, 0R. Tibia: palp: 0-2- 3V, 0D, 0-1-0P, 0R; I: 0-1- 2V, 0D, 0P, 0R; II: 0-1- 3V, 0D, 0-2-0P, 0R; III: 0-1- 2V, 0D, 0-0-1P, 0-1-1R; IV: 0-1- 2V, 0D, 0-1-1P, 0-2-1R. Metatarsus: I: 0-3- 4V, 0D, 0P, 0R; II: 0-4- 3V, 0D, 0-1-1P, 0R; III: 0-6- 5V, 0D, 2-2-2P, 0-1-1R; IV: 0- 14 -6V, 0D, 0-1-2P, 0-2-1R. Legs and palpal segments lengths in Table 2 .

Distribution. See distribution of the genus.

Natural history. These tarantulas were found in high Andean forests and were also frequently observed inside dwellings and walking on city roads near these forests (SE personal observations). Based on data collections, there are reports of males captured in March, July and October. We captured some specimens in October inside caves on small crags located on the edge of a footpath from Piedras Blancas Ecological Park, Santa Elena, Medellín ( Fig. 29 ). Concurrently, on that occasion, we also observed both females and males walking at night on the footpath and crags of the Park.

Piedras Blancas Ecological Park, the type locality of Aguapanela arvi , is a place with high diversity of Mygalomorphae. This forest reserve surrounds the Piedras Blancas dam and it is located in an area of recovering native cloud forest. A review of the material deposited in the MEUA allowed us to report the presence of 6 of the 8 families found in Colombia in this Ecological Park. In addition to Aguapanela , we identified Hapalopus sp., Ami sp. and Ischnocolinae species ( Theraphosidae ), Melloina sp. and Paratropis sp. ( Paratropididae ), Bolostromus sp. (Cyrtauchenidae), Pseudonemesia sp. ( Microstigmatidae ), Linothele sp. ( Dipluridae ) and Psalistops sp. ( Barychelidae ).

Defensive behavior: Aguapanela arvi exhibits a conspicuous and stereotyped defensive behavior, more frequent and intense in juveniles and females. Individuals strongly raise the cephalothorax, palps and anterior legs, often beyond the vertical axis, and open the fangs ( Figs 32–33 ), from which a drop of venom emerges in some cases ( Fig. 33 ).

Venom. RP-HPLC chromatographic profile of venom from Aguapanela arvi ( Fig. 34 ) indicates that it is moderately rich in polar compounds since most of peaks eluted at ≤30% of acetonitrile. However, other hydrophobic compounds elute above 35% acetonitrile. The electrophoretic profile ( Fig. 35 ) indicates the presence of many compounds with a molecular mass below 14 kDa, consistent with the RP-HPLC chromatographic profile of the venom. A strong band is also observed between 31 kDa and 45 kDa.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 6. Aguapanela arvi sp. nov. stridulatory setae, leg I. 1 – 4. prolateral view, plumose stridulatory setae. 1. Coxa, trochanter and femur. 2. Coxa. 3. Femur. 4. Detail of plumose stridulatory setae. 5. Zoom of stridulatory setae. 6. retrolateral view, coxa, thorns stridulatory setae (indicated by the black arrow) and plumose setae (indicated by the white arrow).

FIGURES 7 – 12. Aguapanela arvi sp. nov. stridulatory setae. 7 – 10. Leg II, prolateral view, plumose stridulatory setae. 7. Coxa, trochanter and femur. 8. Femur. 9. Coxa, box shows plumose setae. 10. trochanter. 11 – 12. Palp, retrolateral view. 11. trochanter. 12. Coxa, box shows plumose and thorns stridulatory setae.

FIGURES 13 – 16. Aguapanela arvi sp. nov. 13 – 15. Male. 13. Sternum, labium and maxillae. 14. Cephalothorax. 15. Detail of labium and maxillae. 16. Spermathecae. Scale bars = 1 mm.

FIGURES 17 – 27. Male Aguapanela arvi sp. nov. 17 – 23. Male holotype. 17 – 20. Left palpal bulb. 17. Prolateral view. 18. Retrolateral view. 19. Dorsal view. 20. Ventral view. 21 – 22. Tibia I, without apophysis. 21. Ventral view. 22. Prolateral view. 23. Right palpal tibia and cymbium. 24 – 27. Left palpal bulb, SEM. 24. Prolateral view. 25. Retrolateral view. 26 – 27. Detail of apex. Arrow indicates prolateral keels. Scale bars: Figs 17 – 22. = 1 mm; 23 - 24. = 500 µm; 25. = 200 µm; 26. = 100 µm.

FIGURES 30 – 31. Aguapanela arvi sp. nov. 30. Male holotype, habitus. 31. Female allotype, habitus.

FIGURES 32 – 33. Aguapanela arvi sp. nov. Defensive behavioral deployment. Box shows a drop of venom emerging.

FIGURES 28 – 29. 28. Map of Antioquia, Colombia, geographical distribution of Aguapanela arvi sp. nov. 29. Piedras Blancas Ecological Park, Santa Elena, Medellín.

FIGURES 34 – 35. Characteristics of Aguapanela arvi sp. nov. venom. 34. Chromatographic profile. 35. Electrophoretic profile. MW: Molecular weight markers: 1 = 20 µg under reduced conditions, 2 = 30 µg under not reduced conditions, 3 = 30 µg under reduced conditions. Broken line in B, indicates compounds eluting below 14.4 kDa which may correspond to neuropeptides. Star indicates compounds eluting between 31 kDa and 45 kDa and arrows indicates compounds which may correspond to proteins or enzymes involved in peptide synthesis.

Tables

TABLE 2. Length (mm) of legs and palp segments of holotype male and allotype female Aguapanela arvi gen. nov., sp. nov.

Segments	Palp	I	II	III	IV
Femur	12.8/8.0	16.3/11.1	15.2/1.0	14.0/9.1	15.1/11.0
Patella	6.3/5.3	7.0/5.8	6.7/5.8	5.9/5.2	5.8/4.6
Tibia	12.9/6.3	13.7/8.5	13.9/7.3	11.3/7.0	12.7/8.1
Metatarsus	--	11.1/5.2	10.9/5.7	14.1/7.8	18.2/10.4
Tarsus	2.2/4.5	7.5/3.6	7.0/3.6	6.7/3.6	7.6/3.7
Total	34.2/24.1	55.6/34.2	53.7/32.4	52.0/32.7	59.4/37.8