Cosmophasis baehrae Żabka & Waldock 2012

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 : 12

2. Cosmophasis baehrae Żabka & Waldock 2012

Figures 12-17 , Map ( Figures 1-2 ) #5

Material examined. Two adult females (HC-BN5f and HC-BN6f) were collected 13 FEB 2017 (preserved 18 FEB 2017) by the senior author on small garden croton plants ( Euphorbiaceae : Codiaeum variegatum (L.) A. Juss.) growing along the roadside on Banda Neir in the Banda Islands. These specimens will be deposited in the Florida State Collection of Arthropods (FSCA), Gainesville. One male ( Figure 11 ) and two more females from this habitat were also photographed but not collected.

Diagnosis. Adult males ( Figure 12 ) can be identified by their mostly black and white colouration, including a median stripe of white setae extending from the front of the eye region, between the AME, to the clypeus. The sides of the carapace are covered with iridescent violet scales. Females ( Figures 13-17 ) vary in appearance, but are generally brown to bronze or light-orange and ivory-white in colour, with white setae extending to the clypeus between the AME, as in the males. Identification can be confirmed by examining the epigynum, which bears two darker figures, each shaped like a retort ( Figure 17 ). This is a widely-distributed but little-studied species, mostly from the tropical north of Australia ( Figure 1 ).

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 2. Records of Cosmophasis in Ambon and the Banda Islands. Ambon is the type locality for C. viridifasciata. The other records are all new. 2, Detail of Banda Islands corresponding to inset rectangle in (1). See Hurni-Cranston Hill (2020) for more views of the Banda Islands. Background images courtesy of NASA/USGS/Landsat.

Figure 11. Views of the holotype male C. ambonensis (HC-AM1m) as a penultimate, with both pedipalps intact.

Figure 12 (continued on next page). Adult male Cosmophasis baehrae from Banda Neira.

Figure 13 (continued on next page). Female Cosmophasis baehrae from Banda Neira (HC-BN5f).

Figure 14 (continued on next page). Female Cosmophasis baehrae from Banda Neira (HC-BN6f).

Figure 15. Two female Cosmophasis baehrae from Banda Neira (1-4, 5-6, not collected).

Figure 16. Female Cosmophasis baehrae from Cairns, Queensland. Photographs © James Bailey, used under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license (Bailey 2018a, 2018b, 2018c).

Figure 17. Two female Cosmophasis baehrae from Banda Neira in ethanol. 1-4, Female HC-BN5f. 5-8, Female HC-BN6f. 3-4, 7-8, Two images of each epigynum are shown. Note the pair of retort-shaped figures at the center of each epigynum. The appearance of these photos varies according to the plane of focus and perspective, but the shape of these sclerotized figures is quite distinctive under the microscope.