Cosmophasis waeri, Hurni-Cranston & Hill, 2021

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 : 58

12. Cosmophasis waeri , new species

Figures 51-52 , Map ( Figures 1-2 ) #60

Type material. The holotype ♀ ( HC-BB5 f) was collected by the senior author on a small potted Codiaeum variegatum plant at Waer, on the eastern side of Banda Besar ( Banda Island ), in the Banda Islands (collected 8 FEB 2016, specimen preserved in alcohol 18 FEB 2016). This specimen will be deposited in the Florida State Collection of Arthropods ( FSCA), Gainesville .

Etymology. The species name, waeri is a reference to the fact that this species was found at Waer on Banda Besar.

Diagnosis. The female C. waeri most closely resembles C. squamata , also found on Banda Besar. However the epigynum is completely convex, lacking the two parallel furrows characteristic of C. squamata . In addition, a small orange spot is present at the center of each darker area on the dorsal opisthosoma of C. waeri . Below each light-yellow or off-white marginal band on either side of the opisthosoma, there is only a narrow and irregular dark brown line in the female C. waeri . This dark line is much wider in C. squamata . The carapace of our specimen appears to be rubbed in the eye region, but there is no sign of the pair of dark transverse bands that cross the carapace of C. squamata . The male is not known.

Description of female ( Figures 51-52 ). Length about 5 mm ( Figure 52 :1-2). Chelicerae typical for genus, dark amber in colour, mostly glabrous. A single large, unidentate, triangular tooth is present, toward the median, on both the anterior and posterior margins of each fang groove ( Figure 52 : 3-4). White scales surround the anterior eyes below, orange scales above. Scale cover of eye region not known. Narrow white band present around the margin of the carapace, a shorter narrow band just above this near the front. Carapace dark brown, with dense cover of iridescent green-gold scales around the sides and to the rear of the PLE.

Dorsal opisthosoma covered with dense array of dark brown, rounded, overlapping scales, with a wide marginal band of light-yellow or off-white, rounded, overlapping scales extending from the front around most of the length of each side. Below this on either side a narrow, interrupted, brown line is present. Three transverse bands of these scales cross the dorsal opisthosoma, where a less regular and interrupted median tract of the same scales is also present. A small orange spot is present at the center of each dark-brown area. At the rear of the dorsal opisthosoma, and on the dorsal surfaces of the posterior lateral spinnerets, iridescent violet scales are present. Below, the opisthosoma is light yellow-brown, with two pairs of large white spots on either side, and a dark then light transverse band at the rear ( Figure 52 :2). The spinnerets are grey and unremarkable. Legs as shown in Figure 50 , with some iridescence and indistinct longitudinal stripes. The epigynum ( Figure 52 :5-9) is convex and triangular, similar in outline to that of C. squamata but otherwise distinctive. Figure 52 :9 (and to a lesser degree, Figure 52 :5) best illustrates the pair of convex, diagonal lobes on either side of the septum, each behind a longer but narrower transverse lobe.

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 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).

Figure 51. Adult female Cosmophasis waeri sp.nov. from Banda Besar.

Figure 52. Adult female Cosmophasis waeri sp.nov. from Banda Besar, in alcohol. 3, Ventral view of anterior prosoma with chelicerae in retracted position. 4, Ventral view of anterior prosoma with chelicerae in extended position. Note the single large tooth to the front, and to the rear, of each fang, in a medial position. 5-9, Ventral views of the epigynum. The convexity of the surface of the epigynum is best seen in (5) and (9).