Kukulcania brevipes (Keyserling, 1833)

Brescovit, Antonio D. & Santos, Adalberto J., 2013, The spider genus Kukulcania in South America (Araneae: Filistatidae): a redescription of K. brevipes (Keyserling) and new records of K. hibernalis (Hentz), Zootaxa 3734 (3), pp. 301-316 : 302-307

Kukulcania brevipes (Keyserling, 1833)

Figs 1A–C , 2A–C , 3A , 4 AB, 5–9

Filistata brevipes Keyserling, 1883: 221–223 (Female holotype from Peru, no other data, should be at the Museum and Institute of Zoology of the Polish Academy of Sciences (Warsaw), not found, probably lost).

Kukulcania brevipes: Lehtinen 1967: 242 ; Platnick 2013.

Remarks. Keyserling (1883) stated that the holotype was deposited in the collection of the “Universität in Warschau”. The material from that institution was later transferred to the Museum and Institute of Zoology of the Polish Academy of Sciences ( Kazubski 1996; Mlíkovský 2007). However, despite our efforts the type specimen could not be found in that collection (D. Mierzwa and G.S. Ruiz, pers. comm.), thus we presume it is lost. In this study, we recognize K. brevipes based on the original description and on the distribution of the specimens we examined. Based on published descriptions ( Cambridge 1896, 1899, Chamberlin & Ivie 1935, 1942, Alayón- García 1972) and the additional material examined by us (see K. hibernalis material examined below and Appendix 1), we are confident that the Peruvian specimens listed below are conspecific with the type of K. brevipes . This species is similar to other species of the genus, K. hibernalis in particular, in general morphology ( Ramírez & Grismado 1997, Platnick et al. 1991, Griswold et al. 2005) and natural history (see below).

Diagnosis. Males of Kukulcania brevipes can be distinguished from other species of the genus by the presence of a pair of ventral lines of stout spines on the tibiae of palp and leg I ( Figs. 1A , 2A , 8A ). The male palp differs from other species in the presence of long and flattened setae on the apex of cymbium and in the embolus not coiled, gently sinuous ( Figs. 1A–C , 5A ). Females can be recognized by the spermathecae positioned anteriorly to the copulatory ducts ( Figs. 3A , 4 AB).

Description. Male (IBSP 163503, Lima, Provincia de Cañete, Lunahuana). Carapace yellow brown, black striated, with cephalic area brown ( Fig. 8A ). Chelicerae yellow with grey bands and orange fang. Labium, endites and sternum yellow. Palp yellow, cymbium orange ( Fig. 1A–C ). Legs yellow-brown, with orange tarsus ( Fig. 2A ). Tarsus I flexible, pseudosegmented ( Fig. 2A ). Abdomen brownish dorsally and laterally, with ventral area yellowish ( Fig. 8A ). Total length 7.00. Carapace length 2.8, width 2.5, with shallow fovea. PME separated by their diameter. Palp measurements: femur 3.5, patella 0.8, tibia 3.4. Leg measurements: I femur 5.6/ patella 1.5/ tibia 6.0/ metatarsus 6.6/ tarsus 3.2/ total 22.9; II 4.5/ 1.2/ 4.0/ 4.8/ 2.8/ 17.3; III 4.1/ 1.1/ 3.4/ 4.0/ 2.4/ 15.00; IV 5.8/ 1.5/ 5.2/ 6.0/ 3.0/ 21.50. Spines (only surfaces with spines): palp, femur v15-17 pairs, d1-1-1-1; legs, I femur v16-18 pairs, d1-1-1-1 (all median), p1-1-1-1-1, r1-1-1-1; tibia v2-1m-2-2-2-1m-1r, p0-1-1; metatarsus v2-1r-1m-2-1m-2- 2-1m-2-1m-3, p0-1-0; tarsus v1r-2-2r-1m-1r- 1m (short), p0-1-0; II femur v9-10 pairs, p0-1-0, r0-1-0, d 1-1-1-1 (all median), tibia v2-1m-1p-2-2-1r-1p, p0-1-0, metatarsus v2-2-2-3, p0-1-1, tarsus v2-2-2 (short); III femur v8-10 pairs, patella d1-1-1-1 (all median), p2-2-1, r2-2-2-1, tibia v2-2-2, p0-0-1, r0-1-1, metatarsus v2-2-2-3, tarsus v1-1- 1 (short); IV femur v8-10 pairs, r0-1-0, d1-1-1-1-1-1 (all median), p1-1-1-1-1, r1-1-1, tibia v2-2-2- 1m, r0-0-1, metatarsus v2-1r-2-1p-2-3, p0-1-0; tarsus v10-12 pairs (short). Calamistrum absent. Tarsus and metatarsus with curved chemosensory setae ( Fig. 6E ). Trichobothria rounded, with elevated border ( Fig. 5C ). Palp without tibial apophysis, cymbium long and oval, covered with long and thin setae ( Fig. 5D ) and apical, distally flattened dorsolateral setae ( Fig. 5 AB). Tegulum globose, not fused to cymbium. Embolus sinuous, enlarged at tip ( Fig. 5A ). Abdomen 4.2 long. Cribellum a large, divided plate without spigots ( Fig. 7A ). Spinneret spigots as in female (see below).

Female. (IBSP 163503, Lima, Provincia de Cañete, Lunahuana). Carapace brown with cephalic area black ( Figs. 8 BC). Chelicerae black. Endites, labium and sternum orange brown. Palps brown, with femur yellowish ( Fig. 2B ). Legs brownish with longitudinal orange stripes dorsally on tibiae ( Fig. 2C ). Abdomen dorsally and laterally black, ventrally brownish ( Fig. 8 BC). Total length 10.20. Carapace length 4.5, width 3.6. Chelicerae fused at base, promarginal lamina and fang short ( Fig. 5E ). Palp measurements: femur 2.3, patella 1.4, tibia 1.4, tarsus 1.6. Palpal claw short, with 7–9 short teeth ( Fig. 6 BC). Leg measurements: I: femur 5.4/ patella 2.0/ tibia 5.0/ metatarsus 4.7/ tarsus 2.3/ total 19.40; II: 4.3/ 1.8/ 3.3/ 3.3/ 1.8/ 14.50; III: 3.3/ 1.7/ 2.5/ 2.8/ 1.6/ 11.90; IV: 4.8/ 1.9/ 4.1/ 3.8/ 1.8/ 16.40. Spines: pedipalp, femur v15-20 pairs with a basal group of 10-15, tibia v0-1-3, p1-1-3, tarsus v2-2-2-1; legs, I femur v14-16 pairs, d1-1-1, tibia v2-2-1r-2, metatarsus v2-1, r-2-2-2, p0-0-01, r0-0-1, tarsus v6-8 short pairs, p1-1-1-1 (short), r1-1-1-1 (short); II femur v14-16 pairs, d1-1-1, p1-0-0, tibia v2-2-21r-2, metatarsus v2-1, r-2-2-2, p0-0-2, r0-0-2, tarsus as leg I; III v14-16 pairs, d1-0-0, tibia v2-1, r-2-4, p0-1-1, metatarsus v2-2-2-1, p-4, p1-1-2, tarsus as in leg I; IV v14-16 pairs, d1-0-0, tibia 1p-1p-1p, metatarsus 1p-1p-4, tarsus as in leg I. Third claw curved with three long teeth ( Fig. 5F ). Calamistrum composed of 12–14 flattened setae, organized in an irregular row ( Fig. 6A ). Abdomen 6.2 long. Cribellum located in a wide sclerotized plate, cribellar spigots clubshaped, organized in two spinning fields ( Fig. 7B ). Anterior lateral spinnerets with a mesal fringe of stout setae ( Fig. 7C ), spinning field with three major ampullate gland spigots, two at the border and one inside a field with piriform gland spigots ( Fig. 7D ). Posterior median spinnerets with three large paracribellar gland spigots, with flattened apex, along with one minor ampullate gland and at least one aciniform gland spigots ( Fig. 7E ). Posterior lateral spinnerets with three large, paracribellar gland spigots at the margin of spinning field, which is covered by aciniform gland spigots ( Fig. 7F ). Spermathecae globose, hyaline dorsally and sclerotised ventrally ( Figs. 3A , 4 AB), covered with pores and, presumably, dorsal gland ducts ( Fig. 6F ). Copulatory ducts slender, covered laterally by an internal hyaline plate ( Figs. 4 AB).

Natural history. Specimens were collected in villages and rural areas in coastal Peru, always associated to buildings, walls or piles of construction debris. Females were found inside silken tubes between stones or bricks, with the tube entrance generally surrounded by a dense net of cribellar threads ( Fig. 8D ), a web structure already reported for other filistatids ( Lopardo & Ramírez 2007). Males were usually found wandering close to female retreats. One specimen was captured close to the entrance of a female retreat, while plucking the cribellar threads with the first leg (presumably courting the female inside – as seen in K. hibernalis by Barrantes & Ramírez 2013). Several females were collected holding spherical egg-sacs with the chelicerae and palps ( Fig. 8 BC), as described for K. geophila by Cokendolpher & MacDonald (2007). A constant contact between the female and the egg-sac was also reported for K. hibernalis by Curtis & Carrel (1999), though without more details. These observations suggest that maternal care is common in members of this genus, possibly even in other genera of the family (see Cokendolpher & MacDonald 2007).

Distribution: Known from Peru and northern Chile ( Fig. 9 ).

Material examined: PERU: Ayacucho: Huamanga Province: Piura (13°9'47”S 74°13'28”W), VII/1966, O.M. Garcia coll., 1♀ ( IBSP 2019); Ica: Pisco Province: Humay (13°42'2.1”S 75°49'15”W, 495 m), 19.VI.2012, 1♀ 4 juv. ( IBSP 163511); Lima: Canta Province: Santa Rosa de Quives (La Cabaña, 11°40'2"S 76°47'18"W), 14.VII.1985, D. Silva D. coll., 1♂ ( MUSM); 19.V.1985, D. Silva D. coll., 1♂ ( MUSM); 19.V.1984, S. Cárdenas coll., 1♀ ( MUSM); Atehuaycan, (Km 16.5, 12°3'0”S 77°2'60”W, 800m), W. Paredes coll. 8♀ ( MUSM); Cocachacra (Km 54, de la Carretera Central, 11°54'48”S 76°32'18”W), 23/VII/1988, R. Tejada coll., 2♀ 2 juv. ( MUSM); San Bartolo (12°22'60”S 76°46'60”W), 26/XI/1989, E. Bedos coll., 2♀ ( MUSM); Rimac (12°3'0”S 77°2'60”W), 27/III/1986, V. León coll., 1♀ ( MUSM); (Km 55, Carretera Rimac–Canta, Valle del Chillón, 11°54'59”S 77°4'29”W), 31/X/1978, Maury coll., 4♀ ( MUSM); Cañete Province: Asia (12°46'52.6”S 76°33'26.6”W, 47m), 18/VI/2012, A.D. Brescovit et al. coll., 2♀ 13 juv. ( IBSP 163500); Chilca (12°31'35.8”S 76°42'12.1”W, 135m), 18/VI/2012, A.D. Brescovit et al. coll., 9♂ 21♀ 3 juv. ( IBSP 163512-163513; UFMG 13223); Chilca (Via Santo Domingo de los Olleros, 12°27'1.4”S, 76°37'28.4”W, 250m), 18.VI.2012, A.D. Brescovit et al. coll., 1♀ ( IBSP 163508); Lunahuana (12°58'36.86”S 76°9'46.02”W, 423m), 1♀ ( MUSM); ditto, 18/VI/2012, A.D. Brescovit et al. coll., 10♀ 23♀ 8 juv. ( IBSP 163498; 163501, 163503-163504; UFMG 13224); ditto, 3♀ 3 juv. ( IBSP 163510); Mala (12°36'52.1”S 76°37'3.8”W, 114m), 18.VI.2012, A.D. Brescovit coll., 2♀ 2 juv. ( IBSP 163509); Chincha Province: Grocio Prado (13°24'53.4”S 76°6'13”W, 143 m), 19/VI/2012, A.D. Brescovit et al. coll., 1♂ 3♀ ( IBSP 163495); Los Aquijes (14°5'48”S 75°41'27”W), 3/III/1984, I. Bohorquez M. coll., 1♀ ( MUSM); Nasca (14°56'31”S 75°29'39”W), IV/1990, H. Ascencios coll., 1♀ ( MUSM); Huaral Province: (Reserva Nacional de Lachay. 11°21'24.1”S 77°19'42.6”W, 230 m), 15.VI.2012, A.D. Brescovit et al. coll., 12♀ 6 juv. ( IBSP 163505; UFMG 13225); ditto, 1♀ ( IBSP 163506); ditto, 1♀ ( IBSP 163493); Huarochirí Province: Nieve Nieve (12°1'31.1”S 76°41'11.1”W, 795m), 16/VI/2012, A.D. Brescovit et al. coll., 2♀ ( IBSP 163507); Sisicaya (12°1'39.9”S 76°37'53.2”W, 1016 m), 16/VI/2012, A.D. Brescovit et al. coll., 6♀ 1 juv. ( IBSP 163494; 163497); Ricardo Palma (close to railway, 11°55'30.3”S 76°39'14.6”W), 14.VI.2012, A.D. Brescovit et al. coll., 2♂ 9♀ 5 juv. ( IBSP 163502); Lima Province: Cieneguilla (12°3'15.5”S, 76°44'37.5”W, 497 m), 16.VI.2012, A.D. Brescovit et al. coll., 2♀ 1 juv. ( IBSP 163496); ditto, 2♀ ( IBSP 163499); Lima (12°2'6”S 77°1'7”W), 05/XI/1965, A. Delgado coll., 1♀ ( IBSP 1963); Lima (in house garden, 12°2'6”S 77°1'7”W), 21.X.1986, D. Silva D. coll., 1♀ ( MUSM); III/1957, 1♀ ( MUSM); VI/1952, 2♀ ( MUSM); ( MUSM garden), 12.II.1988, D. Silva coll., 1♂ (MUSM- Ent 0504953); 3♀ (ex-MUSM 504955); (Refugio de Vida Silvestre Pantanos de Villa, 12°12'59”S 76°59'14”W), 25.VIII.1994, S. Cordoba, J. Duárez, D. Floríndez & M. Samamé coll. 5♀ 1 juv. ( MUSM); (Santa Maria de Chosica, 12º2'6”S, 77º1'7”W), 21/XI/1968, O. Meneses coll., 3juv. ( IBSP 2580); Quebrada Verde (12º13'S 76º52'W), VIII.1948, W. Weyrauch coll., 1♀ 2juv. ( CAS); Zapallal (11°50'16”S 77°6'12”W), 21/VII/1986, J. Uyene coll., 1♀ ( MUSM); Piura: Paita Province: Paita (5°5'21”S 81°6'52”W), 14.XII.1953, W. Weyrauch coll., 1♀ 5 juv. ( CAS); Tacna: Tacna Province: Ite (Humedales de Ite, 17°51'42”S 70°7'54”W), 2005, I.T. González coll., 4♀ ( IBSP 68715); Ucayali: Coronel Portillo Province: Pucallpa (8°22'57”S 74°32'17”W), 16.VIII.1972, W. Gutierrez coll., 1♀ ( MUSM); CHILE: Arica y Parinacota: Arica : Arica Province (near San Jose river, 18°28'S 70°18'W, 25m), 2012, W. Sielfeld coll., 1♀ ( MNHN).

Figures

FIGURES 1A–F. Kukulcania spp. A–C, K. brevipes (Keyserling), male (IBSP 162501): A, palp, prolateral view (arrow indicates ventral spines of femur); B, cymbium and copulatory bulb, prolateral (arrow indicates flattened setae on apex of cymbium); C, ditto, retrolateral. D–F, K. hibernalis (Hentz), male (IBSP 117068): D, palp, prolateral view; E, cymbium and copulatory bulb, prolateral; F, ditto, retrolateral.

FIGURES 2A–F. Kukulcania spp. A–C, K. brevipes (Keyserling): A, male (IBSP 162501) leg I, prolateral view; B, female (IBSP 162501) palp, prolateral; C, female leg I, prolateral. D–F, K. hibernalis (Hentz): D, male (IBSP 117068) leg I, prolateral view; E, female (IBSP 2607) palp, prolateral; C, female leg I, prolateral.

FIGURES 3AB. Kukulcania spp., internal female genitalia. A, K. brevipes (Keyserling) (MUSM); B, K. hibernalis (Hentz) (UFMG 7601).

FIGURES 4A–B. Kukulcania brevipes (Keyserling), internal female genitalia (IBSP 163512): A, ventral view; B, lateral view. Scale bar: 4.0 mm.

FIGURES 5A–F. Kukulcania brevipes (Keyserling), SEM images (MUSM): A, male palp, prolateral view; B, ditto, apex of flattened setae; C, male metatarsus II (arrow indicates trichobothrium); D, male palpal tibia, elongated setae; E. female chelicerae, ventral view; F, female tarsus I, claws. Scale bars: A, E, F 0.1 mm; B 0.02 mm; C, D 0.05 mm.

FIGURES 6A–F. Kukulcania brevipes (Keyserling), SEM images: A, female calamistrum, prolateral view; B, apex of female palp, prolateral; C, female palpal tarsus, prolateral (arrows indicate chemosensitive setae); D, female tarsus I, prolateral; E, male metatarsus II, chemosensitive setae); F, female spermathecae, dorsal view. Scale bars: A, C 0.2 mm; B 0.5 mm; D 0.3 mm; E 0.01 mm; F 0.02 mm.

FIGURES 7A–F. Kukulcania brevipes (Keyserling), SEM images: A–B, cribellum: A, male (MUSM); B, female (MUSM); C, female (MUSM), spinnerets: anterior lateral (arrow indicates the mesal fringe of setae); D, ditto, spinning field; E, posterior median; F, posterior lateral. Abbreviations: Ac, aciniform gland spigot; MAp, major ampullate gland spigot; mAp, minor ampullate gland spigot; Pi, piriform gland spigots; PC, paracribellar gland spigot. Scale bars: A, B 0.2 mm; C 0.3 mm; D, F 0.1 mm; E 0.05 mm.

FIGURES 8A–D. Kukulcania brevipes (Keyserling), specimens photographed during fieldwork in Peru: A, male from Humay, Pisco Province, Ica; B–C, females with egg-sac from Ricardo Palma, Huarochiri Province, Lima; D, entrance of female retreat under rocks in a wall in Chilca, Cañete Province, Lima.

FIGURE 9. Geographic distribution records of Kukulcania brevipes (Keyserling) and K. hibernalis (Hentz) in South America based on the material examined in this study. Note that K. hibernalis is also known from several localities in Argentina (Ramírez & Grismado 1997, 2008).