Neischnocolus tiputini Guerrero-Campoverde, Peñaherrera-R., León-E., Gabriel, Sherwood & Cisneros-Heredia sp. nov., 2025

Peñaherrera-R, Pedro, Guerrero-Campoverde, Ariel, León-E, Roberto J., Gabriel, Ray, Sherwood, Danniella & Cisneros-Heredia, Diego F., 2025, Revisiting the tarantula genus Neischnocolus Petrunkevitch, 1925 (Araneae, Theraphosidae): new insights on male palpal bulb morphology and description of three new species, European Journal of Taxonomy 1022, pp. 19-50 : 36-38

Neischnocolus tiputini Guerrero-Campoverde, Peñaherrera-R., León-E., Gabriel, Sherwood & Cisneros-Heredia sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:

Figs 2, 10–11

Diagnosis

Females of N. tiputini sp. nov. resemble those of N. moraspungo sp. nov. by having rectangular spermathecae and spermathecal striae converging in a complete arc and collapsing between digitiform ventral receptacles. Nonetheless, N. tiputini differs from N. moraspungo by having comparatively shorter spermathecae, weakly developed inverted L-shaped guard plates, spermathecal striae conspicuous, as well as longer and wider ventral receptacles extending over the length of the spermathecae (comparatively more elongated spermathecae, developed inverted L-shaped guard plates, spermathecal striae inconspicuous, and short and narrower ventral receptacles in N. moraspungo ).

Etymology

The specific epithet tiputini is a noun in apposition and refers to the type locality of the species. The Tiputini Biodiversity Station (TBS) is a research station on the northern bank of the Tiputini River, within the Yasuní Biosphere Reserve, Ecuador. This station, managed by the Universidad San Francisco de Quito USFQ, is one of the most important research sites in the upper Amazon basin and one of the most biodiverse regions in the world.

Type material

Holotype

REPUBLIC OF ECUADOR – Provincia de Orellana • ♀; Parroquia Tiputini, Tiputini Biodiversity Station ; 0.63593° S, 76.15811° W; elev. 220 m; 23 Jul. 2023; A. Guerrero-Campoverde leg.; ZSFQ-i, ZSFQ-20415 .

Description ( holotype, ♀, ZSFQ-i20415)

Total length: 24.37. Carapace length 11.03, width 10.08. Abdomen length 13.34, width 11.34. Eyes: anterior eye rows slightly recurved; AME: 0.36, ALE: 0.18, PME: 0.22, PLE: 0.15, AME– AME: 0.37, AME–ALE: 0.16, PME–PME: 0.92, PME–PLE: 0.08, AlE–PLE: 0.23, OQ length: 0.89, width: 1.83, clypeus: 0.25. Fovea slightly deep straight. Chelicerae: 13 promarginal teeth and 12 denticles. Labium: length 1.18, width 1.52, with 16 cuspules. Maxillae: 41–21 cuspules on inner third. Sternum: length: 4.77, width: 4.03. Legs: formula 4123, total length: I 22.91, II 20.50, III 19.20, IV 25.94; leg (femur/patella/tibia/metatarsus/tarsus) and pedipalp (femur/patella/tibia/cymbium) article lengths: I 7.62/2.78/5.97/3.53/3.01, II 7.06/2.31/5.29/3.24/2.60, III 5.86/1.47/5.10/3.69/3.08, IV 8.01/2.34/6.01/6.17/3.41 palp 5.76/2.07/4.53/3.80. Scopula: tarsi I– III scopulated and tarsi IV slightly scopulated, metatarsi I– II scopulated, metatarsi III distal half slightly scopulated, metatarsi IV not scopulated. Metatarsi I– II distally divided by rhomboidal group of setae; tarsi III almost divided by thicker setae than tarsi I– II; tarsi IV fully divided by a line of longer and thicker setae than tarsi III. Metatarsus: I 60%, II 50%, III 25%, IV 0%, absent. Legs and pedipalp spination: femora and patellae I– IV and palp 0. Tibiae I 2 V, II 2 V, 1P, 1D; III 3 V, 2P, 1D; IV 3 V, 1 R, 1P, 2D; palp 4 V. Metatarsi; I, 2 V; II, 4 V; III, 4 V, 1P, 2 R, 4D; IV, 10 V, 1 R, 3D. Tarsi I– IV and palp, 0. Spermathecae ( Fig. 10): rectangular spermatheca with two short ventral receptacles not extending over the length of this structure. At least ten spermathecal striae are present and conspicuous; all of them converge in a complete arc and collapsing between the ventral receptacles. weakly developed inverted L-shaped guard plates present. Live colouration ( Fig. 11): carapace, abdomen and legs overall dark orange, covered by long orange setae; abdomen with dorsal anterior brown dot; tibia, metatarsus, and tarsus progressively becoming darker.

Distribution and natural history

Currently known only from its type locality, Tiputini Biodiversity Station, in the Amazonian lowlands of Ecuador, at 220 m, province of Orellana, Ecuador. The holotype was collected in Lowland Evergreen Forest in the Napo biogeographic province ( Morrone 2014).

Remarks

Regarding the most morphologically similar species, N. moraspungo sp. nov., in comparison with N. tiputini sp. nov., we can consider several biogeographic factors that further support the recognition of both as distinct species and reject the possibility that they represent a single species. The type localities of the two species are separated by approximately 340 km. Between these localities lie several significant large-scale geographical barriers, including the Cordillera Occidental and Cordillera Oriental of the Andes of Ecuador, the Inter-Andean Depression, and the Napo Uplift. Each of these large-scale barriers provides numerous valleys originating across different altitudinal gradients and volcanic complexes, which promotes short-ranged endemism through isolation and diversification of niche, microclimate, and microecosystem structures (see Polato et al. 2018; Rahbek et al. 2019). These short- and large-ranged barriers promote speciation. Furthermore, members of the genus Neischnocolus , as well as other genera within the tribe Theraphosini , are known to exhibit restricted geographic distributions. This pattern of limited dispersal further supports the interpretation that N. moraspungo and N. tiputini represent separate lineages.