Taxonomic study of the genus Myrmarachne of Borneo (Araneae: Salticidae)
Author
Yamasaki, Takeshi
Author
Ahmad, Abdul Hamid
text
Zootaxa
2013
3710
6
501
556
journal article
10.11646/zootaxa.3710.6.1
2f68fba9-85fd-49a0-9c2e-13374b8b72aa
1175-5326
248777
C5F537B3-8112-4CC7-A0AC-B5CA071AD9BA
Genus
Myrmarachne
MacLeay, 1839
Entomocephalus
Holl, 1829: 178.
Type
species:
Entomocephalus formicoides
Holl, 1829. [Synonymised and suppressed by Dunlop & Penney 2009.]
Myrmarachne
MacLeay, 1839: 10
.
Type
species:
Myrmarachne melanocephala
MacLeay, 1839
. Simon, 1901: 504. Roewer, 1965: 33. Galiano, 1969: 107. Tikader, 1973: 59. Wanless, 1978a: 18. Żabka, 1985: 242. Yaginuma, 1986: 242. Cho & Kim, 2002: 109. Ono, Ikeda & Kono, 2009: 565. Prószyński & Deeleman-Reinhold, 2010: 174.
Emertonius
Peckham & Peckham, 1892: 54
.
Type
species:
Emertonius exasperans
Peckham & Peckham
, monotypy. [Synonymised by Wanless, 1978b.] Prószyński & Deeleman-Reinhold, 2010: 162.
Hermosa
Peckham & Peckham, 1892: 53
.
Type
species:
Hermosa volatilis
Peckham & Pekham
, monotypy. [Synonymised by Simon, 1901: 504.]
Iola
Peckham & Peckham, 1892: 75
.
Type
species:
Iola cowanii
Peckham & Peckham
, by monotypy. [Synonymised by Simon, 1901: 504.]
Bizone
Simon, 1903: 1050
.
Type
species:
Bizone longiventris
. Junior homonym of
Bizone
Walker, 1854
. [Synonymised by Strand, 1929.]
Bizonella
Strand, 1929: 15
. Replacement name for
Bizone
Simon.
[Synonymised by Wanless, 1978a: 18.]
Diagnosis.
In male palp, embolus forming two coils, tapering apically; tegulum round or oval with seminal reservoir; retrolateral apical corner of palpal tibia bearing sinuous or strongly curved apophysis. In epigyne, copulatory atria oval or elongate-oval; spermathecae elongate-oval or spherical; sclerotised copulatory ducts complexly twisted, but sometimes without twist; median pocket or pair of lateral pockets usually present in front of epigastric furrow.
Description
. Ant-mimicking jumping spiders. Body slender. Coloration variable from orange to black. Eyes, as in most salticids, generally surrounded by black pigment. Carapace more or less constricted behind posterior lateral eye, and thus divided into cephalic and thoracic parts; lateral markings formed by white hairs present on carapace in some species. Cephalic part almost always higher than thoracic part. Chelicera usually bearing numerous teeth on its venter, and male chelicera remarkably longer than female chelicera. Sternum long, slender. Pedicel in dorsal and lateral views easily recognisable, and sometimes very long. Legs very slender, normally tibia I cream white distally. Abdomen oval to elongate-oval, sometimes with constriction; two dorsal scuta (sometimes fused together) present in males, but usually absent in females.
Male palp. With palp in dorsal and ventral views cymbium oval, usually with one apical spine (occasionally two or none). Tegulum round or oval with seminal reservoir. Embolus forming two coils, and tapering toward its apex. Retrolateral tibial apophysis strongly or weakly curved. Flange of retrolateral tibial apophysis developed as process, but in some species much reduced.
Epigyne. Copulatory atria containing openings round or elongate-oval. Membranous portion of copulatory ducts usually invisible; sclerotised portion of the ducts connecting the membranous portion with spermathecae; sclerotised copulatory ducts twisted more or less complexly, or sometimes without twist. Spermathecae elongateoval to spherical. Median pocket or pair of lateral pockets present in front of epigastric furrow.
Remarks
. The genus
Myrmarachne
belongs to the subfamily
Myrmarachninae
(Simon 1901; Petrunkevitch 1928; Davies & Żabka 1989; Edwards & Benjamin 2009). Although some members of the subfamily constitute a relatively distinct group based on molecular analysis (Maddison
et al
. 2008), the delimination of the subfamily is not very well defined. The definition of the genus
Myrmarachne
is also under debate (Wanless 1978b; Prószyński & Deeleman-Reinhold 2010).
Wanless (1978a) defined six species groups based on the Ethiopian species: the
electrica
,
formicaria
,
lesserti
,
nubilis
,
tristis
and
volatilis
groups. Afterward, Edwards & Benjamin (2009) newly recognised an additional four species groups, two based on Southeast Asian species (the
grossa
and
plataleoides
groups),
South Africa
(
laurentina
group), and the Neotropics (
parallela
group). These species groups are strongly based on the structures of the male palp and female epigyne. We do not establish or define species groups for the studied species, as we think it would be premature, since the
Myrmarachne
fauna of Southeast Asia is not yet sufficiently known.