A New Subfamily of Spiders with Grate-shaped Tapeta from Australia and Papua New Guinea (Araneae: Stiphidiidae: Borralinae)
Author
Gray, Michael R.
Author
Smith, Helen M.
text
Records of the Australian Museum
2008
2008-06-25
60
1
13
44
http://dx.doi.org/10.3853/j.0067-1975.60.2008.1493
journal article
10.3853/j.0067-1975.60.2008.1493
2201-4349
5239981
Elleguna major
n.sp.
Figs 8d
,
16a–e
Type material.
Queensland
:
HOLOTYPE
:
?
, KS34765, lower slopes of
Mt William
,
Dalrymple
Heights
near
Eungella
,
21°01'S
148°36'E
,
Apr.1975
,
M. Gray
&
C. Horseman
, in log,
Rainforest Survey Site
15, notophyll evergreen vine forest
.
PARATYPES
:
!
, KS57656,
Eungella area
,
Snake Rd
,
4.7 km
NW Dalrymple Rd
,
21°02'47"S
148°32'17"E
,
20 Apr. 1998
,
G. Milledge
;
?
, KS34585,
Dalrymple
Heights
,
21°04'S
148°35'E
,
9 Apr. 1975
,
M.R. Gray
&
C. Horseman
, in roadside bank near
Rainforest Survey Camp
;
!
, KS57653,
Eungella NP
,
Dalrymple Rd
,
1.3 km
NE Snake Rd
junction,
21°04'S
148°35'E
,
18 Apr. 1998
,
G. Milledge
;
!
, KS57654, as KS57653 but
1.7 km
; 2
??
, 4
!!
, KS83622–7, data as for holotype
.
Diagnosis
. Differs from
E. minor
as follows: male palp with a large ventral conductor process, a basally angled and apically elongated embolus, and a large RDTA; epigynal fossa indistinctly divided by a weak median ridge and lateral fossa margins extended inwards as thin “flanges”.
Description
Male
(
holotype
). BL 6.65, CL 3.22 (range 3.10–3.39), CW 2.33, CapW 1.22, EGW 0.88, LL 0.43, LW 0.43, SL 1.59, SW 1.35. Legs: 1423 (I: 15.58; II: 13.17; III: 11.58; IV: 14.25); ratio tibia I length:CW = 1:0.66. Male palp (
Fig. 16a,b
). Bulb with a reduced, indistinct TL, with a tightly looped sperm duct visible retrolaterally. Embolus a long, curved spine, thick and strongly angled basally just before entering the conductor groove, then tapering and slender distally. Prolateral limb of conductor wide with a triangular flange; retrolateral limb extended as a long, translucent, curved spine supporting the elongate embolus and making a loose loop around the ventral conductor process.VCP very large with a thickened base. TW basal. MA surrounded by a collar-like membraneous area. RDTA a robust, ventrally concave, tapering process.
Fig. 16.
Elleguna major
. (
a,b
), male palp (holotype):
a
, ventral;
b
, retrolateral. (
c–e
), epigynum:
c
, ventral, fl = flange (KS57656);
d
, ventral, flanges broken (KS83624);
e
, dorsal—internal genitalia (KS83624). Scale lines 0.5 mm: upper,
a,b
; lower,
c–e
.
Female
(KS57656). BL 8.37, CL 4.00 (range 3.22–4.00), CW 2.53, CapW 1.88, EGW 1.16, LL 0.61, LW 0.59, SL 1.80, SW 1.51. Legs: 1423 (I: 14.33; II: 12.25; III: 10.58; IV: 13.00); ratio tibia I length:CW = 1:0.69. Epigynum (
Fig. 16c–e
). Fossa longer than wide, weakly divided by a median ridge; anterolateral fossa margins extended as thin, flangelike laminae (“fl” in
Fig. 16c
) over the anterolateral fossa floor and copulatory openings (these flanges may be broken off—
Fig. 16d
); posterior fossa floor with a pair of adjacent “socket-like” recesses. Copulatory duct openings anterolateral, widely separated. Internal genitalia. Copulatory ducts very short, of moderate width; spermathecae small.
Distribution
. Known only from Eungella NP area, mideastern
Queensland
.
Etymology
. The species name refers to the large size of the male palpal ventral conductor process.