The spider family Micropholcommatidae (Arachnida: Araneae: Araneoidea): a relimitation and revision at the generic level
Author
Rix, Michael
Western Australian Museum, Welshpool DC, Perth, Australia
Author
Harvey, Mark
Western Australian Museum, Perth, Welshpool, Australia
text
ZooKeys
2010
2010-02-22
36
36
1
321
journal article
10.3897/zookeys.36.306
4db6b327-7482-432e-a5f6-36f91c79fef3
1313–2970
576620
ADCACC88-6C78-4386-8E33-3F98234ECE92
Gigiella
milledgei
Rix & Harvey
,
sp. n.
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:
A81D66A4-7630-4A9F-A7C6-5122217FAE0C
Figs 7Q
, 10D, 193C, 193E, 194, 195A, 196, 197A–B, 198–202, 211
Type
material.
Holotype
male:
Mount Sabine
,
Great Otway National Park
,
Victoria
,
Australia
,
585 m
, pyrethrum fogging,
38°38'S
,
143°43'E
,
6.XI.1997
,
G. Monteith
(
QMB
S88028
).
Paratypes
:
Allotype
female, same data as holotype (
QMB
S88029
);
5 males
and
11 females
, same data as
holotype
(
QMB
S43059
SEM♁
♀
)
.
Other
material examined.
AUSTRALIA
:
Victoria
:
Great Otway National Park, Young Creek Road,
0.4 km
NW. of Triplet Falls, flight intercept trap,
Eucalyptus
forest,
38°40'S
,
143°29'E
,
11.IV.-14.VI.1995
, G. Milledge,
1♀
(
NMV
K6229); Great Otway National Park, Melba Gully, pyrethrum fogging in rainforest,
38°42'S
,
143°23'E
,
5.XI.1997
, G. Monteith, 1♁,
1♀
(
QMB
S43235
); The Big Culvert,
2.5 km
ENE. of Mount Observation, moss and litter,
Nothofagus cunninghamii
forest,
37°33'36"S
,
145°52'15"E
,
28.XII.1995
, G. Milledge, 1♁,
1♀
(
NMV
K6228); Yarra Ranges National Park, Donna Buang Road,
1 km
SW. of Mount Donna Buang, litter and moss,
Nothofagus cunninghamii
forest,
37°43'00"S
,
145°40'15"E
,
16.II.1995
, G. Milledge, 2♁,
1♀
(
NMV
K6227); Yarra Ranges National Park, Mount Donna Buang,
1250 m
,
Nothofagus
forest, moss from trees,
37°42'S
,
145°40'E
,
7.XI.1997
, G. Monteith, 1♁ (
QMB
S41820
); Yarra Ranges National park, near summit of Mount Donna Buang, sieved litter,
Eucalyptus
forest,
27.V.1990
, D. Black,
2♀
(
WAM
T94535
); same data except un- der log in
Nothofagus
forest,
37°42'36"S
,
145°40'57"E
,
19.IV.2006
, M. Rix, 1♁ (
WAM
T80035
DNA-MPE
).
Tasmania
:
Cradle Mountain-Lake St. Clair National Park, Overland Trail,
50.2 km
(82°) ENE. of Queenstown,
760 m
, eucalypt woodland and rainforest, sifting leaf litter,
42°06'S
,
146°09'E
,
11.III.2006
, C. Griswold, D. Silva, 1♁,
1♀
(
CAS
9024501); same data, 1♁,
1♀
(
CAS
9024500); Cradle Mountain-Lake St. Clair National Park, W. side of Lake St. Clair,
750 m
,
Eucalyptus
-
Acacia
litter under
Banksia
trees,
25–29.I.1980
, A. Newton, M. Thayer, 4♁,
4♀
(
AMNH
); Cuckoo Falls walk, near Scottsdale,
41°14'S
,
147°36'E
,
22.XI.2003
, M. Rix (
WAM
T94534
); Florentine Valley,
22 km
NW. of Maydena, moss on logs,
15.II.1977
, J. Kethley, 1♁ (
FMC
); Franklin River,
20 km
W. of Derwent Bridge,
29.IV.1987
, N. Platnick, R. Raven, T. Churchill, 1♁,
1♀
(
AMNH
); Mount Field National Park, from moss, litter, rocks in beech forest,
42°40'59"S
,
146°38'55"E
,
25–26.XI.2003
, L. Boutin,
2♀
(
QVM
); Mount Wellington, Cascades Creek, below O’Grady’s Falls, top side of Strickland Avenue, from moss,
42°54'S
,
147°14'E
,
13.VII.1976
, V. Hickman, 1♁ (
AMS
KS66002); ‘National Park’,
28.II.1952
, V. Hickman, 1♁,
4♀
(
AMS
KS31280);
5 km
S. of Renison Bell,
180 m
, pyrethrum fogging of mossy overhang,
1.V.1987
, N. Platnick, R. Raven, T. Churchill, 1♁ (
AMNH
); south-western Tasmania,
42°43'S
,
145°48'E
II.1977
, C. Howard et al.,
1♀
(
AMS
KS25840); same data except
16.II.1978
, no collector, 1♁ (
AMS
KS27292);
6 km
E. of Strahan, pyrethrum fogging in King Fern rainforest,
30.IV.1987
, N. Platnick, R. Raven, T. Churchill, 3♁,
3♀
(
AMNH
);
6 km
SE. of Strahan, Berlese, litter from King Fern rainforest,
30.IV.1987
, N. Platnick, R. Raven, T. Churchill, 1♁,
1♀
(
AMNH
); Tarraleah,
7.X.1957
, 1♁ (
AMS
KS51556); same data, 1♁,
1♀
(
AMS
KS53551).
Etymology
.
The specific epithet is a patronym in honour of Graham Milledge, of the Australian Museum (Sydney), for collecting many specimens of this species from
Victoria
, and for assistance in loaning micropholcommatid specimens during the course of this study.
Diagnosis
.
Males of
Gigiella milledgei
can be distinguished from
G. platnicki
by the shorter, sinuous embolus (Fig. 196). Females can be distinguished from
G. plat- nicki
by the looped insemination ducts (Figs 197A-B). Both sexes can also be recognised by the south-eastern Australian distribution (Fig. 211).
Description
.
Holotype
male
: Total length 1.51. Carapace 0.76 long, 0.61 wide. Abdomen 0.88 long, 0.71 wide. Leg I femur 0.62. Cephalothorax dark brown; legs dark tan-yellow; abdomen dark grey with paler, chequered pattern posteriorly and laterally. Carapace raised anteriorly, not fused to sternum except around petiole; dorsal surface of pars cephalica slightly convex in lateral view. Eight subequal eyes present on anterior margin of pars cephalica; PME separated by their own diameter. Chelicerae without bulging anterior projections; promargin without peg teeth. Legs relatively short (leg I femur-carapace ratio 0.82); macrosetae absent. Abdomen oval-globose, covered with hair-like setae, each seta projecting from small sclerotic spot; dorsal scute and lateral sclerotic strips absent. Pedipalpal patella with distally-directed, forked lRPA and strongly-recurved distal apophysis; tegulum smooth, with curved ETR; embolus long (length> 5× width), sinuous, curving distally (Fig. 196).
Allotype
female
: Total length 1.59. Carapace 0.78 long, 0.60 wide. Abdomen 1.00 long, 0.82 wide. Leg I femur 0.65. Cephalothorax dark brown; legs dark tan-yellow; abdomen dark grey with paler, chequered pattern posteriorly and laterally. Carapace raised anteriorly, not fused to sternum except around petiole; dorsal surface of pars cephalica slightly convex in lateral view. Eight subequal eyes present on anterior margin of pars cephalica; PME separated by their own diameter. Chelicerae without bulging anterior projections; promargin without peg teeth. Legs relatively short (leg I femurcarapace ratio 0.83); macrosetae absent. Abdomen oval-globose, covered with hair-like setae, each seta projecting from small sclerotic spot; dorsal scute and lateral sclerotic strips absent. Pedipalp entire, five-segmented. Epigyne with distinctive external morphology (Fig. 194D); receptacula globular, bilobate; insemination ducts looping dorsally; fertilisation ducts simple, curved (Figs 197A–B).
Distribution
.
Known from the Yarra Ranges and Otway Ranges of
Victoria
, and from
Tasmania
(Fig. 211).
Remarks
.
Gigiella milledgei
is a relatively large, dark brown species from the Southern Beech (
Nothofagus cunninghamii
) and cool-temperate rainforests of
Victoria
and
Tasmania
(Fig. 211). It has been collected from ferns, moss and from under logs, but nothing else is known of its biology. This species was included in the molecular phylogenetic analysis of
Rix et al. (2008)
as “Gen. n. sp. VICBig” (see Fig. 1).