Trichopelma cubanum ( Simon, 1903 )

Ríos-Tamayo, Duniesky, 2024, Taxonomy and phylogeny of the genus Trichopelma Simon, 1888 (Araneae: Theraphosidae: Trichopelmatinae) in Cuba, with the descriptions of seven new species and a new species of Thalerommata Ausserer, 1875, Journal of Insect Biodiversity and Systematics 10 (2), pp. 347-399 : 361-364

Trichopelma cubanum ( Simon, 1903) ( Figs 8A–G, 9A–H, 26)

Hapalopinus cubanus Simon, 1903:930 ;

Petrunkevitch, 1911:69; 1928:78; 1939:273; Roewer, 1942:230; Bonnet, 1957:2084; Gerschman & Schiapelli, 1973:930; Schmidt, 1986:42; Psalistops cubanus : Wunderlich, 1988:52; Trichopelma cubanum : Alayón, 2000; Ríos-Tamayo, 2017; Mori & Bertani, 2020:65; Sthothis cubana Banks, 1909:155 ;

Petrunkevitch, 1939:302; Roewer, 1942:223; Bonnet, 1958:4182; Sthothis [sic] cubana : Franganillo, 1930:5; Trichopelma banksia Özdikmen & Demir, 2012:119 (replacement name);

Mori & Bertani, 2020:70. syn. nov.

Type material (examined). Holotype ♂, Cuba ( MNHN 17702 ) ; Allotype female (type species by original designation of Sthotis cubana Banks, 1909 ), Havana province, Santiago de Las Vegas [22°58’N 82°22’W], coll. N. Banks ( MCZ no number) .

Additional material (not examined). 1♂ Cuba, Havana Province, Soledad [23°08’N 82°22’W], II.1925, coll .

Salt & Meyers ( MCZ 75007).

Diagnosis. Males of T. cubanum can be distinguished from all Cuban species by their STC bare; similar to T. juventud and T. laurae . It differs from T. juventud by bulb morphology ( Fig. 9E–G) and from T. laurae , by the tibial apophysis with the prolateral branch the same length as the associated spine ( Fig. 9A–C, longer in T. laurae ). Females can be differentiated by their spermathecae without lobes with a superior constriction (similar to T. baracoense sp. nov.). T. cubanum can be differentiated from T. baracoese sp. nov., by their spermathecae with an elongated apex and their lower number of labial cuspules.

Description. See Ríos-Tamayo (2017) and Mori & Bertani (2020).

Justification of synonymy. Trichopelma cubanum ( Simon, 1903) was described first as Hapalopinus cubanus Simon, 1903 (under the family Theraphosidae ) based on a single male with the only locality data “ Cuba ” on the label ( Ríos-Tamayo, 2017). Trichopelma banksia was described as Stothis cubana Banks, 1909 , based on a female from Santiago de Las Vegas, Havana. Years later, Raven (1985) put this genus in synonymy with Trichopelma in the family Barychelidae . Özdikmen & Demir (2012) rejected the specific epithet Trichopelma cubanum ( Banks, 1909) as it was a secondary junior homonym of the name T. cubanum ( Simon, 1903) and proposed the replaced name Trichopelma banksia Özdikmen & Demir, 2012 . Trichopelma cubanum ( Simon, 1903) was redescribed by Ríos-Tamayo (2017) and Mori & Bertani (2020) redescribed T. banksia . As the exact locality of T. cubanum is imprecise, Mori & Bertani (2020) found a new male from Soledad, Havana belonging to the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Cambridge which was presented as conspecific with the originally described male. Both species in question are present in Havana, with a small distribution distance between them (only 18 km). Species of the genus Trichopelma present few characters shared between both sexes. The species under synonymy here, share their STC bare in all legs, and a recurved fovea. Besides the characters mentioned above, in the strict consensus presented by Mori & Bertani (2020) and in the present analysis, both species appeared as sister taxa. Based on the latter and with the aim to clarify the taxonomic status of these species, T. cubanum and T. banksia are herein synonymized.