Uaitemuri demariai, Santos & Gonzaga, 2017

Santos, Adalberto J. & Gonzaga, Marcelo O., 2017, Systematics and natural history of Uaitemuri, a new genus of the orb-weaving spider family Uloboridae (Araneae: Deinopoidea) from south-eastern Brazil, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 180 (1), pp. 155-174 : 166-167

UAITEMURI DEMARIAI SP. NOV.

FIGURES 1 C , 5 , 12

Type material: Holotype — Male from Brazil: S ao ~ Paulo: Peru � ıbe (Estaç ao ~ Ecologica Jureia-Itatins, Guara u �, N ucleo � Arpoador; 24.27 ° S, 47.05 ° W), 16 – 20.III.1997, A. D. Brescovit et al. coll. ( IBSP 159756 ).

Additional material examined: None.

Etymology: The specific name honours our first scientific advisor, Professor Mario De Maria, from the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, in recognition for almost four years of patient and generous guidance offered during our undergraduate studies.

Remarks: Despite our extensive survey on Brazilian spider collections, we could not locate additional specimens other than the holotype. Moreover, field expeditions of A. J. Santos’s students to the type locality in 2012 and 2015 failed to collect new specimens. Despite concerns about proposing a new species from a single specimen, we decided to describe it because the differences between this species and U. rupicola are consistent with those observed among species of other uloborid genera. Additionally, we think the possibility that this could be a relatively rare and geographically restricted species makes its description even more important, as it could require official recognition for conservation purposes.

Diagnosis: Males of Uaitemuri demariai can be distinguished from those of U. rupicola by a wider and untwisted embolus, a larger conductor extension and a shorter conductor process, not surpassing the apex of the cymbium ( Fig. 5A – C ).

Description: Male (Holotype). Carapace pale brown, darker laterally and with a darker subtriangular median spot, with three dark brown longitudinal stripes over pars cephalica. Clypeus pale brown. Chelicerae dark brown, paler apically. Endites and labium pale brown, mottled with dark brown. Palpus entirely pale brown, suffused with black. Sternum brown, with lateral dusk brown spots near legs I – III and at the posterior tip. Femur I mottled with dark brown, with a pale brown ring at the median third. Femora of remaining legs pale brown, with median and apical dark brown rings. Patellae pale brown, darker ventrally. Tibiae pale brown, darker ventrally and on the apical half. Metatarsi and tarsi pale brown. Opisthosoma pale brown, dorsally suffused with black. Sides with five transversal black stripes. Epigastric plate mottled with black, pulmonary plates pale brown. Post-epigastric area mottled with black, with six median white spots. Cribellum brown, posteriorly black and with a median black spot. Spinnerets and anal tubercle brown, suffused with black. Copulatory apparatus as in the genus description and species diagnosis. Total length 3.14. Carapace 1.22 long, 1.17 wide. Sternum 0.91 long, 0.56 wide. Leg I, length of segments: femur 2.08, patella 0.56, tibia 1.62, metatarsus 1.67, tarsus 0.81. Length of tibia II 0.71, III 0.41, IV 0.71. Opisthosoma 2.13 long.

Figures

Figure 1. Uaitemuri spp., habitus: A, B, Uaitemuri rupicola sp. nov., female (IBSP 3893): A, dorsal view; B, lateral view; C, Uaitemuri demariai sp. nov., male (holotype), lateral view.

Figure 5. Uaitemuri demariai sp. nov., male (holotype) right palpus, copulatory apparatus: A, retrolateral view; B, ventral view; C, prolateral view. Abbreviations: C, conductor; CE, conductor extension; CP, conductor process; E, embolus; MA, median apophysis; MH, median hematodocha; ST, subtegulum; T, tegulum; TP, tegular plate.

Figure 12. Geographical distribution records of Uaitemuri rupicola sp. nov. (blue circles) and Uaitemuri demariai sp. nov. (red square) in south-eastern Brazil.