Myrmarachne macaulayi Tripathi & Jose & Nafin & Babu & Sudhikumar 2017, SP. NOV.
Creators: name: Tripathi, Rishikesh
name: Jose, Athira
name: Nafin, Karunnappilli Shamsudheen
name: Babu, Nishi
name: Sudhikumar, Ambalaparambil Vasu
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2017
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Araneae
Salticidae
Myrmarachne
Myrmarachne macaulayi

description: MYRMARACHNE MACAULAYI PEKAR SP. NOV.
Type material
AUSTRALIA. QLD: 1♂ holotype (QMB, S100097) (11 November 2013; I. Macaulay) Ingham (18 ° 39 0 18.39 ″ S, 146 ° 9 0 12.67 ″ E). NT: 1♀ paratype (QMB, S100124) (17 January 2013; I. Macaulay) Darwin (12 ° 27 0 58.41 ″ S, 130 ° 50 0 23.22 ″ E).
Material examined
Australia. QLD: 1♂ (MUB) (25 February 2014; I. Macaulay) Cairns (16 ° 54 0 49.72 ″ S, 145 ° 46 0 0.45 ″ E); 1♀ (MUB) (31 March 2013; I. Macaulay) same locality (16 ° 54 0 50.62 ″ S, 145 ° 46 0 1.72 ″ E); 1♂ (MUB) (11 March 2014; I. Macaulay) Ingham (18 ° 39 0 18.39 ″ S, 146 ° 9 0 12.67 ″ E); 1♀ (MUB) (8 November 2012; I. Macaulay) Townsville (19 ° 15 0 11.64 ″ S, 146 ° 48 0 36. 24 ″ E); 1♂ (QMB, S100096) (14 November 2012; I. Macaulay) Charters Towers (20 ° 4 0 18.24 ″ S, 146 ° 15 0 38.76 ″ E). NT: 1♂ (QMB, S41425) (10 � 13 July 1979; G. Monteith, D.J. Cook) Mount Gilruth, north-east gorge (13 ° 1 0 59.988 ″ S, 133 ° 4 0 59.88 ″ E).
Etymology
The name is a patronym in honour of Ian Macaulay for collecting this and many other Myrmarachne specimens across Australia.
Diagnosis
Most similar to M. helensmithae sp. nov., M. lupata, and M. smaragdina. Both sexes of this species can be distinguished from the other species by dark-brown to black body coloration and tiny body size. Males can be further differentiated by straight chelicerae, uniform dentition, very tiny apophysis on the fang, undulated margin of tibial groove below RTA. Females can be recognized by massively twisted copulatory ducts. This species is not diagnosable using DNA data (see below).
Description
Male: Measurements (N = 2): total body length 6.6 mm, carapace length 2.3 mm, carapace width 1.3 mm, chelicera length 2.3 mm, abdomen length 2.2 mm, PTB = 0.81. Colour (Fig. S1K): chelicerae shiny, dorsally with white hairs at base and sparse black hairs distally; carapace and abdomen dark brown, eyes surrounded by black patches, white hairs around AME; sternum and endites brown; palpal segments yellow with black stripes; leg segments yellow to brown, banded on sides except for Cx I and II, Pt II, Ta I and II; Cx I and II, Tr IV, pale, Cx II and III, pale with lateral longitudinal black stripes; abdomen with a transverse white stripe at the constriction. Morphology: chelicerae protruding, with five strong teeth on prolateral margin and eight teeth on retrolateral margin; fangs straight with a tiny apophysis ventrally near base (Fig. 9E, F), distally curved; prosoma elongate (Fig. 9A, B), cephalic part of carapace flat and higher than thoracic part, with a constriction behind PLE (Fig. 9B); leg spines: Ti I with three ventral pairs, Mt I, Mt II, and Ti II, each with two ventral pairs; abdomen elongate, with two scuta and a shallow constriction; palpal cymbium oval with one apical spine, tegulum rather large, embolus coiled 1.5 times, tip of embolus straight, rather short, pointing forwards (Fig. 9G); RTA sinusoid, hooked at the tip, flange of RTA developed with undulating margin (Fig. 9H).
Female: Measurements (N = 2): total body length 5.1 mm, carapace length 2.2 mm, carapace width 1.1 mm, chelicera length 0.5 mm, abdomen length 2.5 mm. Colour (Fig. S1L): as in males, but with white wedge at the constriction of the carapace, palp metallically shiny dorsally. Morphology: as in males, but chelicerae small (Fig. 9C, D), with four teeth on prolateral margin and seven teeth on retrolateral margin, palpal Pt and Ta flattened; epigyne with small and round atria, as wide as septum; median pocket wide, triangular with lateral lobes (Fig. 9I); spermathecae elongate, copulatory ducts massively twisted above atria (Fig. 9J).
Natural history
This species seems to imitate the ant Opisthopsis respiciens (Smith, 1865).
Distribution
Australia: QLD, NT (Fig. 4F).
Remarks
Phenotypic differences from M. smaragdina and M. helensmithae sp. nov. strongly suggest it is a species, not a form.
description: Published as part of Tripathi, Rishikesh, Jose, Athira, Nafin, Karunnappilli Shamsudheen, Babu, Nishi & Sudhikumar, Ambalaparambil Vasu, 2017, Revision of eastern Australian ant-mimicking spiders of the genus Myrmarachne (Araneae, Salticidae) reveals a complex of species and forms, pp. 642-676 in Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 179 (3) on pages 658-659, DOI: 10.1111/zoj.12439, http://zenodo.org/record/14805998