Artema kochi Kulczynski 1901
Creators: name: Aharon, Shlomi
name: Huber, Bernhard A.
name: Gavish-Regev, Efrat
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2017
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Araneae
Pholcidae
Artema
Artema kochi

description: Artema kochi Kulczyński, 1901 (revalidated)
Figs 1, 76–89, 204, 211
Artema kochii Kulczyński 1901: 19–20; pl. 1, fig. 14. Erroneously synonymized with “ Artema mauriciana ” by Simon (1908: 426–427).
Misidentifications
“ Pholcus borbonicus ” – L. Koch 1875: 25–26; pl. 3, fig. 1, 1a–c (♀). — Thorell 1881: 179–180 (in footnote). — Simon 1882: 234.
“ Artema mauricia ” – Simon 1890: 93.
Diagnosis
Males are easily distinguished from known congeners by their bulbal process b (Fig. 81), flattened and rectangular distally, rather than pointed or awl-shaped as in congeners; processes c, d, and e absent (process c present in all congeners, except Artema sp. b from Algeria). Males differ also by their cheliceral processes that are strongly projecting proximally with frontal rows of modified hairs; with several cone-shaped, sclerotized processes situated frontally near median line (arrows in Figs 83, 85). Females differ from known congeners by entirely different shapes of anterior epigynal projections (AEP) and epigynal plate (Figs 86, 88): anterior epigynal projections sclerotized and elongated (in contrast to all congeners), not projecting (in contrast to A. bunkpurugu); epigynal plate sclerotized, wide rectangular, with triangular anterior projection between AEP, median posterior margin gently protruding.
Material examined
Neotype (designated herein)
ERITREA: 1 ♂, “ Massaua ” [= Massawa, 15.61° N, 39.45° E], Apr. 1870, A. Yssel leg. (MSNG), examined (see Notes below).
Other material
ERITREA: 1 ♀, 7 juvs, together with neotype, same data.
YEMEN-ERITREA: 2 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀, 4 juvs, Aden / Massawa [1889] (E. Simon, “393” part) (MNHN AR 10169 part).
YEMEN: 1 ♀, 3 juvs, “Sceik Osman” [= Shaykh Uthman, Aden, 12.86° N, 44.98° E], Jan. 1880, Doria and Beccari leg. (this is the material cited in Simon 1882 as Pholcus borbonicus) (MSNG); 1 ♀, Aden [12.81° N, 45.03° E], date not given, E.A. Emerton leg. (MCZ 34048); 1 ♂, 1 juv., same locality, 15 Oct. 1938, collector not given (NHMW 353).
SUDAN: 1 ♂, New Halfa [15.32° N, 35.60° E], 450 m a.s.l., Jun. 2013, M. Siyam leg. (ZMB).
ETHIOPIA: 1 ♀, “ Abyssinia, Didi Davvs ” (uncertain spelling), 20–26 Jun. 1920, B. Brown leg. (AMNH).
Localities not clear: 1 ♂, “Urso 1283”, date not given, Kovacs leg. (MZUF); 1 ♂, “Afrique Orientale, Gibdo” [= Djibouti / Eritrea?], Apr.–May 1907, Katona leg. (MZUF).
Description
Male (MNHN Ar 10169)
MEASUREMENTS. Total body length 6.8, carapace width 3.5. Leg 1: 46.2 (12.1 + 1.6 + 13.4 + 16.2 + 2.9), tibia 2: 10.0, tibia 3: 7.6, tibia 4: 10.5; tibia 1 L/d: 34. Distance PME–PME 190 μm, diameter PME 190 μm, distance PME–ALE 90 μm, distance AME–AME 40 μm, diameter AME 180 μm.
COLOR. Carapace ochre to light brown, with brown median band and narrow light brown margins; brown to light brown stripes radiate from median pit to margins; ocular area ochre to brown, clypeus with light brown band below AME, and dark brown rim (Fig. 76); legs ochre to light brown, with reddish brown to ochre prolateral marks on femora proximally, with brown rings on femora subdistally, patellae + tibiae proximally, and tibiae subdistally, tips of femora and tibiae not whitish (probably an artifact, see variation below); sternum ochre to light brown with narrow brown margins; abdomen beige to light brown with pale yellow and dark dots forming indistinct stripes from dorsal to lateral side of abdomen with large marks dorsally.
BODY. Ocular area slightly elevated; carapace with distinct median pit and distinctive posterior furrow; clypeus unmodified; sternum wider than long (2.4/1.7); chelicerae as in Figs 83–85, with frontal row of 16–19 modified (cone-shaped) hairs on each side situated on proximally strongly projecting processes; with several cone-shaped, sclerotized processes situated frontally near median line (arrows in Figs 83, 85); without stridulatory ridges (as in Fig. 83); Abdomen globose and high; gonopore with four epiandrous spigots.
PALPS. As in Figs 77–79; coxa unmodified, trochanter with short ventral projection, femur with distinct retrolateral process proximally, ventral membranous area proximally bordered on both sides by heavily sclerotized ridges, and small dorsal projection proximally; femur-patella hinges close together dorsally; patella very short; procursus with proximal dorsal process and weakly developed ventral pocket (Fig. 89), and distal dorsal notch on retrolateral margin; bulb with membranous embolus rising from base of process a; process a elongated, projecting towards retrolaterally with large subdistal hump; process b flattened, band-like, rectangular (Fig. 81); processes c, d and e absent.
LEGS.Without spines;with long curved hairs, especially on tibiae and metatarsi; retrolateral trichobothrium on tibia 1 at 8%; prolateral trichobothrium present on all tibiae; pseudosegmentation not visible.
Male (variation)
Tibia 1 in 3 other males: 11.4, 13.7, 14.2; color pattern on abdomen varies from pale without any marks to light brown with dark and pale dots forming large dorsal marks and fine lateral stripes; leg color varies from light brown to ochre, in fresh specimen from Sudan tips of femora and tibiae whitish; elevated ocular area usually light brown; carapace pattern varies from narrow brown stripes to wide brown marks radiating from median pit to margin (Fig. 76, cf. Koch 1875: fig. 1).
Female
In general similar to male; tibia 1 in 2 females: 5.6, 9.8; stridulatory files laterally on chelicerae present; anterior epigynal projections (AEP) sclerotized, elongated (Fig. 86); epigynal plate sclerotized, wide rectangular (~3 × wider than long) projecting anteriorly between AEP, with median posterior margin gently protruding; some females with two dark dots at base of triangular anterior projection.
Distribution
We examined specimens from Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Yemen (Fig. 1). The original description by Kulczyński (1901) was apparently based on specimens from Egypt (see Notes below).
Notes
The original description by Kulczyński (1901) is based on two female specimens, but it does not specify where these females were collected. We assume that Kulczyński examined and illustrated the specimens from Egypt, near Cairo, that L. Koch (1875) had misidentified as Pholcus borbonicus Vinson, 1863 (= A. atlanta). Kulczyński also mentioned specimens from “Massaua” (Eritrea, Massawa) that Thorell (1881) had described in some detail but that he had equally misidentified as Pholcus borbonicus. Since this material from Massawa contains males and females, we conclude that it was not available to Kulczyński. However, we chose to designate a neotype from the material originating from Massawa for three reasons: (1) Kulczyński neither designated type specimens nor specified a type locality; (2) we were not able to locate Koch’s specimens from Egypt (they are not in ZMH or ZMB); (3) a good illustration by Kulczyński (1901) of the highly distinctive epigynum of A. kochi leaves little doubt that the specimens available to him are, in fact, conspecific with the specimens from Massawa.
Much less obvious is how Simon (1908), after having studied specimens of “ A. mauriciana ” (= A. atlanta) from many localities, arrived at the conclusion that the drawings of Kulczyński (1901) represented merely slight individual variation and that A. kochi was a synonym of “ A. mauriciana ”. This is all the more mysterious because Simon himself had collected A. kochi in Massawa and Aden (in 1889) and his own material (in MNHN, examined) includes not only females, but also the equally distinctive males. We found both species that Simon collected from Massawa and Aden, A. atlanta and A. kochi, deposited in the same vial (Simon collection number 393), so we assume that Simon did not examine all the material in detail but only part of it that happened to be A. atlanta.
description: Published as part of Aharon, Shlomi, Huber, Bernhard A. & Gavish-Regev, Efrat, 2017, Daddy-long-leg giants: revision of the spider genus Artema Walckenaer, 1837 (Araneae, Pholcidae), pp. 1-57 in European Journal of Taxonomy 376 (376) on pages 26-30, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2017.376, http://zenodo.org/record/3838544