Afrodrassex balrog Haddad & Booysen 2022, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Haddad, Charles R.
name: Booysen, Ruan
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2022
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Araneae
Gnaphosidae
Afrodrassex
Afrodrassex balrog

description: Afrodrassex balrog sp. nov.
Figures 1, 2, 7, 8, 11–38
Type material. Holotype ♀: SOUTH AFRICA: Free State: Bloemfontein, Langenhoven Park, 29°05.105’S, 26°09.563’E, 1420 m a.s.l., 9.III.2015, leg. C. Haddad (on walls of house at night) (NCA 2014/1936).
Paratypes: Same data as holotype but 26.I.2015, 1♂ (NCA 2014/1939); Same data as holotype but 18.X.2020, 3♀ (NCA 2020/703). SOUTH AFRICA: Northern Cape: Richtersveld National Park, Sendelingsdrift, 28°07.805’S, 16°53.503’E, 9.X.2015, leg. P.J. Goede (home on wood), 1♀ (NCA 2016/3487); Rooipoort Nature Reserve, 28°38.220’S, 24°16.800’E, 23.III.2013, leg. M. Stiller (canopy fogging, Acacia tortilis), 1♀ (NCA 2015/4269). Limpopo: Little Leigh, 22°56.518’S, 29°52.735’E, 21.III.2006, leg. F. Maanda (Kirkia wilmsi, above knee searching), 1♀ (NCA 2009/719).
Etymology. The species name is a noun in apposition of the fictional character referred to as the “Balrog”, a demon from the Lord of the Rings trilogy by author J.R.R. Tolkien. In Peter Jackson’s movies based on the books, the Balrog is depicted as wielding a long whip of fire, reminiscent of the very long embolus of this species.
Diagnosis. Afrodrassex balrog sp. nov. females can be distinguished from A. catharinae sp. nov. by the small copulatory openings and transversely oval spermathecae (Figs 27, 34, 35) compared to the large copulatory openings and globular spermathecae in A. catharinae sp. nov. (Figs 39, 40), and males by the single elongate spike-like retrolateral tibial apophysis in retrolateral view (Figs 29, 38) compared to the small sharp tooth-like apophysis of A. catharinae sp. nov. (Figs 41, 43).
Description. Female (holotype, NCA 2014/1936). Colouration (Fig. 7): carapace and chelicerae creamyyellow; endites and labium cream, labium slightly darker; sternum cream, margins brown; femora cream, remaining segments creamy-yellow. Abdomen cream dorsally and ventrally, with grey mottling on dorsum posteriorly above spinnerets.
Measurements: CL 1.11, CW 0.90, AL 1.49, AW 1.16, TL 2.73. Eye diameters and interdistances: AME 0.11, ALE 0.08 PME 0.08, PLE 0.07, AME–AME 0.04, AME–ALE 0.01, PME–PME 0.08, PME–PLE 0.04, ALE–PLE 0.01. Leg measurements: I 0.71, 0.35, 0.56, 0.51, 0.38 = 2.51; II 0.76, 0.38, 0.44, 0.52, 0.24 = 2.34; III 0.62, 0.33, 0.44, 0.41, 0.24 = 2.04; IV 1.02, 0.41, 0.73, 0.87, 0.30 = 3.33.
Leg spination: femora: I do 2, II do 1, III do 1 rl 1, IV do 2 rl 1; patellae: spineless; tibiae: I plv 2 rlv 2, II plv 1 rlv 2, III pl 2 rl 1 plv 1, IV pl 2 rl 2 plv 1 vt 2; metatarsi: I plv 1 rlv 1, II plv 1-2 rlv 1, III pl 3 rl 1 plv 1 rlv 1 vt 3, IV pl 3 rl 2 plv 1 vt 3; palp: femur do 1, patella spineless, tibia pl 2 plv 1, tarsus pl 2 rl 1 plv 2 rlv 1.
Epigyne with large figure-6-shaped ridges, coursing around periphery of epigynal plate, with tiny copulatory openings originating centrally at start of ridges (Figs 27, 34); copulatory ducts narrow, following path of external ridges, on lateral sides continuing posteriorly, looping mesally before entering transverse oval spermathecae on their lateral margins; fertilization ducts on posterior margin of spermathecae, directed posterolaterally (Fig. 35).
Male (paratype, NCA 2014/1939). Colouration (Fig. 8): similar to female, but grey mottling dorsally on abdominal posterior extending to middle.
Measurements: CL 0.97, CW 0.81, AL 0.95, AW 0.63, TL 1.85. Eye diameters and interdistances: AME 0.10, ALE 0.07, PME 0.08, PLE 0.06, AME–AME 0.06, AME–ALE 0.01, PME–PME 0.07, PME–PLE 0.05, ALE–PLE 0.01. Leg measurements: I 0.76, 0.33, 0.62, 0.52, 0.38 = 2.61; II 0.78, 0.35, 0.65, 0.60, 0.40 = 2.78; III 0.67, 0.32, 0.43, 0.51, 0.27 = 2.20; IV 0.98, 0.38, 0.71, 0.86, 0.30 = 3.23.
Leg spination: femora: I do 1, II do 1, III do 1, IV do 2 rl 1; patellae spineless; tibiae: I rlv 1, II spineless, III pl 1 rl 1 plv 1, IV pl 1 rl 2 plv 1 vt 2; metatarsi: I plv 1 rlv 1, II plv 1 rlv 1, III pl 2 rl 2 plv 1 rlv 1 vt 3, IV pl 3 rl 2 plv 1 vt 3; palp: spineless.
Palp: tibia broader than long, partly obscured by tegulum and membranous conductor, with elongate, slightly curved spike-like retrolateral apophysis (Figs 29, 38); tegulum largely obscured by massive bean-shaped membranous conductor; embolus long and very slender, originating prolaterally, looping proximally, then dorsally and distally above cymbium, with tip looping around ventral aspect of cymbium (Figs 30–33, 36–38); apical tegular process large, bending towards retrolateral side of palp, with split tip and deep groove along distal margin (Fig. 33); median apophysis absent.
Additional material examined. SOUTH AFRICA: Free State: Bloemfontein, Langenhoven Park, 29°05.105’S, 26°09.563’E, 1420 m a.s.l., 3.X.2020, leg. C. Haddad (on ceiling at night), 1♂ (S.E.M. preparations); Same locality, 29°05.384’S, 26°09.392’E, 23.VII.2020, leg. R. Booysen (in garden on plants at night), 1 imm. 1 subadult ♂ 1♀ (S.E.M. preparations). ANGOLA: Malanje: Malange [09°32’S, 16°20’E], 11.IX.1949, leg. B. Malkin, 1 imm. 1♀ (CAS, CASENT 9058549).
Variation. Total length: females 2.23–3.10 (average 2.71, n = 6); males: only the single paratype described.
Habitat and biology. All seven examined females (including the S.E.M. specimen, epigyne cleared) had plugged epigynes (Fig. 27). This species has been recorded from three biomes (desert, grassland and savanna), although the majority of the specimens were collected inside houses and gardens in central South Africa, where they were active at night.
Distribution. Widely distributed in South Africa, but only known from four localities (Fig. 44). The precise locality of the specimen from Angola is unclear, as coordinates are missing from the specimen label. According to the global gazetteer, there are three towns in Angola called Malange: one in the Kwanza Sul Region (09°57’S, 14°55’E), one in the Lunda Norte Region (08°05’S, 19°00’E), and one in the Malanje Region (09°32’S, 16°20’E). Considering the similarity in the town name and that of the latter region, we have plotted the latter co-ordinates on the distribution map (Fig. 44).
description: Published as part of Haddad, Charles R. & Booysen, Ruan, 2022, The ground spider genera Leptodrassex Murphy, 2007 and Leptopilos Levy, 2009 (Araneae: Gnaphosidae) in southern Africa, including the description of a new genus and seven new species, pp. 1-32 in Zootaxa 5194 (1) on pages 7-9, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5194.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/7141932