Myrmarachne helensmithae 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 helensmithae

description: MYRMARACHNE HELENSMITHAE PEKAR SP. NOV.
Type material
Australia. QLD: 1♂ holotype (QMB, S100087) (23 December 2011; I. Macaulay) Cairns (16° 54 0 50.62 ″ S, 145° 46 0 1.72 ″ E); 1♂, 1♀ paratypes (AMS) (9 January 2012; I. Macaulay) Cairns (16° 54 0 50.62 ″ S, 145° 46 0 1.72 ″ E). NT: 1♀ paratype (QMB, S100126) (15 January 2013; I. Macaulay) Darwin (12° 27 0 58.41 ″ S, 130° 50 0 23.22 ″ E).
Material examined
Australia. NT: 1♂ (QMB, S100123) (4 December 2014; I. Macaulay) Darwin (12° 27 0 58.41 ″ S, 130° 50 0 23.22 ″ E); 1♂ (AMS, KS.13619) (3 August 1983; C. Gentle, T. O’Donnell) Kakadu Nat. Park, Arnhem Land (12°25 0 S, 132°18 0 E); 1♂ (QMB, S399) (22 February 1988; R. Wildman) same locality (12° 25 0 59.988 ″ S, 132°9 0 E); 1♂ (MUB) (1 February 2013; I. Macaulay) Litchfield NP near Darwin (13° 9 0 47.04 ″ S, 130° 40 0 58.04 ″ E). QLD: 1 juv. (CRW) (24 February 2014; I. Macaulay) Cairns (16° 54 0 50.62 ″ S, 145° 46 0 1.72 ″ E); 1♀ (CRW) (15 March 2013; I. Macaulay) same locality; 1♂ (CRW) (8 April 2014; I. Macaulay) Townsville (19° 17 0 29.54 ″ S, 146° 46 0 55.07 ″ E); 1♂ (QMB, S100089) (9 November 2013; I. Macaulay) same locality; 1♂ (QMB, S100088) (10 November 2012; I. Macaulay) same locality; 1♂ (QMB, S100086) (13 February 2013; I. Macaulay) same locality. 6♂♂, 15♀♀, 10 juv. (MUB) (22 � 27 March 2014; G. Corcobado, S. Pekar) Cairns, Cairns Botanic Gardens (16° 53 0 57.563 ″ S, 145° 44 0 59.953 ″ E); 1♀ (AMS, KS.106040) (20 September 2008; G. Cocks) Hermit Park (19° 16 0 58 ″ S, 146° 48 0 02 ″ E).
Etymology
The name is a matronym in honour of Helen Smith for her generous help with this revision of Myrmarachne.
Diagnosis
This species is morphologically most similar to M. lupata, M. macaulayi sp. nov., and M. smaragdina. Both sexes of this species can be distinguished from the other species by orange/black body coloration. Males can be further differentiated by long and straight chelicerae, small apophysis on the fang, homogeneous dentition of chelicerae, absence of tibial groove below RTA. Females can be recognized by less twisted copulatory ducts. This species is not diagnosable using DNA data (see below).
Description
Male: Measurements (N = 8): total body length 7.3 mm (5.6 – 9.2 mm), carapace length 2.4 mm (1.9 – 3.0 mm), carapace width 1.4 mm (1.1 – 1.6 mm), chelicera length 2.4 mm (1.7 – 3.0 mm), abdomen length 2.4 mm (1.9 – 3.1 mm), PTB = 1. Colour (Fig. S1F): chelicerae orange, covered with black sparse hairs, brown at the tip; carapace orange, but eyes surrounded by black patches; white hairs around AME, sternum, endites, and palpal segments yellow; leg segments orange, but Pt I and Ti I with blackish stripe on prolateral side, Mt I and Pt IV with black stripe on lateral and prolateral sides; abdomen orange but posterior half black. Morphology: chelicerae protruding, with six strong teeth on prolateral margin, nine small teeth on retrolateral margin; fangs straight with a small ventral apophysis near to base, tip curved (Fig. 6E, F); prosoma elongate (Fig. 6A), carapace with a constriction behind PLE, cephalic part dorsally flat and higher than thoracic part (Fig. 6B); carapace frontally with an apophysis on lateral side; leg spines: Ti I with three or four ventral pairs, Mt I and II and Ti II with two ventral pairs of spines; abdomen elongate with a constriction and two dorsal scuta (Fig. 6B); palpal cymbium oval, with one apical spine, tegulum rather small, round, embolus coiled 1.5 times, tip of embolus straight, rather short, pointing forwards (Figs 2E, 6G); RTA tiny, tip laterally hooked, flat surface on the prolateral side of Ti below RTA; flange not developed (Figs 2F, 6H).
Female: Measurements (N = 14): total body length 5.2 mm (4.2 – 7.1 mm), carapace length 2.2 mm (2.1 – 2.5 mm), carapace width 1.1 mm (1.0 – 1.2 mm), chelicera length 0.6 mm (0.5 – 0.7 mm), abdomen length 2.4 mm (1.8 – 3.0 mm). Colour (Fig. S1G): as in males, but carapace laterally with wedge of white hairs in the constriction (Fig. 6C, D). Morphology: as in males, but chelicerae small, lateral margin of chelicerae with between five and seven teeth, retrolateral margin with between six and ten teeth; epigyne with two small atria separated by a septum, atria 1.5 times wider than septum, median pocket rather rectangular, situated below septum (Figs 3C, 6I); spermathecae elongate, copulatory ducts moderately twisted above atria (Fig. 6J).
Natural history
This species occurs on foliage, where it builds silken retreats. It imitates the ant Opisthopsis haddoni Emery, 1893.
Distribution
Australia: QLD, NT (Fig. 4C).
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 652-654, DOI: 10.1111/zoj.12439, http://zenodo.org/record/14805998