Eustala vellardi Mello-Leitao 1924
Creators: name: Poeta, Maria Rita M.
name: Teixeira, Renato Augusto
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2017
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Araneae
Araneidae
Eustala
Eustala vellardi

description: Eustala vellardi Mello-Leitão, 1924
Figs 1–9, 19
Eustala vellardi Mello-Leitão, 1924: 279, female holotype from Nova Iguaçu [22°45'22"S, 43°27'38"W], Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (MNRJ 351, examined). Roewer 1942: 767; WSC 2017.
Additional material examined. BRAZIL, Amazonas: Santa Isabel do Rio Negro (Maturacá), 0°16’21”S, 65°28’32”W, 1 ♂, 12.X.1990, A.A. Lise (MCTP 28720). Pará: Oriximiná (Fazenda Recanto Oriental), 1°45’42”S, 55°51’49”W, 1 ♀, 22.I.2009, E.L.C. Silva (MCTP 28672); Itaituba (Comunidade Santo Antônio), 4°16’01”S, 55°59’35”W, 2 ♀, 07.VII.2003, J.G. Frota (MCTP 14735). Mato Grosso: (Pantanal), 3 ♀, 04–10.VIII.1992, A.A. Lise & A. Braul Jr. (MCTP 2295); Chapada dos Guimarães, 15°27’29”S, 55°45’08”W, 1 ♂, M. Hoffmann (MCN 11988); Poconé, 16°15’59”S, 56°37’35”W, 1 ♂, A.A. Lise & A. Braul Jr. (MCTP 2427); (Estrada Porto Cercado), 16°16’11”S, 56°37’06”W, 3 ♂, 1 ♀, 02.VIII.1993, A.A. Lise & A. Braul Jr. (MCTP 2608). Mato Grosso do Sul: Miranda (Pousada Caiman), 20°14’09”S, 56°22’30”W, 2 ♂, A.C. Meyer (MCN 21001). Minas Gerais: Varginha, 21°33’21”S, 45°26’12”W, 2 ♀, 28.VII.2011, R.C. Francisco (MCTP 32066). Rio Claro, 22°24'06"S, 45°16'32"W, 1 ♀, 03.V.2011, R.C. Francisco (MCTP 32143). Rio Grande do Sul: São Borja (Reserva Biológica São Donato), 29°01’16”S, 56°09’43”W, 1 ♀, 16.III.2013, M. Machado (MCTP 36717). PARAGUAY: 1 ♂, 1 ♀, 1895, Dr. Temetz (NHMB 1074 a). Concepción (Fonciere): 22°29’12”S, 57°50’17”W, 3 ♀, 2008 (MHNG).
Diagnosis. The males of Eustala vellardi (Figs 1–3) are similar to those of E. fuscovitatta (Keyserling, 1894) due to the elongated abdomen and dorsal color pattern. Eustala vellardi differs from this species by the acute terminal apophysis (Fig. 1) and by the very short embolus, unlike E. fuscovitatta which have a laminar terminal apophysis and a large and exposed embolus (see Chickering 1955, figure 3). The female of this species (Figs 4–9) resemble those of E. perfida Mello-Leitão, 1947 (see Poeta et al. 2010, figures 24–26) by the epigynum with smooth and rod-shaped scape (Figs 4, 7). They can be separated by the elongated abdomen of E. vellardi (Figs 6, 9), which is subtriangular in E. perfida, and by the epyginum with the copulatory openings forming a central septum on the median plate in E. vellardi (Fig. 7).
Description. Male (MCTP 2608). Carapace orange. PME and LE dark bordered (Fig. 3). LE with macrosetae. Sternum yellow. Abdomen elongated, projected above the cephalothorax, and pointed distally, dorsum whitish with dark brown longitudinal stripe (Fig. 3), ventral surface discolored with a large light brown median band. Legs yellow, with patella I to tarsus I brown. Total length 7.75. Carapace length 3.30, width 2.05. Leg formula 1423. Length leg I: femur 3.46; patella+tibia 5.13; metatarsus 4.03; tarsus 1.21; total 13.83. Patella +tibia II 3.88; III 2.06; IV 4.36.
Female (MCTP 2608). Carapace colored as the male. Sternum dark grey. Abdomen as the male, dorsum whitish, inconspicuous longitudinal stripes (Fig. 6), venter as the male. Legs orange. Total length 7.92. Carapace length 3.20, width 2.04. Total length 13.30. Leg formula 1243. Length leg I: femur 3.98; patella+tibia 6.13; metatarsus 4.64; tarsus 1.30; total 16.05. Patela+tibia II 5.69; III 2.79; IV 5.56.
Variation. Male (n=5): total length: 7.75–8.55; carapace length 3.15–3.50, width 1.95–2.25. Female (n=5): total length: 11.95–14.85; carapace length 3.45–4.40, width 2.35–2.75. Males and females may have the abdomen with dark-brown longitudinal stripes, and/or small dots laterally; yellowish; pale yellow with a continuous longitudinal black stripe; or yellowish with circular dark brown spots arranged in a longitudinal line (holotype, Fig. 9).
Distribution. Brazil: Amazonas, Pará, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Rio de Janeiro, and Rio Grande do Sul. Paraguay: Concepción (Fig. 19).
description: Published as part of Poeta, Maria Rita M. & Teixeira, Renato Augusto, 2017, Description of the male of the spider Eustala vellardi Mello-Leitão, 1924, the female of E. delasmata Bryant, 1945 and seven species of Eustala Simon, 1895 declared as nomina dubia (Araneae, Araneidae), pp. 112-120 in Zootaxa 4273 (1) on pages 113-115, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4273.1.8, http://zenodo.org/record/818341