Syspira Simon 1895
Creators: name: Sánchez-Ruiz, Alexander
name: Santos, Gabriel De Los
name: Brescovit, Antonio D.
name: Bonaldo, Alexandre B.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2020
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Araneae
Miturgidae
Syspira

description: Key for Hispaniolan Syspira species
1. Male............................................................................................... 2
- Female............................................................................................. 6
2. Cymbial groove not reaching the ventral distal margin of cymbium (Figs 1C, 2C); RTA enlarged and curved (Figs 1B, 2B); apical projection of embolar base small and not curved and with lighter sclerotization (Figs 1A, 2A); process on embolar base inconspicuous (Figs 1A, 2B) (the cimitarra group).......................................................... 3
- Cymbial groove distally closed, reaching the ventral margin of cymbium (Figs 4C, 5C, 6C); RTA short and truncated (Figs 4B, 5B, 6B); bigger and curved embolar base apical projection with heavy sclerotization (Figs 4B, 5B, 6B); process on embolar base developed (Figs 4A, 5A, 6A) (the agujas group)........................................................ 4
3. Median apophysis with finger-shaped tip (Fig. 1B; Brescovit et al. 2018: fig. 2C); RTA elongated and curved distally, with bifurcated projections unequal in size and with the longer projection striated at tip (Fig. 1C, Brescovit et al. 2018: fig. 2F)............................................................................................. S. cimitarra
- Median apophysis with bifurcated tip (Fig. 2 A, Brescovit et al. 2018: fig. 4C); RTA shorter, sickle-shaped, with bifurcated projections almost equal in size (Fig. 2B – C, Brescovit et al. 2018: fig. 4F)................................. S. jimmyi
4. Median apophysis enlarged and heavily sclerotized (Fig. 4B, C); apical projection on embolar base bowed, claw-shaped (Fig. 4A, B)........................................................................................ S. agujas
- Median apophysis small (Figs 5B – C, 6B – C); apical projection of embolar base not claw-shaped (Figs 5A – B, 6A – B)...... 5
5. Embolar base process fairly developed (Fig. 5A, C); spatula-shaped median apophysis in ventral view (Fig. 5B); apical projection of embolar base slightly curved in ventral view (Fig. 5B)........................................ S. medialuna
- Embolar base process small (Fig. 6A – C); very small finger-shaped median apophysis (Fig. 6A, C); apical projection of embolar base strongly curved in ventral view (Fig. 6B).................................................. S. armasi sp. n.
6. Epigynal posterior plates (PP) medially fused at the inner borders; epigynal median plate (dmp) projecting dorsally from the atrium (Figs 1D – E, 2D – E, 3A – B, D – E) (the cimitarra group)................................................. 7
- Epigynal posterior plates (PP) not fused, touching (or not) the inner borders and lacking the epigynal dorsal median plate (dmp) (Figs 4D – E, 5D – E, 6D – E, 7A – B, 8D) (the agujas group).................................................... 10
7. Anterior edges of epigynal posterior plates (PP) slightly straight and close together, posterior edges widely separated from each other (Fig. 3D – E)....................................................................... S. barbacoa sp. n.
- Anterior edges of epigynal posterior plates (PP) rounded and elevated, and posterior edges fused (Figs 1D – E, 2D – E, 3A – B). ................................................................................................... 8
8. Dorsal median plate (dmp) narrow, 2.5 times longer than wide, atrial hood (H) sclerotized (Fig. 3A, B)..... S. alayoni sp. n.
- Dorsal median plate (dmp) wide, less than 1.5 times longer than wide, atrial hood (H) weakly sclerotized or inconspicuous (Figs 1D, 2D)............................................................................................. 9
9. Dorsal median plate (dmp) truncated at the distal margin (Fig. 1E), epigynal posterior plates (PP) wider, exceeding in half the atrial lateral dorsal folds (Fig. 1D)............................................................... S. cimitarra
- Dorsal median plate (dmp) rounded at the distal margin, epigynal posterior plates (PP) narrower, barely exceeding the atrial lateral dorsal folds (Fig. 2D – E)................................................................... S. jimmyi
10. Anterior edges of epigynal posterior plates (PP) wide and straight (Fig. 4D)................................. S. agujas
- Anterior edges of epigynal posterior plates (PP) relatively narrow and rounded (Figs 5D, 6D, 7A, 8D)................. 11
11. Atrial hood (H) dorsally projected from the atrium (Figs 6D, 7D – E)............................................ 12
- Atrial hood (H) not projected, remaining as a fold (Figs 5D, 8D)............................................... 13
12. Atrial hood (H) large and weakly sclerotized, completely covering anterior edges of epigynal posterior plates (Fig. 6D)............................................................................................ S. armasi sp. n.
- Atrial hood (H) small and heavily sclerotized, covering only part of anterior edges of epigynal posterior plates (Fig. 7D – E)........................................................................................ S. bryantae sp. n.
13. Epigynal posterior plates (PP) large, with quite high anterior edges, twice the size seen in other species (Fig. 5D)................................................................................................... S. medialuna
- Epigynal posterior plates (PP) smaller, with anterior edges similar in size to the other species (Fig. 8D).................................................................................................. S. monticola comb. nov.
description: Published as part of Sánchez-Ruiz, Alexander, Santos, Gabriel De Los, Brescovit, Antonio D. & Bonaldo, Alexandre B., 2020, The genus Syspira Simon, 1895 (Araneae: Miturgidae) from Hispaniola, with the description of four new species, pp. 413-431 in Zootaxa 4894 (3) on pages 414-415, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4894.3.7, http://zenodo.org/record/4315939