Decaphora cubana Banks 1909, comb. nov.
Creators: name: Rheims, Cristina Anne
name: Alayón, Giraldo
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2014
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Araneae
Sparassidae
Decaphora
Decaphora cubana

description: Decaphora cubana (Banks, 1909) comb. nov.
Figs 1−2, 9−21, 44
Pseudosparianthis cubana Banks, 1909: 165, plate 4, fig. 4 (holotype female from Havana (23°07'N; 82°21'W), Cuba, Baker leg., deposited in MCZ 20968, examined). Platnick 2014.
Decaphora trabiformis Franganillo, 1931: 46 (Male and juvenile syntypes from Sierra Rangel, Artemisa Province, Cuba, deposited in IES. Juvenile syntype examined. Male lost). Syn. nov.
Tentabunda cubana (Banks). Fox 1937: 464, figs. 5, 11.
Other material examined. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Florida: 1♂, 1934, W.M. Barrows leg. (AMNH); 1♀, Alachua County, Alachua (29°46’N, 82°28’W), 5 May 1937 (AMNH); 1♀, Gainesville, Sugarfoot Hammock (29°39’N, 82°19’W), 19 March 1938, W.J. Gertsch leg. (AMNH); 1♂, 1♀, Volusia, Coronado Beach (29°01’N, 80°53’W), August 1935, M. Broyles leg. (AMNH); 1♀, Port Orange, Oackland Park (29°05’N, 80°59’W), 7-14 March 1930, W.S. Blatchey leg. (MCZ 69669); 1♂, 3 juv., Orange City (28°56’N, 81°17’W), 9 December 1962, W. Ivie leg. (AMNH); 2♂, Palmetto Key (27°31’N, 82°34’W), June 1942, C.M. Breder leg. (AMNH); 1♀, De Soto City (27°12’N, 81°46’W), 5 October 1962, A.M. Nadler leg. (AMNH); 4♂, Dade County, Long Pine Key, Everglades National Park (25°24’N, 80°41’W), 8 June - 26 August 1986, S. & J. Peck leg. (AMNH); 1♂, Monroe County, Key Largo (25°05’N, 80°26’W), 4 March - 28 April 1985, S. & J. Peck leg. (AMNH); 1♂, Fat Deer Key (24°44’N, 81°00’W), 4 May - 4 August 1985, S. & J. Peck leg. (AMNH); 1♂, Sugarloaf Key (24°37’N, 81°32’W), 4 August - 19 November 1985, S. & J. Peck leg. (AMNH); 1♀, 3 March - 29 April 1985, S. & J. Peck leg. (AMNH); 1♀, 19 November 1985 - 26 February 1986, S. & J. Peck leg. (AMNH); 2♂, 1 juv., 29 August - 14 December 1986, S. & J. Peck leg. (AMNH). BAHAMAS: Freeport District: 1♀, Dundee Bay (26°30’N, 78°42’W), 20-23 December 1965, L. Pinter leg. (MCZ 30714). South Bimini: 1♀, (25°44’N, 79°15’W), May 1951, W.J. Gertsch & M.A. Cazier leg. (AMNH); 1♀, June 1951, M.A. Cazier leg. (AMNH); Eleuthera Island: 1♂, New Portsmouth (25°08’N, 76°08’W), 28 March 1953, G. Rabb leg. (AMNH).
CUBA: 1♀, 1967, P. Alayo leg. (MCZ 30713); 1♀, 23 October 1931, N. Banks leg. (MCZ 69668); Matanzas: 1♀, Cuabales de San Francisco (22°52’N, 81°17’W), May 1984, L.F. de Armas leg. (MNHNCu). Artemisa: 1♂, San Antonio de los Baños (22°53’N, 82°28’W), 11 March 1999, R. Quiñones leg. (MNHNCu). Pinar del Río: 1♂, Guanahacabibes, El Veral (21°58’N, 84°32’W), November 1981, L.R. Hernández leg. (MNHNCu). Camaguey: 1♂, 1♀, 1 juv., Sierra de Cubitas, Limones-Tuabaquey Ecological Reserve (21°34’N, 77°45’W), March - April 2012, Team CarBio leg. (USNM). Granma: 1♂, 2♀, Niquero, Monte Gordo (20°35’N, 77°50’W), 28 November 1987, A.R. Estrada leg. (MNHNCu); 1♀, Río Canto, El Mango (20°33’N, 77°12’W), 23 April 2003, A. Sanchez leg. (MNHNCu). Holguín: 1♂, 1♀, Pinares de Mayari (20°32’N, 75°28’W), 25 April 1997, A. Sánchez leg. (MNHNCu). Santiago de Cuba: 3♀, Soledad (20°25’N, 75°27’W), 8 August 1931, L.G. Worley leg. (MCZ 60773).
Diagnosis. Distinguished from the remaining species of the genus by the male palp with mRTA short and truncated with five short distal spines and four slightly longer spines along the lateral margin and by dRTA absent (Figs 16−17). The females resemble those of D. variabilis (F.O. Pickard Cambridge) by the epigyne lacking triangular projections in the lateral lobes (Figs 19, 41) but are distinguished by the oval, median septum wider than long and by the touching part of lateral lobes as long as median septum length (Fig. 19).
Redescription. Male (AMNH, Everglades National Park, Florida): Prosoma orange with slightly darker margins. Chelicerae, legs and pedipalps orange, slightly darker than prosoma. Sternum pale orange with darker sclerotized margins. Labium and endites pale orange. Opisthosoma cream colored (Fig. 1). Total length 9.4. Prosoma: 4.6 long, 3.9 wide. Opisthosoma: 4.9 long, 3.4 wide. Eyes: diameters: 0.28, 0.22, 0.14, 0.22; interdistances: 0.16, 0.14, 0.34, 0.38, 0.20, 0.12. Legs (2-1-4-3): I: 16.0 (4.5, 2.2, 4.2, 4.2, 0.90); II: 16.5 (4.8, 2.4, 4.2, 4.2, 0.9); III: 13.0 (4.0, 1.9, 3.0, 3.3, 0.8); IV: 15.6 (4.6, 1.7, 3.7, 4.6, 1.0). Leg and palp spination follow the generic pattern, except leg femur IV: r0-1-1. Palp: tibia short with one prolateral spine; PTP long and cylindrical; TBC slightly triangular and distally indented, TBE triangular (Figs 15−17).
Female (AMNH, South Bimini, Bahamas): Coloration pattern as in male, except opisthosoma, dorsally variegated brown and ventrally mottled with brown spots (Fig. 2). Total length 9.7. Prosoma: 4.2 long, 3.6 wide. Opisthosoma: 5.5 long, 3.5 wide. Eyes: diameters: 0.24, 0.24, 0.16, 0.18; interdistances: 0.20, 0.18, 0.36, 0.44, 0.20, 0.14. Legs (4-2/1-3): I: 11.8 (3.4, 2.0, 2.9, 2.7, 0.8); II: 11.8 (3.5, 2.0, 2.8, 2.7, 0.8); III: 9.6 (3.0, 1.7, 2.0, 2.2, 0.7); IV: 11.9 (3.5, 1.6, 2.7, 3.2, 0.9). Leg and palp spination follow the generic pattern. Epigynum: median septum oval, wider than long (Fig. 19). Vulva: blind-ended projection closer to antero-posterior loop than to copulation openings; fertilization ducts curved posteriorly and pointing away from each other (Figs 20−21).
Variation. Coloration in males can be darker, ranging from reddish-brown to brown. Males (n = 10): total length 7.5–10.0; prosoma length 3.6–4.8; femur I length 3.7–5.10. Females (n = 7): total length 6.6–10.2; prosoma length 3.6–4.3; femur I length 3.1–3.4.
Distribution. Known from Central and Southern Florida, United States to Cuba (Fig. 44).
description: Published as part of Rheims, Cristina Anne & Alayón, Giraldo, 2014, The huntsman genus Decaphora Franganillo, 1931 (Araneae: Sparassidae: Sparianthinae), pp. 79-93 in Zootaxa 3815 (1) on pages 83-86, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3815.1.5, http://zenodo.org/record/286265