Loureedia colleni Henriques, Miaeano and Perez-Zarcos 2018
Creators: name: Szűts, Tamás
name: Szabó, Krisztián
name: Zamani, Alireza
name: Forman, Martin
name: Miller, Jeremy
name: Oger, Pierre
name: Fabregat, Magali
name: Kovács, Gábor
name: Gál, János
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Araneae
Eresidae
Loureedia
Loureedia colleni

description: Loureedia colleni Henriques, Miaeano and Pérez-Zarcos, 2018.
Figures 1E, 2A, 4E, 5, 6F, 7F, 8F, 10 and 15.
Loureedia colleni Henriques, Miaeano and Pérez-Zarcos in Henriques et al., 2018: 8, Figs 3, 4–8a–c, 9a–d, 13b and S–S 12 (♂♀) [3] (original description).
Loureedia colleni: Zamani and Marusik 2020: 242, Fig 3i (♂) [6].
Type material. Holotype: male (MNCN), SPAIN: Andalucía: Granada province, 820 m a.s.l., 10.X.2010 (leg. Carlos Jerez del Valle) (not examined).
Other examined material. Two males and one female (HNHM 9207, 9209, and 9215), SPAIN: Andalucía: Almería Province, Sierra de Gádor, Vícar, 36 ◦ 49 Į 03.0 ĮĮ N, 2 ◦ 39 Į 14.1 ĮĮ W, 820 m a.s.l., 10.IX. 2017 (leg. Magali Fabregat).
Diagnosis. This species differs from all of its congeners by the black-and-white coloration pattern of the male (Figures 1E and 2A) vs. having yellowish to scarlet red abdominal patterns (see Figures 1A–D and 2B–F). The male palp of L. colleni (Figures 4F, 6F, 7F and 8F) is most similar to that of L. annulipes (Figure 4C), as the prolateral arm of the conductor is much shorter than the retrolateral arm (Figure 4F), which bears a gradual curvature (7F). The male of L. colleni can be diagnosed by the narrower stem of the conductor (Figure 6F), with an almost straight mesal margin (Figure 4F). The female can be recognized by an epigynal fovea that is longer than it is wide (see Henriques et al. [3]: Fig 8a).
Description. Male. Habitus as in Figures 1E and 2A. Total length: 6.43. Carapace: 3.35 long and 2.84 wide. Abdomen: 3.19 long and 2.55 wide. Eye sizes and inter-eye distances: AME 0.14, PME 0.16, ALE 0.04, PLE 0.08, AME–AME 0.30, and ALE–AME 0.76. The carapace, sternum, labium, chelicerae, and maxillae black. Carapace mostly covered with long black setae and scattered shorter white setae. White setae localized densely on the pars thoracica and form a triangle on the pars cephalica (Figure 1E). Legs covered with thick white hairs. Abdomen velvet black with a longitudinal median white foliate pattern bearing a distinct mediolateral lobe; the most anterior part of the folium merging and forming a distinct white spot. Measurements of legs: I: 7.15 (2.07, 1.16, 1.45, 1.43, 1.01); II: 6.33 (1.94, 1.19, 1.18, 1.22, 0.78); III: 5.44 (1.85, 0.80, 1.08, 1.01, 0.68); IV: 7.29 (2.32, 1.28, 1.56, 1.39, 0.71).
Palp as in Figures 4F, 6F, 7F and 8F. The stem of the conductor ca. 1.5 times longer than wide. The mesal margin of the conductor almost straight, and the ectal margin with an apical invagination. The retrolateral arm of the conductor ca. 2.5 times longer than the prolateral arm, and both arms with blunt tips.
Female. See Henriques et al. [3].
Variation. A wide array of abdominal pattern variations has already been illustrated [3]. The highest amount of variation occurs in the white foliate pattern, which may either be solid or form two large separate patches. Here, we examined two distinct color pattern forms (Figure 15A,B). Minor variations also occur on the male palp; these are considered intraspecific variations, as the COI sequences of the two males were identical, whereas they were slightly different (99.965% similarity) from that of the female.
Natural history. The species’ habitat preference has already been described [3]. The examined specimens were collected on a hillside with south and south-east exposure in a semi-arid open area (Figure 9D) with short, sparse vegetation. The vegetation in this area mainly consists of degraded bushes, tufts of thyme, thorny broom, Launaea arborescens, and Ononis natrix hispanica. The soil is mainly puddingstone, made up of the Alpujarride complex and Baetic/Penibaetic cordillera, covered with small flat stones.
Several webs have been observed in multiple similar biotopes in Andalusia. This singular web pattern turned out to be common, and adult and juvenile specimens both constructed it (including those who were kept alive in captivity). The very discreet webs are located under small stones on the ground. This structure provides the spider with protection against the elements: mainly intense heat but also wind and rare precipitation. Hunting canopies are very short and simple compared to those woven by species of Eresus. The details of a retreat are illustrated in Figure 10A–E. Sectional views of the canvas and lodge assembly (between the stone and the ground) are depicted in Figure 10A,B. The main lodge, located below the surface of the stone, is the main living space. Females have been observed in captivity to consume their prey and sometimes molt or copulate (sharing this lodge with the male) in this area. Hunting behavior is mainly sit-and-wait. Vibration is received from the external radial silk lines. The periphery of this lodge consists of dense cribellate silk, mixed with small pieces of agglomerated soil, anchored both to the ground and under the stone. From the main lodge, two separate exits with two capture canopies exist. The silk retreat is covered with a trapdoor-like hatch made of thick cribellate silk with soil particles in it (Figure 10C–E).
Phenology. Males are active during February–November.
Distribution. Spain (Albacete, Alicante, Almería, Ciudad Real, Granada, Madrid, and Murcia provinces) (see Figure 5).
description: Published as part of Szűts, Tamás, Szabó, Krisztián, Zamani, Alireza, Forman, Martin, Miller, Jeremy, Oger, Pierre, Fabregat, Magali, Kovács, Gábor & Gál, János, 2023, A Study in Scarlet: Integrative Taxonomy of the Spider Genus Loureedia (Araneae: Eresidae), pp. 1-26 in Diversity (238) (238) 15 (2) on pages 12-14, DOI: 10.3390/d15020238, http://zenodo.org/record/7630144