Filistata betarif Magalhaes & Aharon & Ganem & Gavish-Regev 2022, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Magalhaes, Ivan L. F.
name: Aharon, Shlomi
name: Ganem, Zeana
name: Gavish-Regev, Efrat
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2022
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Araneae
Filistatidae
Filistata
Filistata betarif

description: Filistata betarif sp. nov.
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 86B4AAD0-D69E-4C79-BF3F-DE5E7DC0EDB1
Figs 1, 3E–F, H, 5A, C, E, 7–9
Filistata IFMsp142 – Magalhaes & Ramírez in press: 11, 13, 16.
Diagnosis
Males are similar to those of F. insidiatrix and F. albens by having a pedipalp with elongate femur and tibia, and by a subconical copulatory bulb with terminally hooked embolus (Fig. 8A–B; see also Zonstein & Marusik 2019: fig. 27). They differ from both species by the conspicuous embolic keel (Fig. 8F (arrow), 5A, k) (inconspicuous keel in F. insidiatrix and F. albens; Figs 5B, 10O). Females have a pair of large spermathecae that appear undivided (Fig. 9); they fall within the morphological variation observed for F. insidiatrix (Fig. 3C–D; Zonstein & Marusik 2019: fig. 17d–h) and thus females are not diagnosable through morphology only; they can be diagnosed using DNA barcoding of the COI gene.
Etymology
The specific epithet is a noun in apposition and refers to Bet ‘Arif, the name of the ‘ wadi ’ (dry riverbed) in which the two caves where the species was collected (Tinshemet and Oah) are located.
Type material examined
Holotype ISRAEL • 1 ♂; Judean hills, near Shoham, Hadom Shomeron Nature Reserve; Bet ‘Arif wadi, Tinshemet cave, inside cave; 31.99938° N, 34.96813° E; 122 m. a.s.l.; 20 Feb. 2020; I.L.F. Magalhaes, E. Gavish- Regev and S. Aharon leg.; HUJ-INVAr 21058.
Paratypes ISRAEL • 1 ♀; Judean hills, near Shoham, Hadom Shomeron Nature Reserve; Bet ‘Arif wadi, Oah cave, inside cave; 32.0053° N, 34.9722° E; 25 May 2014; S. Aharon and E. Gavish-Regev leg.; HUJ-INVAr 21055 • 2 ♀♀; same locality as for preceding; 9 Mar. 2014; S. Aharon and E. Gavish-Regev leg.; HUJ- INVAr 21059 • 1 ♂, 6 ♀♀; Judean hills, near Shoham, Hadom Shomeron Nature Reserve, Bet ‘Arif wadi, Tinshemet cave, inside cave; 31.99938° N, 34.96813° E, 122 m. a.s.l.; 20 Feb. 2020; I.L.F. Magalhaes, E. Gavish-Regev and S. Aharon leg.; MACN-Ar 41222 • 2 ♂♂, 3 ♀♀, 2 imm.; same collection data as for preceding; HUJ-INVAr 20275 • 4 ♀♀, 1 imm.; same collection data as for preceding; MACN-Ar 41791 • 1 ♂; same collection data as for preceding; MACN-Ar 41793 • 2 imm.; same locality as for preceding, Mediterranean scrubland, outside the cave, under stones; 20 Feb. 2020; I.L.F. Magalhaes, E. Gavish-Regev and S. Aharon leg.; MACN-Ar 41829 • 1 ♀; same locality as for preceding; Mediterranean scrubland, outside the cave; 31.9994° N, 34.9681° E; 25 May 2014; S. Aharon and E. Gavish-Regev leg.; HUJ-INVAr 21056 • 7 ♀♀; same locality as for preceding; inside cave; 31.99938° N, 34.96813° E; 25 May 2014; S. Aharon and E. Gavish-Regev leg.; HUJ-INVAr 20301 • 1 ♀; same collection data as for preceding; HUJ-INVAr 21057 • 3 imm; same locality as for preceding; 9 Mar. 2014; S. Aharon and E. Gavish-Regev leg.; HUJ-INVAr 21060.
Additional material examined
None.
Description
Male (holotype, HUJ-INVAr 21058)
Coloration yellowish cream except where noted. Carapace lined with black pigment, with marbled brown clypeal markings and brown, V-shaped median pattern. Legs I–III with three brown ventral spots. Abdomen brownish gray. Anterior margin of the carapace unmodified, eye apodemes absent. Sternum subrounded, sigilla not visible. Total length 5.25. Carapace length 2.38, width 1.88. Clypeus length 0.28. Eye diameters and interdistances: AME 0.14, PME 0.15, ALE 0.20, PLE 0.18, AME–AME 0.06, PME– PME 0.14. Sternum length 1.26, width 1.05. Pedipalp: femur length 2.34, height 0.30, tibia length 2.10, height 0.34. Leg I: 14.88 (3.82, 1.09, 3.94, 3.91, 2.12). II: 11.29 (3.05, 0.94, 2.78, 3.17, 1.35). III: 10.23 (2.70, 0.84, 2.52, 2.91, 1.26). IV: 12.52 (3.57, 0.90, 3.28, 3.44, 1.33). Abdomen: length 2.97, width 1.72. Pedipalp macrosetae on ventral surface of femur. Leg macrosetae: fe I d1-0-0, dp0-0-2, ti I v0-2-2-2, mt I v2-2-2-4, fe II d1-1-0, dp0-0-2, ti II v0-2-2, mt II v2-2-4, fe III d1-0-0, dp0-0-1, dr0-0-2, ti III d1-2-2, v1-1, mt III dr0-0-1, v1-2-2-4, fe IV d1-1-0, dr0-0-2, ti IV v1-1, mt IV v1-1-2-4, all tarsi with ventral macrosetae. Pedipalp as in diagnosis (Figs 5A, C, E, 8A–G). State of the specimen: good, right leg I removed for molecular analysis, left pedipalp dissected.
Female (paratype, MACN-Ar 41222)
Coloration as in male. Eye apodemes absent. Sternum subrounded, with one pair of posterior sigilla. Total length 7.76. Carapace length 3.17, width 2.51. Clypeus length 0.40. Eye diameters and interdistances: AME 0.14, PME 0.19, ALE 0.27, PLE 0.23, AME–AME 0.04, PME–PME 0.23. Sternum length 1.64, width 1.50. Pedipalp: femur length 1.70, height 0.67, tibia length 1.06, height 0.65. Leg I: 13.60 (3.66, 1.37, 3.49, 3.23, 1.85). II: 9.66 (2.84, 1.13, 2.26, 2.16, 1.27). III: 7.82 (2.34, 1.03, 1.66, 1.64, 1.15). IV: 10.54 (3.30, 1.25, 2.64, 2.27, 1.08). Abdomen: length 4.67, width 3.08. Palpal macrosetae on ventral surface of tibia and tarsus. Leg macrosetae: fe I d1-0-0, ti I v0-2-0, mt I v2-2-2-4, fe II d1-0-0, ti II v0- 2-0, mt II v2-2-2-4, fe III d1-0-0, ti III d0-2-0, v0-1-2, mt III dr1-1-1, v1-2-2-4, fe IV d1-0-0, ti IV v1-1, mt IV v1-1-1-4, all tarsi with ventral macrosetae. Calamistrum with three staggered rows with <6 setae; calamistrum gap present. Epigastric furrow unmodified. Endogyne of females from the same locality as in the diagnosis (Fig. 9). State of the specimen: good.
Variation
Males (N = 3): total length 4.89–5.67 (5.27), carapace length 2.25–2.78 (2.47), femur I length 3.62–4.04 (3.83), femur/carapace ratio 1.45–1.61 (1.56). Females (N = 5): total length 6.47–8.95 (7.79), carapace length 3.17–3.98 (3.57), femur I length 3.5–4.18 (3.86), femur/carapace ratio 1.01–1.15 (1.08). The shape of the spermathecae varies only slightly among the dissected females.
Natural history
Filistata betarif sp. nov. is a troglophilic species, inhabiting both epigean and hypogean (caves) habitats. It is known from the mesic Mediterranean region of Israel, in scrubland habitats, and usually hides in a refugium made of cribellate silk in crevices, holes or under stones and on rocky walls (Fig. 1A–B). All specimens were collected from Bet ‘Arif wadi near Shoham, Hadom Shomeron Nature Reserve, central Israel. The species was found in low abundances outside of caves (Fig. 1D) and in very high abundances, year-around, in Tinshemet cave that is characterized by a high guano amount of the Egyptian fruit bat [Rousettus aegyptiacus (Geoffroy, 1810)]. Tinshemet (Arabic name: Mugharet al-Watwat) is a small to medium-sized Paleolithic cave, formed in a limestone rock of the Turonian Bina formation. It is located on the east bank of Bet ‘Arif wadi (Arabic name: Wadi Adasiyeh), 95 meters a.s.l. and 15 meters above the wadi (Frumkin et al. 2016). It has a main opening on the side of the cliff, and an additional chimney opening, which the frugivorous bats frequently use (personal observation). Filistata betarif sp. nov. was also found in lower abundances in the nearby Oah cave that houses no bats (Cuff et al. 2021; Gavish- Regev et al. 2021). Oah is a small cave, situated on the same east bank of Bet ‘Arif wadi, north to Tinshemet cave, and is formed in a similar rock and age (Boaz Langford, pers. comm.).
In both caves, Filistata betarif sp. nov. was found mainly at the entrance zones, on the cave walls (Fig. 1A–B). Other caves surveyed by us, at the mesic Mediterranean, semi-arid, and arid regions of Israel and Palestine, were not found to be occupied by F. betarif sp. nov., but instead by its sibling troglophilic species F. insidiatrix [Berniki, Yir’on, Yonim (Galilee); Ezba’, Oren (Karmel); Sal’it (northern Samaria); Andartat HaBiqa’ (central Jordan Valley); Perat (northern Judean desert); Qumeran (northern Dead-Sea area)] (Cuff et al. 2021; Gavish-Regev et al. 2021).
Distribution
Known only from two caves and under stones in their surroundings in Bet ‘Arif wadi, Hadom Shomeron Nature Reserve, central Israel (Fig. 4).
description: Published as part of Magalhaes, Ivan L. F., Aharon, Shlomi, Ganem, Zeana & Gavish-Regev, Efrat, 2022, A new semi-cryptic Filistata from caves in the Levant with comments on the limits of Filistata insidiatrix (Forsskål, 1775) (Arachnida: Araneae: Filistatidae), pp. 149-174 in European Journal of Taxonomy 831 on pages 161-167, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2022.831.1875, http://zenodo.org/record/6916932