Flavarchaea humboldti Rix & Harvey, 2010, n. sp.
Creators: name: Rix, Michael G.
name: Harvey, Mark S.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2010
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Araneae
Pararchaeidae
Flavarchaea
Flavarchaea humboldti

description: Flavarchaea humboldti n. sp.
Figs 1–11
Type material. NOUVELLE CALÉDONIE: Province Sud: holotype female, Mont Humboldt, 21º53’S, 166º24’E, 1400 m, pyrethrum fogging trees and logs in moss forest, 6–7 November 2002, G. Monteith, C. Burwell (MNHN). Paratypes: 2 females, same data as holotype (QMB S88155); 1 female, same data as holotype (WAM T99064).
Etymology. The specific epithet is a patronym in honour of the German naturalist, geologist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt (1769–1859) – one of the founding figures of modern geography – after whom the type locality of ‘Mont Humboldt’ is named.
Phylogenetic affinities. Although male specimens are required to definitively diagnose the pararchaeid genera (Rix 2006), this species is extremely similar to Australian species of Flavarchaea (e.g. F. anzac Rix, 2006) in possessing numerous rows of setae on the dorsal pars cephalica (Figs 1, 3), receptacula with ‘noselike’ inner lobes (Figs 9–10), a row of curved, peg-like setae on femur I (e.g. see Fig. 31), and a uniformly pale body colouration (Figs 1–8).
Diagnosis. Females of Flavarchaea humboldti n. sp. can be distinguished from all described Australian species of Flavarchaea by the profile of the external epigyne (Fig. 8) and the shape of the receptacula, which are strongly arched and bear oval, anteriorly-directed, ‘nose-like’ inner lobes (Figs 9–10) (see also Rix 2006, figs 58–64, for a comparison with other described species). Males are unknown.
Description. Female (holotype): Dimensions: total length 2.11; carapace 0.85 long, 0.52 wide; abdomen 1.31 long, 1.07 wide; leg I femur 0.52 long. Colour: carapace, chelicerae, sternum dark tan-yellow; legs dark tan-yellow with lighter cream patellae and distal tibiae; abdomen cream with light brown sigillae and setal sclerotic spots. Carapace: rhomboidal in lateral profile, with pars cephalica steeply elevated anterior to coxa III; dorsal surface of pars cephalica convex, sloping down to anterior median eyes from posterior margin (Fig. 5); numerous curved setae present on dorsal pars cephalica and around eyes and clypeus (Fig. 3). Eyes: eight present on antero-dorsal aspect of pars cephalica; AME, lateral eyes paired; PME separated by slightly more than twice their own diameter (Figs 1, 3). Sternum: longer than wide, posteriorly obtuse (Fig. 4); fused to lateral margins of carapace around petiole and anterior to coxa III, IV. Labium: wider than long, fused to anterior margin of sternum; not rebordered. Maxillae: directed across labium, distally convergent; serrula a single row of teeth. Chelicerae: rectangular, 2x longer than wide, constricted proximally (Fig. 6), protruding from oval foramen in cephalothorax, with pronounced keel extending along pro-ventral margin; peg tooth group A (PTA) with five peg teeth adjacent to fang; peg tooth group B (PTB) with three peg teeth near tip of fang; peg tooth group C (PTC) with three larger peg teeth on pro-dorsal margin adjacent to PTB; paturon also with numerous moveable setae on ventral surface. Abdomen: globose, broadly oval in dorsal profile, with two pairs of sigillae dorsally and ventrally (Figs 1–2); two, small, square post-epigastric sclerites situated slightly posterior to epigastric furrow (Figs 7–8). Spinnerets: six, posterior to colulus; surrounded dorsally and ventrally by separate, weakly sclerotised strips; posterior tracheal spiracle surrounded by small, oval sclerite. Legs: leg formula IV, I, II, III; short (leg I femur-carapace ratio 0.61), three-clawed, covered in short setae; retrolateral femur I with proximal, dorsally-curved row of five stout, peg-like setae; tibiae each with two long trichobothria; metatarsi each with single trichobothrium; tarsal organ capsulate. Pedipalp: five-segmented, without claw; tibia with single trichobothrium. Epigyne: entelegyne, relatively small, only slightly broader than petiole (Figs 8–10); receptacula ‘comma-shaped’, strongly arched, with complex internal chambers; each receptaculum with bulbous distal portion bearing oval, anteriorly-directed, ‘nose-like’ inner lobe (Figs 9–10); fertilisation ducts short, strongly-curved (Fig. 10).
Male: Unknown.
Distribution and habitat. This species is known only from montane rainforest near the summit of Mont Humboldt, 46 km north of Nouméa, New Caledonia (Fig. 11). The type specimens were collected by pyrethrum fogging trees and logs in a moss forest at 1400 m altitude.
description: Published as part of Rix, Michael G. & Harvey, Mark S., 2010, The first pararchaeid spider (Araneae: Pararchaeidae) from New Caledonia, with a discussion on spinneret spigots and egg sac morphology in Ozarchaea, pp. 27-40 in Zootaxa 2414 on pages 28-31, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.194372