Amblyothele Simon 1910
Creators: name: Russell-Smith, Tony
name: Jocqué, Rudy
name: Alderweireldt, Mark
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2009
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Araneae
Lycosidae
Amblyothele

description: <i>Amblyothele</i> Simon, 1910 <i>Amblyothele</i> Simon, 1910. <b>Type species</b>, <i>Amblyothele albocincta</i> Simon, 1910, by original designation. Small wolf spiders (males 3.08-4.17, females 3.33-5.17) without pronounced carapace pattern, sometimes with pale median band and darker striae radiating from fovea (Fig. 1). Anterior eye row (Fig. 2) usually either straight or, more often, recurved, with AME ranging in size from equal to twice diameter of ALE. PME 1.40- 2.25 times diameter apart; PLE 0.66-0.86 times diameter of ALE. Eye region normally suffused with black. Chelicerae pale, mottled or streaked with grey, clothed in long dark setae; posterior margin with two teeth, proximal one normally larger, anterior margin normally with three minute teeth with middle one largest although in some species anterior margin lacks teeth altogether. Labia and maxillae coloured as chelicerae with maxillae 1.75 to 2.0 times longer than labium. Sternum pale, scutiform, moderately to strongly produced between hind coxae, with scattering of dark setae. Legs pale yellow to pale brown, clothed in short adpressed setae, noticeably longer and thinner than those of all other well-characterised piratine genera, with length/width ratio of femur I ranging from 5.60 to 10.50. Leg IV 1.25-1.35 times length of leg I. Ventral spines of leg I normally with three pairs on tibia and three on metatarsus, distal pairs normally reduced in size. All leg spines long, thin and pale. Tarsi with three claws (Fig. 9); paired claws with two to five long thin teeth and few tiny ones at base; unpaired claw small on raised pad, with four or five small teeth, having two long serrated bristles adjacent. Tarsal organ with keyhole shaped aperture (Fig. 8). Abdomen pale yellow to brown, sometimes suffused with grey and usually with paler dorsal folium (Fig. 1). Type species, <i>A. albocincta</i>, with row of four paired pale white spots on dorsal surface. Abdomen of males without dorsal scutum. Dorsal surface sometimes clothed in dark hairs. Ventrally pale yellow to white. Spinnerets long, ALS twice length of AMS, clearly 3 segmented (Figs 1, 4, 5). Dorsally pale to dark brown or grey, ventrally pale white or cream. ALS in female with two major ampullate gland spigots near median margin, surrounded by numerous piriform gland spigots. PLS with numerous aciniform gland spigots. Male palp longer and narrower than that of most piratine genera and cymbium without terminal claws. MA located distally on bulb, very large U or C-shaped sclerite with two branches (Figs 6, 7, 10, 14); larger, anterior branch directed antero-mesally, blade-shaped. Smaller posterior branch directed anteriorly, variable in shape: blunt lobe with rounded tip in <i>A. albocincta</i>, abruptly truncate in <i>A. togona</i> and <i>A. longipes</i>, pointed barb in <i>A. hamatula</i>. Course of E almost totally obscured by MA in unexpanded palp (Figs 6, 7) with only very tip visible near base of MA in <i>A. albocincta, A. latedissipata</i> and <i>A. togona.</i> Sub-tegulum relatively large in most species, occupying from quarter to third of surface of bulb, but reduced in size in <i>A. hamatula</i>. Female epigyne resembling that of other piratine genera in being simple plate (Fig. 3), often obscured by densely packed, long, barbed setae. Epigynal plate suboval in shape, shallowly (<i>A. latedissipata</i>) to deeply (<i>A. togona</i>) notched on posterior border. Spermathecae and their ducts visible to greater or lesser extent through lateral margins of epigynal plate. Viewed internally, genital openings visible to either side of central notch on posterior margin of epigyne with spermathecal ducts extending anteriorly, either straight or curving mesally. Spermathecae relatively small, either spherical or pyriform. With two small laterally-oriented glands at base of spermathecal ducts, near the posterior margin of the epigynal plate; gland ducts connect to spermathecal ducts. <b>Diagnosis of <i>Amblyothele</i> Simon, 1910</b> <i>Pirata</i>, the nominate genus of the subfamily, is distributed throughout the world with the exception of SE Asia(?), Australia and the Pacific region. The tegular apophysis in <i>Pirata</i> varies widely in form (see, for example Almquist (2005) for European species, Tanaka (1988) for those of Japan and Wallace (1978) for Nearctic species). The tegular apophysis in <i>Amblyothele</i> resembles that of some species of <i>Pirata</i> (e.g., <i>P. latitans</i> (Blackwall, 1841), <i>P. insularis</i> Emerton, 1885, <i>Pirata uliginosus</i> (Thorell, 1856) and among European species (see Almquist 2005, figs. 236 a-h, 237 a-e) but not that of the type species, <i>P. piraticus</i> (Clerck, 1757). The epigynes of <i>Amblyothele</i> species also resemble those of <i>Pirata</i> species but in several species have a conspicuous notch on the posterior margin. Despite the similarity of the male palp in at least some <i>Pirata</i> species and <i>Amblyothele</i>, the two genera differ significantly in somatic characters. The legs of <i>Amblyothele</i> are much longer and thinner than those of <i>Pirata</i> species with the length/width ratio of Femur I of three <i>Pirata</i> species ranging from 3.21 to 3.33 and that for three <i>Amblyothele</i> species from 5.67 to 10.45. Furthermore, the legs of <i>Pirata</i> species are more or less densely clothed in semi-erect setae while those of <i>Amblyothele</i> species have only a sparse clothing of short, adpressed setae. Overall, most <i>Amblyothele</i> species are smaller than <i>Pirata</i> species although the smallest <i>Pirata</i> (e.g. <i>P. latitans</i>) overlap in size with the largest <i>Amblyothele</i>. In the palp of the genera <i>Proevippa</i>, <i>Trabea</i> and <i>Pterartoria</i>, the basal part of the tegulum bears one or more, more or less translucent, poorly sclerotised membranous extensions (see Fig. 10b in Russell-Smith 1981 and Fig. 1a in Russell-Smith 1982) which are lacking in <i>Amblyothele.</i> Furthermore, the terminal apophysis in <i>Proevippa</i> Purcell, 1903 and <i>Trabea</i> Simon, 1876 is much larger than that in <i>Amblyothele</i> and has a characteristic tongue-shaped form with a sharply reflexed distal portion (Russell-Smith 1981, 1982).
description: Published as part of <i>Russell-Smith, Tony, Jocqué, Rudy &amp; Alderweireldt, Mark, 2009, A revision of the African wolf spider genus Amblyothele Simon, pp. 149-180 in ZooKeys 16 (16)</i> on pages 151-154, DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.16.233, http://zenodo.org/record/576480
description: {"references": ["Simon E (1910) Arachnoidea. Araneae (ii). In Schultze L. Zoologische und anthropologische Ergebnisse einer Forschungsreise im Westlichen und zentralen Sudafrika. Denkschrifte der medicinisch-naturwissenschaftichen Gesellschaft zu Jena 16: 175 - 218.", "Almquist S (2005) Swedish Araneae, part 1, families Atypidae to Hahniidae. Insect Systematics and Evolution. Suppl. 62: 1 - 284.", "Tanaka H (1988) Lycosid spiders of Japan. I. The genus Pirata Sundevall. Acta Arachnologia 36: 33 - 77.", "Wallace HK, Exline H (1978) Spiders of the genus Pirata in North America, Central America and the West Indies (Araneae: Lycosidae). Journal of Arachnology 5: 1 - 112.", "Russell-Smith A (1981) A revision of the genus Chaleposa Simon (Araneae: Lycosidae). Journal of Natural History 15: 223 - 244.", "Russell-Smith A (1982) A revision of the genus Trabaea Simon (Araneae: Lycosidae). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 74: 69 - 91."]}