Megalostrata pacifica Bonaldo & Galán-Sanchez & García 2024, spec. nov.
Creators: name: Bonaldo, Alexandre B.
name: Galán-Sanchez, M. Antonio
name: García, Fabián
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Araneae
Corinnidae
Megalostrata
Megalostrata pacifica

description: Megalostrata pacifica spec. nov.
Figs 7–9
Type material. Holotype ♀: COSTA RICA: Heredia: Finca la Selva, 3 km SE Puerto Viejo de Sarapiguí, understory of primary wet forest [10°26’04.7”N 84°01’00.6”W, 100m a.s.l.], leg. C.E. Griswold, 5–10.IX.1981 (CAS 9036847).
Etymology. The specific name is a Latin adjective meaning peaceful, highlighting the fact that Costa Rica does not currently have a standing army.
Diagnosis. Females of M. pacifica spec. nov. are similar to those of M. raptor and M. depicta by the elongated, tube-shaped secondary spermathecae but can be readily distinguished from those of both species by the secondary spermathecae oriented longitudinally (Figs 8A, B, 9A–D) (oriented obliquely in M. raptor and M. depicta, Figs 5A, B; Bonaldo 2000: figs 308, 309). The M-shaped posterior plate excavation (Figs 8C, 9E, F) is also diagnostic.
Description. Male: Unknown. Female (holotype). Carapace yellowish-orange, with reddish-brown marginal stripes with triangular expansions at the level of intercoxal spaces, paramedian stripes reddish-brown, cephalic region with two faint additional reddish-brown stripes, fovea reddish-brown. Chelicerae and endites yellowish-orange, labium reddish-brown. Sternum yellowish, with round setal bases. Legs yellowish-orange, femora darker. Abdomen dorsum yellowish-white, with narrow dark continuous stripes in median area. Total length 9.727. Carapace 3.896 long, 3.040 wide. Clypeus height 0.120. Eye diameters: AME 0.272, ALE 0.194, PME 0.196, PLE 0.158. Interocular distances: AME-AME 0.228, AME-ALE 0.112, PME-PME 0.273, PME-PLE: 0.284 ALE-PLE 0.095. Chelicera 1.746 long, 0.854 wide, with two promarginal and three retromarginal teeth. Sternum 1.901 long, 2.025 wide. Leg measurements: I—3.773, 1.576, 4.190, 3.558, 1.688, 14.785; II—3.812, 1.553, 3.883, 2.880, 1.285, 13.413; III—3.604, 1.392, 3.207, 3.640, 1.504, 13.347; IV—3.800, 1.241, 3.774, 3.532, 1.541, 13.888. Leg spination: I—femur d1-1-2, p0-1-1; tibia p1-1, r1-1; metatarsus v1-1-1-1. II—femur d1-2-1; tibia p1-1, r1- 1; metatarsus v1-2-1-1-1. III—femur d1-1-1, p0-1-1; tibia p1-1; metatarsus d2-2-2, v1-1-1, p1-1-1, r1-1-1. IV— femur v0, d2-2-1-1, r1-1; tibia p1-1, r1-1; metatarsus d2-2-1, r1-1. Abdomen 5.826 long, 3.134 wide. Epigynum. Epigynal plate oval, anterior portion convex, posterior atrium undifferentiated, transversal anterior ridge absent; posterior margin of epigynal plate with median triangular projection; margin of posterior plate excavation Mshaped in posterior view; copulatory openings large, exposed on epigynal plate surface. Copulatory ducts short, straight, oriented longitudinally; secondary spermathecae elongated, tube-shaped, oriented longitudinally; primary spermathecae reniform, positioned at level of copulatory openings, diameter larger than atrium height; fertilization ducts directed posteriorly (Figs 8, 9).
Distribution. Only known from the type locality (Fig. 25).
description: Published as part of Bonaldo, Alexandre B., Galán-Sanchez, M. Antonio & García, Fabián, 2024, Advances on the taxonomy of Megalostrata Karsch, 1880 (Araneae, Corinnidae, Corinninae), with descriptions of two new species, pp. 495-523 in Zootaxa 5458 (4) on pages 505-507, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5458.4.2, http://zenodo.org/record/11547908