Corresponding author: Charles R. Haddad (
Academic editor: Jeremy Miller
The purse-web spider genus
The spider family Atypidae includes a small group of distinctive Mygalomorpha, commonly known as purse-web spiders. Presently it comprises three genera,
Atypidae represents an ancient branch of the Mygalomorpha, with morphological and molecular phylogenetic analyses placing the family basally in the suborder, sister to the Antrodiaetidae in the clade Atypoidina = Atypoidea (
The Atypidae, with a residual dorsal abdominal scutum in males, can be characterised by (
While the taxonomy of the Atypidae of North America (
Until now,
In this paper the
All spiders were studied under an Olympus SZX10 stereomicroscope under 10× magnification. Measurements (body and legs) were taken with a measuring eyepiece and are given in millimetres (mm). The proportional indices used follow
Material of male specimens of
Digital photographs of the dorsal habitus of a
abdomen length
anterior lateral spinneret(s)
American Museum of Natural History (New York, U.S.A.)
abdomen width
BritishNatural History Museum (London, U.K.)
carapace length
carapace width
Royal Museum for Central Africa (Tervuren, Belgium)
National Collection of Arachnida, Plant Protection Research Institute (Pretoria, South Africa)
National Museum (Bloemfontein, South Africa)
Natal Museum (Pietermaritzburg, South Africa)
posterior lateral spinneret(s)
posterior median spinneret(s)
University of the Free State (Bloemfontein, South Africa)
total length
Ditsong National Museum of Natural History (Pretoria, South Africa)
National Museum of Natural History (Washington D.C., U.S.A.)
Medium to large sexually dimorphic spiders (
Dorsal habitus of Afrotropical
Somatic morphology of
Scanning electron micrographs of
Scanning electron micrographs of
Scanning electron micrographs of
[females of
1 | Females | 2 |
– | Males | 3 |
2 | Chelicerae with a single row of teeth along promargin running from fang base close to cheliceral base ( |
|
– | Chelicerae with an additional row of 2–4 teeth along promargin placed close to fang base, prolateral of main teeth row ( |
|
3 | CL subequal to CW | 4 |
– | Carapace clearly longer than wide, CL>1.15CW | 5 |
4 | Embolus and conductor in ventral view directed obliquely and retrolaterally towards endites ( |
|
– | Embolus and conductor in ventral view directed obliquely and retrolaterally towards distal end of chelicerae ( |
|
5 | Embolus and conductor in ventral view directed transversely across palpal axis | 6 |
– | Embolus and conductor in ventral view directed obliquely relative to palpal axis | 7 |
6 | Chelicerae with one or two very large teeth near fang base, remaining teeth distinctly smaller; several small denticles retrolateral of teeth row near base of chelicerae ( |
|
– | Chelicerae without one or two large teeth near fang base, teeth gradually decreasing in size from fang base to cheliceral base; denticles absent near base of chelicerae ( |
|
7 | Cheliceral teeth variable in size, with at least three large teeth in midsection of teeth row and several denticles retrolateral of teeth row ( |
|
– | Cheliceral teeth tiny, subequal, without denticles retrolateral of teeth row ( |
|
ZIMBABWE: Harare, Highlands [
ZIMBABWE: 1imm.: same locality as holotype, 21.II.2000, in garden, M. Cumming (NCA 2004/1361).
The male of this species is recognised by the conductor that narrows and makes a half twist before broadening distally, and the obliquely orientated embolus and conductor (
The specific epithet is a patronym in honour of the collector of the holotype, Meg Cumming, in recognition of her contributions to African arachnology, particularly in Zimbabwe.
Carapace and chelicerae brown in colour (
Left palp of male
Known only from the type locality (
Poorly known. The holotype male was collected in mid-summer on the soil surface. The second instar juvenile specimen was captured while ballooning and landing on the porch of a house (M. Cumming, pers. comm.). Amongst atypids, ballooning has previously been recorded in both
SOUTH AFRICA:
SOUTH AFRICA:
The male of this species can be easily recognised from African congeners by the presence of one or two very large teeth at the fang base (
Left palp of male
This specific epithet is Latin for southern, referring to the distribution of the species, southernmost in the genus.
Carapace and chelicerae dark brown in colour (
Endemic to central and northern Free State Province, South Africa (
The species was collected exclusively by pitfalls in spring and early summer (September to early December) in the Grassland Biome of South Africa. Specimens were only collected in dark vertic clay and loamy-clay soils and not from sites with sandy soils. Most of the specimens were collected from sites near to freshwater streams and dams. Despite exhaustive attempts to locate burrows in the vicinity of pitfall sites (Erfenis Dam Nature Reserve and Botanical Gardens) none could be found.
NAMIBIA: Etosha National Park, Beisebvlakte,
None.
The specific epithet refers to the country of the type locality.
Carapace and chelicerae dark brown (
Left palp of male
Known only from the type locality (
Poorly known. This species was collected in late spring in arid savanna.
CAMEROON: Efulen [
CAMEROON: 1♀: Galim [
The female of this species has the cheliceral teeth in a single row (
Robustly built with short legs, carapace faded to creamy brown (
Carapace and chelicerae brown (
Benoit’s (1967: 286, figs 1–4) drawings of a male “allotype” of
Widespread across tropical Africa in forests and savanna woodlands (
The biology of “
Most of the specimens studied here from the MRAC collected in Guinée, Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Tanzania and Congo D.R. were collected in contrasting forest types across tropical Africa, indicating that
1♂: together with holotype. CÔTE D’IVOIRE: 1♂: Kossou,
CÔTE D’IVOIRE: 1 subadult ♀: Lamto,
The male of the species can be recognised by the carapace that is subequal in length and width (
The specific epithet refers to the palpal tibia of the male, which is distinctly shorter and more swollen compared to that of other African congeners.
Carapace and chelicerae orange brown (
Left palp of male
The specimens may possibly have faded over time in 70% ethanol, which can only be confirmed should fresh material become available. Although a subadult female is available it will not be described as the genitalic structure cannot be studied.
Central Côte d’Ivoire and northern Togo (
Present data indicates that
The burrow of
SOUTH AFRICA:
SOUTH AFRICA:
The female of this species has an additional row of two to four large prolateral teeth close to the fang base in addition to the main row of teeth, which are larger and more strongly curved than in
Robustly built with short legs (
Carapace and chelicerae dark brown in colour (
It is clear from the redescriptions of both sexes of
The abdomen of the female holotype of
Limpopo and Gauteng Provinces, South Africa (
The recently collected series of males from Zwartkoppies Farm (TMSA 23875) was collected in open pitfalls without preservative from a site in open
Atypid spiders are widely regarded as being of conservation importance due to their generally specific environmental requirements, low rates of dispersal and general scarcity (
Distribution of
This study forms part of the M.Sc of the senior author at the University of the Free State and was funded through a National Research Foundation of South Africa (NRF) grant in the NRF Thuthuka program to the second author (TK2008050500003). The NRF also provided a student travel grant to the senior author through its SABI program to visit the MRAC (GUN 69525). The following curators of the collections are thanked for the loan of material that made this study possible: Norman Platnick (AMNH), Janet Beccaloni (BMNH), Ansie Dippenaar-Schoeman (NCA), Leon Lotz (NMBA), Audrey Ndaba (NMSA), Robin Lyle (TMSA) and Jonathan Coddington (USNM). Ansie Dippenaar-Schoeman is thanked for providing some rare taxonomic and biological literature, and she and Ian Engelbrecht are thanked for useful discussion on the conservation importance of the South African species. Meg Cumming kindly provided biological information on the