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Corresponding author: Jie Liu ( sparassidae@aliyun.com ) Academic editor: Cristina Rheims
© 2019 Wei Ding, Yang Zhong, Jie Liu.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation:
Ding W, Zhong Y, Liu J (2019) Gnathopalystes aureolus (He & Hu, 2000): new combination for Pseudopoda aureola (Araneae, Sparassidae), with the first description of the female from Hainan Island, China. ZooKeys 817: 95-103. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.817.29868
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The taxonomic status of Pseudopoda aureola (He & Hu, 2000) is revised based on the re-examination of the type specimen and fresh material collected from the type locality. The cheliceral dentition, with a large denticle field between two anterior and three posterior teeth, the male palps with simple RTA arising distally, narrow, not filiform embolus and sheet-like membranous conductor, and the female epigyne with a visible median septum indicate that the species does not belong to Pseudopoda or to the originally assigned genus, Heteropoda. Based on these characters, the species is here transferred to Gnathopalystes. The male is redescribed and the female is described and illustrated for the first time.
Biodiversity, Hainan, huntsman spiders, taxonomy
Heteropoda aureola was first described in the genus Heteropoda Latreille, 1804, based on male specimens from Jianfengling Mountain, Hainan Province, China by
Recently, the authors examined material from Jianfengling Mountain (type locality of P. aureola) and found specimens which, when compared to the holotype, were confirmed as P. aureola. However, the presence of male palps with simple RTA, arising distally (medially or basally in Pseudopoda), narrow, not filiform embolus (broadened and flattened in Pseudopoda, filiform in Herteropoda), sheet-like membranous conductor (sheath-like in Herteropoda) and female epigyne with visible median septum (inconspicuous in Pseudopoda) indicated that this species did not belong to either Heteropoda or Pseudopoda. When comparing this material to that of other species recorded from China, the authors noted a strong similarity between P. aureola and Gnathopalystes taiwanensis Zhu & Tso, 2006 (described from Taiwan and recorded in China) which suggested that the species might actually belong to Gnathopalystes.
Although Gnathopalystes has not been revised, and most species are poorly described and illustrated, we decided to remove P. aureola from Pseudopoda and transfer it to Gnathopalystes based on characters provided by
Specimens were examined with an Olympus SZX16 stereomicroscope; details were further investigated with an Olympus BX51 compound microscope. All illustrations were made using an Olympus drawing tube. Epigynes were examined and illustrated after dissection from the spider bodies. Photos were made with a Canon G10 digital camera (14.7 megapixels) mounted on an Olympus SZX16 stereomicroscope. The digital images depicting the habitus and genital morphology are a composite of multiple images taken at different focal planes along the Z-axis and assembled using the software package Helicon Focus 3.10. Left palps are depicted unless otherwise stated. The illustration of schematic course of internal duct system follows
Leg measurements are shown as: total length (femur, patella, tibia, metatarsus, tarsus). Number of spines is listed for each segment in the following order: prolateral, dorsal, retrolateral, ventral (in femora and patellae ventral spines are absent and fourth digit is omitted in the spination formula). Abbreviations follow
ALE anterior lateral eyes;
AME anterior median eyes;
AW anterior width of prosoma;
CH clypeus height;
FE femur;
Mt metatarsus;
OL opisthosoma length;
OW opisthosoma width;
Pa patella;
PH prosoma height;
PL prosoma length;
PLE posterior lateral eyes;
PME posterior median eyes;
Pp palpus;
PW prosoma width;
Ta tarsus;
Ti tibia. I, II, III, IV–legs I to IV.
Abbreviations for the collection depositories:
MTJ Museum of Tianjing, Tianjing, China
Heteropoda aureola He & Hu, 2000: 17, figs 1–2 (holotype male from Jianfengling Mountain, Hainan, China, deposited in MTJ, examined).
Pseudopoda aureola Jäger, 2014: 184 (transferred from Heteropoda).
1 male (holotype, MTJ), Jianfengling Mountain, Hainan Island, China, 8 April 1980, Shengli Liu leg.; 1 male and 1 female (
Females of G. aureolus comb. n. resemble those of G. taiwanensis in eye arrangement (straight posterior row and recurved anterior row, with posterior row wider than anterior, AME smaller than ALE), cheliceral dentition (large denticle field between two anterior and three posterior teeth), and epigyne (with coiled copulatory ducts). They differ by the epigyne with lateral lobes contiguous (separated in G. taiwanensis), anterior margin of lobal pockets distinct (absent in G. taiwanensis) and left part of vulva connected to the right part (separated in G. taiwanensis). The females of G. taiwanensis and G. aureolus comb. n. can be distinguished from other Gnathopalystes species by the three posterior teeth on the retromargin of cheliceral fang furrow (four to five posterior teeth in other Gnathopalystes species). Males can be distinguished by the palp with clavate and straight RTA (RTA broad at base, tapering to apex, and bent in G. kochi (Simon, 1880), the only other known male to date) (Figs
Gnathopalystes aureolus (He & Hu, 2000) comb. n. A Epigyne, ventral view B Vulva, dorsal view C Schematic course of internal duct system, dorsal view D–E Female tarsal claws of leg I (D prolateral E retrolateral). Abbreviations: C – conductor; CD – copulatory duct; FD – fertilization duct; GP – glandular projection; LL – lateral lobes; LS – lobal septum. Scale bars: 0.2 mm (A–C); 0.1mm (D, E).
Male. Measurements: PL 4.26, PW 3.50, AW 1.37, PH 0.88, OL 4.28, OW 2.20. Eyes: AME 0.15, ALE 0.26, PME 0.18, PLE 0.21, AME–AME 0.20, AME–ALE 0.11, PME–PME 0.38, PME–PLE 0.25, AME–PME 0.45, ALE–PLE 0.30, CHAME 0.24, CHALE 0.12. Leg and palp measurements: Pp 5.15 (1.62, 0.79, 1.31, -, 1.43), I 22.77 (5.86, 1.11, 6.79, 7.08, 1.93), II 24.66 (7.00, 1.41, 6.86, 7.66, 1.73), III 17.49 (5.54, 1.20, 4.94, 4.45, 1.36), IV 21.35 (6.76, 1.22, 5.75, 6.04, 1.58). Leg formula: II-I-IV-III. Spination: Pp 120, 101, 3011; Fe I 223, II 323, III 222, IV 322; Pa I-IV 101; Ti I 2026, II 2025, III-IV 2024; Mt I-IV 2024. Cheliceral furrow with large denticle field extending from proximal teeth to the margin of the non-sclerotized arthrodial membrane, with approximately 18 denticles. Promargin of cheliceral furrow with two teeth, the distal one significantly larger than proximal one, retromargin with three teeth, the two distal ones similar sized, the proximal one significantly larger (Figure
Gnathopalystes aureolus (He & Hu, 2000) comb. n. A–C Left male palp (A prolateral B ventral C retrolateral) D Male left cheliceral teeth, ventral view E Female left cheliceral teeth, ventral view. Abbreviations: C – conductor; E – embolus; RTA – retrolateral tibial apophysis; SD – sperm duct; T – tegulum. Scale bars: 0.2 mm.
Female. Measurements: PL 3.95, PW 3.93, AW 1.90, PH 0.68, OL 5.24, OW 3.00. Eyes: AME 0.15, ALE 0.23, PME 0.17, PLE 0.2, AME–AME 0.25, AME–ALE 0.11, PME–PME 0.48, PME–PLE 0.27, AME–PME 0.49, ALE–PLE 0.36, CHAME 0.25, CHALE 0.10. Leg and palp measurements: Pp 3.93 (1.05, 0.77, 0.99, -, 1.12), I 20.28 (5.60, 1.72, 6.05, 5.51, 1.40), II 20.10 (5.95, 1.70, 5.81, 5.25, 1.39), III 13.28 (4.32, 0.97, 3.81, 3.17, 1.01), IV 16.37 (4.85, 1.03, 4.18, 5.03, 1.28). Leg formula: I-II-IV-III. Spination: Pp 202, 101, 2121, 2021; Fe I 023, II 010, III-IV 121; Pa I 000, II-IV 000; Ti I III- IV 2014, II 1013; Mt I-IV 2024. Cheliceral furrow as in male, with approximately 23 denticles (Figure
China (Hainan) (Fig.
We thank Mr Fengxiang Liu (School of Life Sciences, Hubei University) for providing the Sparassidae specimens. The manuscript greatly benefited from comments by Dr Peter Jäger (Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut, Germany), Dr Cristina Rheims (Instituto Butantan, Sao Paulo, Brazil), Dr Daniele Polotow (University of Campinas, Campinas, Brazil) and Dr Majid Moradmand (University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran). This study was financially supported by the National Natural Sciences Foundation of China (NSFC- 31572236/31272268/31772420).