Iridonyssus murrayman Raven and Harris, sp. nov.

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https://www.zoobank.org/NomenclaturalActs/3248E51C-E557-4FC2-BEDF-9A6EE7A37C5A

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Figure 1. - Iridonyssus murrayman, sp. nov., holotype male, QM S?????. a. Carapace, coxae, abdomen, dorsal view; b., habitus, ventral view; c., d., palp, ventral view; c., tip of bulb showing embolus, ventral view; d., palpal tibia, cymbium and bulb, ventral view; e., habitus, preserved spider, dorsal view; f., live spider, lateral view.

The male differs from those of the sympatric Iridonyssus formicans Raven, 2015 in white hair forming a shield on the anterior abdomen and 3 paired spots dorsally.

Carapace 2.53 long, 1.86 wide. Abdomen 2.55 long, 1.75 wide. Total length, 5.08.

Common name: Murrayman

Colour (Figures 1a, 2a): Carapace dark brown to black with uniform light cover of large silver scales, more evident on margins. Femora I--IV dark brown with areas of white hairs distally and two long zones laterally. Patellae to tarsi I, II fawn, without white hair. Tibiae to tarsi IV and, to a lesser extent III, dark with patches also on distal patellae and tibiae. Abdomen with dark brown full dorsal scute with seven patches of large white scales: one anteriorly on vertical face plus two large rounded trianguloid areas, then two ovoid patches medially and two round patches posteriorly. Ventrally, sternum, and genital scute brown, coxae paler, ventral scute full with trianguloid white patches behind orange book lungs.

Carapace (Fig. 1a): finely rugose with small white scales. Fovea short, closed. Sternum and coxae heavily rugose. Legs with white feathery hairs on femora-tibiae (see above). Abdomen with short petiolar collar.

Spines: . I: fe p1d2; ti v1.2.2; me v2.2. II: fe p2d2; ti v1.2.2; me v2.2. III: fe p2d3r1; ti p2r2v2.2.2; me p2r2v2.2.3. IV: fe p1-2d3r1-2; ti p2r2v2.2.2; me p3r3v2.2.3. Palp: fe p1d2; pa p2w; ti p2w.

Abdomen: Dorsal scute for full length, ventral scute converges with convex sides to tracheal mound. White scales on book lungs, lateral abdomen and pair of patches anteriorly on scute. Post-epigastric sclerites closed. Palp: Subtegular indent small; one folded spermatic duct; paracymbial spine absent check specimen spine like??; embolus apically narrowly twisted.

Female unknown.

Distribution and Habitat. Known only from secondary regrowth open eucalypt forest near Ripley, south-east Queensland.

Holotype, Queensland, Ripley: ♂, Robert’s Lane, -27.73973°S, 152.85041°E, night collection, 10 Oct 2020, R. Harris, P. Murray, R. Raven, QM S?????.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

These are as in Raven (2015), except that the images were taken with a Leica 205c microscope and a Leica DFC295 camera. Although a number of specimens believed to be conspecific where taken as part of the Stewartdale surveys, no others were mature and are hence excluded from the material examined,

DISCUSSION

Of the 8 genera and 97 species of Castianierinae from Australia, 25% of the species (23) occur in south-east Queensland where rainforests are found on the ranges, and river gullies and eucalypt forest in the drier areas. Since Australian Biological Resources Study grants became available for collection and research in 1974, attention to spider surveys has largely been in rainforest and semi-evergreen vine thickets and that is largely reflected in the collections of the Queensland Museum.

The Spider collection of the Queensland Museum contains large collections but a number of families are not entirely registered. Thus, these data are based on locality records in the QM database (managed by Robert Raven until 2006 (Raven, 1989) when the data were ported to VERNON) and they also reflect the groups on which research has been focussed. Of the 41,619 locality events (i.e., specific collection sites and times) between 31 December 1970 and 1 January 2007, 17,883 had no record of habitat, 11,294 were rainforest, vine forest or " dry" rainforest (semi-evergreen vine thickets), and only 5,241 were recorded as some form of open forest. This is reflected in the identified "State" collection in which 24,472 records were taken in rainforest types (above) compared to 13,763 records from open forest types. Thus, clearly the focus has been on the rare rainforests and the much more extensive open forests neglected. Why this has been the case is unknown although it is possibly because rainforest may have been considered to have much richer spider biodiversity than other types of forest.

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the Bob Green, Sporting Shooters Association of Australia (Qld) for permission to conduct surveys and collect on their property, and use of their equipment and accommodation; Brett Chamberlant was most patient with assisting us with our specific needs, on survey nights, managing our accommodation and general support. This work was conducted in partial fulfilment of a B. Sc. (Honours) by Rachael Harris at the University of Southern Queensland.

LITERATURE CITED

Cushing, P.E. (2012) Spider-Ant Associations: an updated review of myrmecomorphy, myrmecophily, and myrmecophagy in Spiders. Psyche, 2012, 1–23. http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2012/151989

Raven, R.J. (1989). R:Base in the Queensland Museum, in Future directions conference proceedings : computers for informal education & collection information systems, 4th [and] 5th December, 1989, Australian Museum.

Raven, R. J. (2015). A revision of ant-mimicking spiders of the family Corinnidae (Araneae) in the Western Pacific. Zootaxa 3958(1): 1-258. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3958.1.1