On the revisited types of four poorly known African species of Palpimanus (Araneae, Palpimanidae)

Sergei L. Zonstein; Yuri M. Marusik

doi:10.3897/afrinvertebr.60.34229

Research Article

On the revisited types of four poorly known African species of Palpimanus (Araneae, Palpimanidae)

Sergei L. Zonstein^‡, Yuri M. Marusik^§|

‡ Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel

§ University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa

| nstitute for Biological Problems of the North RAS, Magadan, Russia

Corresponding author: Sergei L. Zonstein ( znn@post.tau.ac.il )

Academic editor: Yasen Mutafchiev

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: Zonstein SL, Marusik YM (2019) On the revisited types of four poorly known African species of Palpimanus (Araneae, Palpimanidae). African Invertebrates 60(1): 83-95. https://doi.org/10.3897/afrinvertebr.60.34229

ZooBank: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:EEF54068-C033-4FE0-A7E2-6C8311725D82

Abstract

Based on the types deposited in the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin (Germany), the following African species of Palpimanus Dufour, 1820 are re-examined and redescribed in details: P. namaquensis Simon, 1910 (South Africa, Namibia), P. nubilus Simon, 1910 (Namibia), P. paroculus Simon, 1910 (South Africa, Namibia) and P. processiger Strand, 1913 (Rwanda). The distribution of the considered species is specified and the erroneously interpreted geographical data, previously presented in the World Spider Catalog (2019), are corrected.

Keywords

Aranei, spiders, taxonomy, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa

Introduction

The Palpimanidae is a rather small spider family with only 150 named species assigned to 18 genera (WSC 2019). Palpimanus Dufour, 1820 is the type and second largest genus in the family, with 36 species currently known from the West Palearctic, Africa and South America (Op. cit.). Palpimanus has never been subjected to a thorough revision, with only the Mediterranean species having been surveyed in Kulczyński (1909), Platnick (1981) and Hernández-Corral and Ferrández (2017). Half of the currently accepted Palpimanus spp. are known either from females (10) or males (7) only or even from juveniles (1). None of illustrations showing the female characters in Palpimanus presents a detailed figure of the endogyne. Eight species were described without any accompanying illustrations and figures of the male palp were not provided for the majority of the congeners.

To date, 21 species of Palpimanus are known to occur in Africa, south of the Sahara and none of them has been revised. To fill these gaps, we have commenced a step-by-step redescription of all the available types in order to assist in a future revision of the genus. We have recently obtained the types of four species of Palpimanus, housed in the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin (Germany). The data provided by WSC (2019), that the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle (Paris, France) is an assumed depository for most of them, should thus be corrected. Their detailed redescriptions are provided below.

Material and methods

Depositories:

MNB Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin, Germany;

MNHN Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris, France.

Photographs were taken in dishes of various sizes with a plastic lining on the bottom. Specimens were photographed using a Canon EOS 7D camera attached to an Olympus SZX16 stereomicroscope at the Zoological Museum, University of Turku, Finland. Digital images were processed using the “CombineZP” image stacking software (http://www.hadleyweb.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/).

Illustrations of the female copulatory organs (see Figs 13–16 and 25–29) were made following maceration in a 20% potassium hydroxide aqueous solution and exposure for several minutes in an alcohol/water solution of Chlorazol Black. Leg segment lengths were measured on the dorsal side. All measurements are given in millimetres.

Abbreviations (except encoded in the text):

ALE anterior lateral eyes

AME anterior median eyes

CL carapace length

CW carapace width

CyH clypeus height

L/W ratio length/width

PLE posterior lateral eyes

PME posterior median eyes

PTC paired tarsal claws

TL total length of body in dorsal view

Results

Palpimanus namaquensis Simon, 1910

Figs 1–6

Palpimanus namaquensis Simon, 1910: 178 (♂♀); Griffin and Dippenaar-Schoeman 1991: 158; Dippenaar-Schoeman and Van den Berg 2010: 75.

Redescription

Subadult female (syntype) MNB 13859.

Habitus (Figs 1–4). Measurements: TL ca. 9.0 (abdomen and petiole separated from prosoma), CL 4.36, CW 2.75, CyH 0.35 (0.25 margins), femur I L/W 1.87 (2.27/1.22). Eyes: AME 0.19, ALE 0.13, PLE 0.12, PME 0.10, AME–AME 0.13, AME–ALE 0.22, ALE–PLE 0.84, PLE–PME 0.53, PME–PME 0.40. Colour in alcohol: Carapace, chelicerae and labium medium cherry-red, sternum, maxillae, leg I entirely and abdominal scuta light yellowish-red, other legs pale yellowish-orange, unsclerotised part of abdomen pale yellowish-brown with few small dark brown marks on ventral side near spinnerets. Integument of carapace very moderately rugose on dorsal side of cephalic portion but more coarsely rugose laterally and in thoracic part, abdomen uniformly covered with dense fine microsetae mixed with less numerous longer and stouter setae. Legs: Leg formula 1423. Tibia I unarmed, but metatarsus I ventrally with ca. 15 small rod-like teeth. True undivided scopula on entire ventral surface of tibia I; long, entire and prolateral on metatarsus and tarsus I, widely divided by setae on tarsi II and III, vestigial on tarsus IV. Metatarsi II–IV with ventral brushes of dense setae. PTC each with 3–5 tiny low teeth.

Leg measurements:

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	Femur	Patella	Tibia	Metatarsus	Tarsus	Total
Palp	0.88	0.32	0.52	–	0.77	2.49
I	2.27	1.82	1.67	0.85	0.88	7.49
II	1.78	1.26	1.30	0.89	0.63	5.86
III	1.75	1.06	1.05	0.97	0.68	5.51
IV	2.22	1.38	1.57	1.37	0.88	7.42

Abdomen: abdominal scuta very transparent and weakly pigmented. Dorsal scutum (Ds) hexagonal, not fused with epigastral one, wider than long, spaced from epigastral scutum by 1/3 of maximal width; epigastral scutum with shallow concavity, postgastrum with one stripe-like scutum (Ps) fused with epigastral one near lateral margin of book-lung slit. Petiolar tube very short without transversal wrinkles. Whether the described structures entirely correspond to those of the conspecific adult females, or not, is currently uncertain.

Copulatory organs: undeveloped (Fig. 5).

Male

The current depository of the male syntype was not located (most probably, it was placed by Simon in the MNHN) and this specimen has thus not been examined.

Types

Syntypes ♀ subad., 2 juvs, SOUTH AFRICA: Northern Cape Province, Komaggas (original “Kammagas”; 29°48'S, 17°30'E), vii.1904, L. Schultze (MNB 13859). Syntype ♂, same data (MNHN, not examined).

Distribution

Known from South Africa (WSC 2019) and Namibia (Griffin & Dippenaar-Schoeman 1991).

Figures 1–6.

Palpimanus namaquensis, subadult female (syntype). 1, 2 Prosoma, dorsal and ventral view, respectively 3, 4 prosoma, dorso-anterior and anterior view, respectively 5 ventral abdominal scutum, ventral view 6 dorsal and ventral abdominal scuta, anterior view. Abbreviation: Ds dorsal scutum.

Palpimanus nubilus Simon, 1910

Figs 7–10, 11–16

Palpimanus nubilus Simon, 1910: 179 (♀); Griffin and Dippenaar-Schoeman 1991: 158; Dippenaar-Schoeman and Van den Berg 2010: 75.

Redescription

Female (holotype) MNB 13860.

Habitus (Figs 7–10). Integument of carapace moderately rugose in cephalic portion and coarsely rugose in thoracic part, abdomen uniformly covered with dense fine microsetae. Measurements: TL ca. 7.20 (abdomen and petiole separated from prosoma), CL 3.36, CW 2.43, CyH 0.32 (0.25 margins), tibia I L/W 1.55 (2.09/1.35). Eyes: AME 0.16, ALE 0.11, PLE 0.09, PME 0.10, AME–AME 0.10, AME–ALE 0.11, ALE–PLE 0.55, PLE–PME 0.39, PME–PME 0.36. Colour in alcohol: Carapace and chelicerae intense dark red, ventral prosoma and leg I segments from femur to metatarsus and abdominal scuta scarlet red, other leg segments yellowish-orange, unsclerotised part of abdomen pale yellowish-brown with few small dark brown marks on ventral side near spinnerets. Legs: formula 4123. Coxa I dorsally, patella and tibia I ventrally with numerous and dense small granules. Thin undivided scopula on entire ventral and proventral surface of tibia I; very thin and prolateral on metatarsus and tarsus I, elsewhere absent. Palpal tarsus, metatarsi and tarsi II–IV with ventral brushes of dense setae. PTC each with 2–4 small teeth.

Leg measurements:

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	Femur	Patella	Tibia	Metatarsus	Tarsus	Total
Palp	0.75	0.26	0.48	–	0.57	2.06
I	2.09	1.73	1.44	0.61	0.60	6.47
II	1.70	1.17	1.26	0.79	0.53	5.45
III	1.56	0.98	1.09	0.90	0.52	5.05
IV	2.18	1.34	1.72	1.61	0.63	7.48

Abdomen: dorsal scutum (Ds) hexagonal (Fig. 12), not fused with postgastral one, as long as wide, closely separated with epigastral scutum basally. Epigastral scutum (Fig. 11) with distinct petiolar tube (Pt) covered with transversal wrinkles, concavity shallow and not wide; postgastral scutum not solid, represented by at least 3 pairs of separate scuta, stripe-like (Ss) along book-lung slit and 2 pairs of sigilla-like scuta (Si), one pair in concavity and one pair posteriorly.

Copulatory organs (Figs 13–16): endogyne with large membranous receptacles (Re) lacking pore glands; basolateral fold (Rf) distinct; 3 pairs of grape shape glands (Gg) on each side, stalks relatively short, pore glands absent; fine threads (Ft) distinct and short.

Male

Unknown.

Types

Holotype ♀, NAMIBIA: Erongo Region (no specific locality, only the south-eastern part of “Hereroland” or “Damaraland”, located within the aforementioned recent region, is mentioned), ix.1904, L. Schultze (MNB 13860).

Distribution

Namibia. Erroneously listed as distributed exclusively in South Africa by WSC (2019).

Figures 7–10.

Palpimanus nubilus, female (holotype). 7 Prosoma and legs, dorsal view 8 prosoma, ventral view 9, 10 anterior part of prosoma, dorso-anterior and anterior view, respectively.

Figures 11–16.

Palpimanus nubilus, female (holotype). 11 Ventral scuta, ventral view 12 dorsal and epigastral scuta, anterior view 13, 15 endogyne, dorsal view 14, 16 right side of endogyne, close up, dorsal view. Scale bars: 0.2 mm (where indicated). Abbreviations: Ds dorsal scutum; Gg grape shaped gland; Ft fine threads; Re receptacle, Rf basolateral fold of endogyne.

Palpimanus paroculus Simon, 1910

Figs 17–20, 21, 22, 23–29

Palpimanus paroculus Simon, 1910: 179 (♀); Griffin and Dippenaar-Schoeman 1991: 158.

Redescription

Female (lectotype) MNB 14211.

Habitus (Figs 17–22). Carapace and chelicerae moderately rugose, unsclerotised part of abdomen covered with dense fine microsetae mixed with less numerous longer and stouter setae. Measurements: TL ca. 7.00 (abdomen and petiole separated from prosoma), CL 3.32, CW 2.29, CyH 0.28 (0.23 margins), tibia I L/W 1.66 (2.19/1.32). Eyes: AME 0.13, ALE 0.11, PLE 0.09, PME 0.08, AME–AME 0.07, AME–ALE 0.06, ALE–PLE 0.61, PLE–PME 0.34, PME–PME 0.31. Colour in alcohol: Carapace and chelicerae carmine, ventral prosoma, palp and leg I segments from femur to metatarsus and abdominal scuta yellowish-red, other leg segments yellowish-orange, unsclerotised part of abdomen uniformly medium yellowish-brown. Legs: formula 4123. Patella and tibia I with numerous and dense small ventral granules. True undivided scopula on entire ventral and prolateral surface of tibia I; long, entire and prolateral on metatarsus and tarsus I, absent elsewhere. Metatarsi II–IV with ventral brushes of dense setae. PTC each with 4–5 tiny low teeth.

Leg measurements:

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	Femur	Patella	Tibia	Metatarsus	Tarsus	Total
Palp	0.64	0.28	0.38	–	0.65	2.05
I	2.19	1.77	1.48	0.53	0.49	6.46
II	1.54	1.13	1.12	0.80	0.39	4.98
III	1.31	0.93	0.95	0.92	0.43	4.54
IV	1.76	1.19	1.58	1.27	0.70	6.50

Abdomen: dorsal scutum (Ds, Fig. 23) pentagonal, not fused with epigastral one, wider than long (width length ratio 4/3), spaced from epigastral scutum by about 1/8 of maximal width. Epigastral scutum with broad concavity and short petiolar tube (Pt) with transversal wrinkles. Postgastral scutum (Fig. 24) long, stripe-like, fused with epigastral one at lateral edges of book-lung slit.

Copulatory organs (Figs 25–29): endogyne weakly sclerotised, with 6 grape-shaped glands (Gg) on each side, each gland with long stalk, glands without distinct cilia and pore gland, fine threads indistinct (if present), receptacles (Re) sack-like, membranous, without pore glands, laterobasally with one fold (Rf).

Male

Unknown.

Types

Lectotype (designated here) ♀, SOUTH AFRICA: Northern Cape Province, Komaggas (original “Kammagas”; 29°48'S, 17°30'E), vii.1904, L. Schultze (MNB 14211). Paralectotype: 1♀, collected together with the lectotype (MNB 15210).

Distribution

South Africa (WSC 2019), Namibia (Griffin & Dippenaar-Schoeman 1991).

Figures 17–20.

Palpimanus paroculus, female (lectotype), prosoma. 17 Dorsal view 18 ventral view 19 lateral view 20 postero-dorsal view.

Figures 21, 22.

Palpimanus paroculus, female (lectotype), anterior part prosoma, anterior and dorsal view, respectively. Scale bar: 0.2 mm.

Figures 23–29.

Palpimanus paroculus, female. 23, 24 Dorsal and epigastral scuta, anterior and ventral view, respectively 25, 26 endogyne (lectotype and paralectotype) 27 right side of endogyne, close up (lectotype) 28 left side of endogyne 29 endogyne, dorsal view. Scale bars: 0.2 mm (where indicated). Abbreviations: Gg grape shaped gland; Ps postgastral scutum; Re receptacle; Rf basolateral fold of endogyne.

Palpimanus processiger Strand, 1913

Figs 30–34, 35–37

Palpimanus processiger Strand, 1913: 335 (♂).

Redescription

Male (holotype) MNB 14212.

Habitus (Figs 30–34). Carapace and chelicerae moderately rugose, abdomen covered with moderately dense and uniformly shaped setae. Measurements: TL 8.75, CL 3.72, CW 2.83, CyH 0.34, femur I L/W 1.87 (3.27/1.75). Eyes: AME 0.27, ALE 0.13, PLE 0.12, PME 0.15, AME–AME 0.10, AME–ALE 0.16, ALE–PLE 0.64, PLE–PME 0.47, PME–PME 0.37. Colour in alcohol: Carapace, chelicerae, sternum, labium, palp, leg I from coxa to metatarsus and most part of abdominal scuta intense cherry-red, tarsus I and legs II–IV (including coxae) and posterior part of ventral abdominal scutum yellowish-orange, unsclerotised part of abdomen medium yellowish-brown, lighter anteriorly and darker posteriorly and ventrally, with numerous and fairly dense darker brownish muscular pits, more dense on ventral side. Legs: formula 1432. Patella and tibia I with numerous and dense small ventral granules, tibia I prolaterally also with numerous flattened mound-shaped granules. True undivided scopula on entire proventral surface of tibia I; long, entire and prolateral on metatarsus I, vestigial and prolateral on tarsus I, vestigial and divided by setae on distal metatarsi and tarsi II–IV. Metatarsi II–IV with ventral brushes of dense setae. PTC each with 2–5 small acute teeth.

Leg measurements:

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	Femur	Patella	Tibia	Metatarsus	Tarsus	Total
Palp	0.97	0.34	0.49	–	0.84	2.64
I	3.27	2.72	1.96	0.83	0.80	9.58
II	2.24	1.53	1.59	1.07	0.76	7.19
III	2.03	1.42	1.49	1.18	0.59	7.61
IV	2.52	1.58	1.97	1.77	0.82	8.66

Copulatory organs (Figs 35–37): Tibia slightly swollen, 1.4 times wider than patella and cymbium, almost as wide as long; cymbium 2 times longer than wide; bulb with tegular part longer than wide; terminal part with 2 distinct processes (plus poorly discernible flattened mound located opposite these two), kind of tegular apophysis (Ta) and broad, partly membranous complex embolus (Em). Tegular apophysis thin, smoothly bent, at least 7 times longer than wide. Embolus broad, bifurcated near the tip, both arms membranous, dorsal arm (Da) smaller than ventral arm (Va); sperm duct (Sd) of embolus distinct.

Female

Unknown.

Types

Holotype ♂, RWANDA: Western Province, Kisenge (original “Kissendji”; 02°14'S, 29°31'E), ix.1907, L. Schultze (MNB 14212).

Distribution

Known only from the type locality (incorrectly associated in catalogues with DR Congo, see: WSC 2019).

Figures 30–34.

Palpimanus processiger, male (holotype). 30, 31 Habitus, dorsal and lateral view, respectively 32, 34 prosoma, ventral and dorsal view, respectively 33 anterior part of prosoma, dorsal view.

Figures 35–37.

Male palp of Palpimanus processiger, holotype. 35, 36 Bulb, retrolateral and prolateral view, respectively 37 patella, tibia and part of cymbium, retrolateral view. Scale bar: 0.2 mm. Abbreviations: Da dorsal arm of embolus; Em embolus; Sd sperm duct of embolus; Ta tegular apophysis; Va ventral arm of embolus.

Acknowledgements

We thank Jason Dunlop (MNB) for enabling us to examine the types considered in this study and Seppo Koponen (Zoological Museum, University of Turku) for providing us with museum facilities. We also are grateful to reviewers for their comments that greatly improved the manuscript. The final draft of the manuscript was kindly edited by Naomi Paz (Tel-Aviv University, Israel). This study was partially supported by the Ministry of Absorption, Israel.

References

Dippenaar-Schoeman AS, Van den Berg AM (2010) Spiders of the Kalahari. Plant Protection Research Institute Handbook. Volume 18. Agriculture Research Council Publications, Pretoria, 120 pp.

Griffin E, Dippenaar-Schoeman AS (1991) A checklist of, and references to, the Namibian spider fauna Arachnida, Araneae). Cimbebasia 13: 155–181.

Hernández-Corral J, Ferrández MÁ (2017) Descripción de una especie nueva de Palpimanus Dufour, 1820 de Marruecos (Araneae: Palpimanidae), con notas sobre los Palpimanus del Mediterráneo. Revista Ibérica de Aracnología 30: 37–46. https://doi.org/10.22179/revmacn.4.24

Kulczyński W (1909) Fragmenta Arachnologica. XIV, XV. Bulletin International de l’Academie des Sciences de Cracovie 1909: 667–687.

Platnick NI (1981) A review of the spider subfamily Palpimaninae (Araneae, Palpimanidae), I. Bulletin – British Arachnological Society 5: 169–173.

Simon E (1910) Arachnoidea. Araneae (ii). In: Schultze L (Ed.) Zoologische und anthropologische Ergebnisse einer Forschungsreise im Westlichen und zentralen Südafrika. Denkschriften der Medizinisch-Naturwissenschaftlichen Gesellschaft zu Jena 16, 175–218. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.51355

Strand E (1913) Arachnida. I. In: Schubotz H (Ed.) Wissenschaftliche Ergebnisse der Deutschen Zentral-Afrika-Expedition 1907–1908, unter Führung Adolf Friedrichs, Herzogs zu Mecklenburg. Klinkhardt & Biermann, Leipzig, 4(Zool. 2), 325–474. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.7048

World Spider Catalog (2019) World Spider Catalog. http://wsc.nmbe.ch, version 20.0 [Accessed 21.01.2019]