Zootaxa 3894 (1): 183 187 www.mapress.com/zootaxa/ Copyright 2014 Magnolia Press Article http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3894.1.16 http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:302046ad-5aa3-4947-9617-17cc68027d9e ISSN 1175-5326 (print edition) ZOOTAXA ISSN 1175-5334 (online edition) Description of a new species of Uroballus Simon, 1902 (Araneae: Salticidae) from Malaysia, with the longest spinnerets of any known jumping spider DMITRI V. LOGUNOV The Manchester Museum, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, UK. E-mail: dmitri.v.logunov@manchester.ac.uk Abstract A new species Uroballus koponeni sp. n. ( ) from Malaysia (Borneo) is diagnosed, illustrated and described. The genus is unusual for jumping spiders in having extremely long spinnerets. Key words: Arachnida, jumping spiders, Uroballus, new species, Borneo Introduction Uroballus Simon, 1902 is a poorly studied Oriental genus belonging to the group Simaethinae (sensu Simon 1903) and contains three species (Platnick 2014): U. henicurus Simon, 1902 ( ) and U. octovittatus Simon, 1902 ( ) from Sri Lanka (no exact localities) and U. peckhami Żabka, 1985 ( ) from northern Vietnam (Ha Noi); the type species is U. octovittatus. All these species are known from the original descriptions and from the type localities only (Map 1). The genus Uroballus is characterised by the extremely long posterior lateral spinnerets (Figs 4 5), reaching 40 50% of the abdomen length, a very unusual feature in the Salticidae (Simon 1902, 1903: fig. 993; Prószyński 1987: p. 107 108; Żabka 1985: fig. 638); within the RTA-clade only the representatives of Hersiliidae possess longer spinnerets than the newly described Uroballus species. The possible function of such long spinnerets in Uroballus remains unknown, as there are no available observations of these spiders in the field. It would certainly be something worthy of investigation, particularly as behaviour can be included as a character in phylogenetic analysis. The aim of the present paper is to describe a new Uroballus species from Malaysia. Material and methods The material studied in this paper was borrowed from the Museum d Histoire Naturelle, Genève, Switzerland (MHNG; curator: Dr P. Schwendinger). Digital photographs were taken using an Olympus E-520 camera attached to an Olympus SZX16 stereomicroscope, and prepared using CombineZP image stacking software. Photographs were taken with the specimens secured in dishes with paraffin on the bottom. Abbreviations used in the text and figures are as follows: Eyes: AME anterior median eye, ALE anterior lateral eye, PME posterior median eye, PLE posterior lateral eye. Leg segments: Fm femur, Pt patella, Tb tibia, Mt metatarsus, Tr tarsus. Position of leg spines: ap apical, pr prolateral, v ventral. For the leg spination the system adopted is that used by Ono (1988). The sequence of leg segments in measurement data is as follows: femur + patella + tibia + metatarsus + tarsus (total). All measurements are in mm. Accepted by Y. Marusik 4 Sept. 2014; published: 11 Dec. 2014 183
FIGURES 1 5. Somatic characters of Uroballus koponeni sp. n. ( holotype), body, dorsal view (1), ditto, lateral view (2), sternum, maxillae and carapace, ventral view (3), spinnerets, ventral view (4), ditto, dorsal view (5). Scale bars: 1 3, 0.5 mm, 4 5, 0.2 mm. Description Uroballus koponeni sp. n. Figs 1 10, Map 1 Type: Holotype and 2 immatures (MHNG) from Malaysia, [Borneo], Sarawak, route Kuching-Serian, nr. Kampong Kuap (ca. 18 km of Kuching), secondary forest, beating, 30 m a.s.l., 13.XII.1987 (C. Lienhard). Etymology. The species is named in honour of my colleague and friend, Seppo Koponen (Turku, Finland), for his life-long dedication to spiders and on the occasion of his 70th birthday. Diagnosis. The new species differs from other Uroballus species (cf. Prószyński, 1987: p. 107 108; Żabka, 1985: fig. 638) in having a clearly marked central pocket in the epigyne and by the different relative size and conformation of spermathecal chambers (Figs 9 10). In addition, this species differs in having dark long hairs covering the entire abdomen, becoming especially dense and long at the rear end and on the spinnerets (Figs 1 2, 4 7). Such extremely long spinnerets covered with long hairs are unique within the Salticidae. Description. MALE unknown. FEMALE. Measurements. Carapace 1.23 long, 0.91 wide and 0.48 high at PLE. Ocular area 0.67 long, 0.74 wide anteriorly and 0.93 wide posteriorly. Diameter of AME 0.23. Clypeus height 0.04, chelicera length 0.29. Abdomen 1.55 long (with anal tubercle), 0.70 wide. Length of leg segments: I: 0.50 + 0.34 + 0.28 + 0.21 + 0.20 184 Zootaxa 3894 (1) 2014 Magnolia Press LOGUNOV
(1.53); II: 0.47 + 0.26 + 0.23 + 0.23 + 0.20 (1.39); III: 0.40 + 0.21 + 0.21 + 0.27 + 0.21 (1.30); IV: 0.63 + 0.29 + 0.35 + 0.29 + 0.24 (1.80). Leg formula: IV,I,II,III. Leg spination. Leg I: Tb v 2-2-0; Mt v 2-2. Legs II and III : without visible spines. Leg IV: Tb v 1ap; Mt pr 1ap, v 2ap. Coloration (Figs 1 5) is rather pale, and therefore it seems to be a recently molted specimen. Carapace flat, light yellow, with pale grey tinge, which is darker on the thorax (Figs 1 2); sparsely covered with dark hairs becoming more dense at the rear edge of thorax; black areas around the PLEs and in front of the carapace, behind the eyes of the first row. Sternum and labium light yellow, tinged with grey (Fig. 3). Chelicerae and maxillae light yellow. Chelicerae with a small, inconspicuous promarginal tooth and a large, fissidentate retromarginal tooth (Fig. 8). Abdomen unusually long, light yellow; dorsum and sides with a zebra-like grey pattern and transverse rows of dark long hairs (Figs 1 4). Book-lung covers light yellow. Spinnerets light yellow and long; especially the dorsal spinnerets are long and hairy (Figs 4 7), amounting for 50% of the abdominal length. Legs I strongest and thickest (but not the longest ones), light yellow. Legs II IV light yellow, with grey semi-rings on ventral and prolateral sides of tibiae and metatarsi. Palps entirely light yellow. Epigyne and vulva as in Figs 9 10: a narrow central pocket is present; two small and rounded copulatory orifices are widely separated; the spermathecae are simple, two-chambered, with short insemination ducts. Distribution. The type locality only: Malaysia, Borneo, Kampong Kuap (Map 1). FIGURES 6 10. Somatic characters (6 8) and copulatory organs (9 10) of Uroballus koponeni sp. n. ( holotype), body, dorsal view (6), ditto, lateral view (7), female chelicerae, ventral view (8), epigyne, ventral view (9), vulva, dorsal view (10). Scale bars: 6 7, 0.5 mm, 8 10, 0.1 mm. Discussion The new species is without doubt a member of Uroballus, having the following combination of diagnostic characters of the genus: the extremely long dorsal spinnerets (Figs 1 2, 4 7), the key character of the original A NEW UROBALLUS SPECIES FROM MALAYSIA Zootaxa 3894 (1) 2014 Magnolia Press 185
generic diagnosis by Simon (1902: p. 400; Simon 1903: figs. 981 993M); the flat and broadened carapace (Figs 1 2, 6 7); the minute PMEs, positioned about half way between the ALEs and PLEs (Figs 1, 6); the ocular quadrangle is wider behind than in front; the fissidentate pattern of the cheliceral dentition (Fig. 8); the very weak leg spination, practically limited to Tb and Mt of the first legs; and the simple, two-chambered spermathecae with short insemination ducts (Fig. 10; cf. Prószyński 1987: p. 107 108; Żabka 1985: fig. 638). Uroballus octovittatus is the only Uroballus species of which the male has been illustrated. The male palp shows a very simple structure: the pear-shaped tegulum with a short and slender embolus arising from its distal-prolateral end, and a simple, unmodified tibial apophysis (Prószyński 1987: p. 107 108). Based on the shapes of carapace and ocular quadrangle, the cheliceral dentition and the conformation of the copulatory organs in both sexes, Uroballus is related to other Oriental fissidentate genera such as Ligurra Simon, 1903 (four species; Platnick 2014), the monotypic Phyaces Simon, 1902 from Sri Lanka (see Wanless 1986), Simaetha Thorell, 1881 (19 species; Żabka 1994), and Stertinius Simon, 1890 (13 species; Platnick 2014), all of which were included by Simon (1903: pp. 830 844) in the group Simaethinae. Whether the uniquely long spinnerets of Uroballus represent a good synapomorphy of the genus or just a symplesiomorphy remains unknown. Among other salticid genera known to me, only the monotypic genus Urogelides Żabka, 2009 from Australia has a similar flat body and elongated spinnerets. However, the latter genus seems to be related to Synagelides Strand, 1906, Agorius Thorell, 1877 and Phintella Strand in Bösenberg et Strand, 1906 (see Żabka 2009: p. 353 354), and thus could be within the Heliophaninae. Of the aforementioned genera belonging to Simon s Simaethinae, to date only one genus (Simaetha) has been included in a phylogenetic analysis based on molecular data (Maddison et al. 2008). Maddison and his co-authors proposed the new clade Astioidea accommodating a large number of species of diverse body shapes, in which Simaetha forms a distinct sub-clade together with Holoplatys Simon, 1885, Opisthoncus L. Koch, 1880 and Trite Simon, 1885; the last two genera were originally grouped by Simon (1903: p. 825) as the Triteae. As no morphological synapomorphies for the Astioidea (neither for the Simaetha sub-clade) were found by Maddison et al. (2008, 2014), their grouping is in need of further testing by including more Oriental salticid genera, particularly of Simon s Simaethinae. MAP 1. Collecting localities of the described species of Uroballus: U. henicurus Simon, 1902 (diamond), U. koponeni sp. n. (circle), U. octovittatus Simon, 1902 (square), and U. peckhami Żabka, 1985 (asterisk). 186 Zootaxa 3894 (1) 2014 Magnolia Press LOGUNOV
Acknowledgements The author express his warmest thanks to the following colleagues: Dr Peter Schwendinger of the MHNG for giving access to newly collected material of Salticidae retained in his museum; Dr Yuri Marusik (Magadan, Russia) for making digital photos, and Mr Alexander Gromov (Bingem am Rhein, Germany) for help in preparing the map. Prof Marek Żabka (Siedlce, Poland), Peter Koomen (Leeuwarden, The Netherlands), Dr Wayne Maddison (Vancouver, Canada) and an anonymous referee are obliged for their critical comments on an earlier draft, which helped to improve it. Dr David Penney (Manchester, UK) kindly edited the English of the final draft. References Maddison, W.P., Bodner, M.R. & Needham, K.M. (2008) Salticid spider phylogeny revisited, with the discovery of a large Australasian clade (Araneae: Salticidae). Zootaxa, 1893, 49 64. Maddison, W.P., Daiqin, L., Bodner, M.R., Zhang, J., Xu, X., Liu, Q. & Liu, F. (2014) The deep phylogeny of jumping spiders (Araneae, Salticidae). ZooKeys, 440, 57 87. http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.440.7891 Ono, H. (1988) A revisional study of the spider family Thomisidae (Arachnida, Araneae) of Japan. Tokyo: National Science Museum, ii + 252 pp. Platnick, N.I. (2014) The World Spider Catalog, version 15.0 (Salticidae page was last updated June 24, 2014; accessed July 22, 2014). American Museum of Natural History. Available from: http://research.amnh.org/entomology/spiders/catalog/ index.html Prószyński, J. (1987) Atlas rysunków diagnostycznych mniiej znanych Salticidae 2. Zeszyty Naukowe WSRP, Siedlce, 172 pp. Simon, E. (1902) Description d'arachnides nouveaux de la famille des Salticidae (Attidae) (suite). Annales de la Société Entomologique de Belgique, 46, 24 56, 363 406. Simon, E. (1903) Histoire naturelle des Araignées, seconde édition. Tome 2, Fascicule 4. Paris: Libraire encyclopédique de Roret, 2, 193 380. Wanless, F.R. (1986) A revision of the spider genus Phyaces (Araneae: Salticidae). Bulletin of the British Museum of Natural History (Zoology), 50, 103 108. Żabka, M. (1985) Systematic and zoogeographic study on the family Salticidae (Araneae) from Viet-Nam. Annales Zoologici, Polska Academia Nauk, 39 (11), 197 485. Żabka, M. (1994) Salticidae (Arachnida: Araneae) of Oriental, Australian and Pacific regions, X. Genus Simaetha Thorell. Records of the Western Australian Museum, 16, 499 534. Żabka, M. (2009) Salticidae (Arachnida: Araneae) from Oriental, Australian and Pacific regions: Astilodes and Urogelides, new genera from Australia. Insect Systematics & Evolution, 40, 349 359. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/139956009x12506607684832 A NEW UROBALLUS SPECIES FROM MALAYSIA Zootaxa 3894 (1) 2014 Magnolia Press 187