Zuniga magna Peckham & Peckham 1892

Zuniga magna Peckham & Peckham, 1892

Figs. 10-16

Zuniga magna Peckham & Peckham, 1892: 43, pl. 4, fig 1a-c (male holotype from Amazonas, Pebas [probably Peru, Loreto, Pebas in the Amazonian region, not described in that paper, and described by Galiano, 1964a: 75] and female allotype from Brazil, Santarem, both deposited in MCZ 21960, not examined). Simon, 1901 a: 519-521, figs. 620-622. Petrunkevitch, 1911: 718. Mello-Leitão, 1933: 69-70. Galiano, 1964a: 75-78, pl. 1, figs 8-15, pl. 2, figs 17, 20-21, pl. 3, figs. 22-23 (redescribed the species). Galiano, 1965: 310. Galiano, 1981: 15. Bodner, 2002: 73. Alvarez- Padilla Laboratory, 2014. World Spider Catalog, 2015.

Sarinda formosa Banks, 1929: 73, pl. 1, fig 6 (male holotype from Panamá, Barro Colorado Island, deposited in MCZ 25730, not examined). Chickering, 1946: 447-449, fig 413-415 (transferred to the genus Zuniga). Jackowska & Prószyński, 1975: 42, fig 4b (gives a diagrammatic illustration of the female copulatory organ). Synonymized by Galiano (1964a: 75).

Zuniga melzeri Mello-Leitão, 1933: 69, 71-72, pl. 3, fig 10 (female holotype from Brazil, São Paulo, Morro [Mato] do Governo, deposited in MNRJ 14066, not examined). Synonymized by Galiano (1964a: 75).

Simprulloides xanthurus Mello-Leitão, 1933: 85, pl. 2, fig 14 (juvenile holotype from Brazil, Paraná, Rio Negro, deposited in MNRJ 14080, not examined). Synonymized by Galiano (1981: 15).

Arindas ornatus Mello-Leitão, 1933: 88-89, pl. 3, fig 15 (male holotype from Brazil, Paraná, Rio Negro, deposited in MNRJ 14061, not examined). Synonymized by Galiano (1964a: 75).

Sarinda elongata Mello-Leitão, 1940: 189, fig 30 (male holotype from British Guiana, Moraballi Creek, Essequibo River, deposited in BMNH 2936, not examined). Synonymized by Galiano (1965: 310).

Material examined. Argentina, Misiones, Oberá, [27.488324°S, 55.12204°W], [323 m], Nov 1986, 1♀, Galiano, Gonzales Miranda (MACN). Brazil, Amazonas, São Gabriel da Cachoeira, [0.240277°N, 68.032222°W], [86 m], 28 Sep 1990, 1♀, A.A. Lise (MCTP 1170). Bahía, Camacau, Fazenda Matiapa, [15.415788°S, 39.49449°W], [194 m], 16 Oct 1978, 1♂, J. S. Santos (FZB 11257); Mucurí, Fazenda Escalvoda, [18.077326°S, 39.561188°W], [2 m], 14 Sep 1979, 1♂, A.C. Niella (FZB 11203); Mucurí, Fazenda Paissandú, [18.077326°S, 39.561188°W], [2 m], 15 Apr 1979, 1♂, A.C. Niella (FZB 11385); UruÇuca, Fazenda Almada, [14.596458°S, 39.286179°W], [95 m], 26 Nov 1977, 1♂, 1♀, J. S. Santos (FZB 10279, 11330). Espirito Santo, Linhares, Suoretama, [19.378523°S, 40.00989°W], [20 m], Oct 1962, 1♂, A. Martínez (MACN). Colombia, Valle del Cauca, Buenaventura, Bajo Calima, [3.998055°N, 76.969444°W], 25 m, 18 Jun 1982, 1♂, no collector (ICN-Ar 7068).

Diagnosis. Somatically the species can be differentiated from Z. laeta by the dorsal eye field occupying 34- 38% of the total length of the prosoma (Figs. 10, 14), with distinct radiating prosomal grooves and a brown prosoma and abdomen (in alcohol and in life), with an “inverted-V” white mark above the abdominal constriction (Figs. 10, 13-14). Males can distinguished by the short and distally dilated femur of the palp, with embolus directed forward (Figs. 15-16). Females can be distinguished from those of Z. laeta by their epigyne, with larger rounded pits (Fig. 12), and the chitinous septum reaching the height of the spermathecae on the anterior side, and copulatory ducts longer and convoluted. For more diagnostic characters see Galiano (1964a: 70). The specimen shown here has a slender sternum (Fig. 11).

Distribution. Mexico (San Luis Potosí), Costa Rica (Heredia), Panama (Canal Zone Biological Area, Barro Colorado Island), British Guiana (Cuyuni-Mazaruni region), Colombia (Valle del Cauca), Brazil (Amazonas, Bahía, Espirito Santo, São Paulo, Paraná), Peru (Loreto), and Argentina (Misiones) (Fig. 19). This includes new northernmost and southernmost records for the species, and new genus records for Argentina (Misiones Province, after Rubio, 2014) and Colombia. In Brazil, this includes new records from the Amazonas, Bahía and Espirito Santo states. The known altitudinal range is 0- 800 m. Mexican records of the species are based on the high-definition diagnostic images of the Alvarez-Padilla Laboratory (2014).

This species has been collected in a conserved low-land Chocoan wet forest in Colombia (Fig. 18), beating vegetation in a second-growth clearing forest in Costa Rica (Bodner, 2002), and a 25-35 year old remnant tropical forest in México (Alvarez-Padilla Laboratory, 2014). There are some unconfirmed records of the species from Peru, Junín (MCZ 25866) and Costa Rica, Guanacaste (MCZ 25666) identified by M.E. Galiano and G. Bodner in the MCZ on-line catalogue, respectively (Fig. 19).