Ungoliant turneri (Marples, 1944)

Fig. 10

Megalopsalis turneri Marples, 1944: 313–314, fig. A.

Macropsalis turneri (Marples): Forster 1944: 192 footnote.

Forsteropsalis turneri (Marples): Giribet et al. 2021b: 842.

Holotype: FD. Male, Lake Manapouri, December 1937, F. J. Turner (OMNZ).

Specimens examined: FD. 2 males, Mt Balloon Caves, on walls in complete darkness, 26 January 1948, R. K. Dell (MONZ); 1 male, Mt Luxmore, limestone caves, 4000’, 12 April 1982, A. C. Harris (OMNZ); 1 male, west end, Te Waewae Bay, scrub at night, 19 October 1969, P. M. Johns (MONZ; measured).

Description: As for Marples (1944), with the following additions: Prosoma length 3.0; prosoma width 3.3; body length 6.5. Chelicera: segment I 6.3, segment II 8.0. Pedipalp (Fig. 10b): femur 4.4, patella 1.7, tibia 2.5, tarsus 5.2. Femur denticulate both dorsally and ventrally; patella with short finger-like mediodistal apophysis. Legs: leg I femur 8.5, patella 2.5, tibia 8.3; leg II femur 12.5, patella 2.6, tibia 13.0; leg III femur 6.6, patella 1.8, tibia 7.3; leg IV femur 9.6, patella 2.4, tibia 10.0. Distitarsus I with terminal spinose apophyses. Penis (Fig. 10c, d): Shaft and tendon elongate; bristle groups relatively long; glans short, subtriangular in ventral view, relatively narrow in lateral view.

Comments: This species was suggested to belong to Forsteropsalis by Taylor (2011) but its identity was then considered uncertain. It was later formally reassigned on the basis of molecular data by Giribet et al. (2021b). The holotype of Megalopsalis marplesi is held at the Otago Museum, though at the time that I had an opportunity to examine it (May 2014), it was contained in a glass apothecary’s jar that had been sealed with wax. This wax could not be removed in the brief time available, so I was only able to observe the holotype through the jar and could not examine close details. Nevertheless, enough could be discerned to confirm the validity of Giribet et al. ’s (2021b) reclassification, albeit with the further revision that M. marplesi belongs to the cluster of species here designated Ungoliant, and to establish its identity with other specimens collected in Fiordland. Ungoliant turneri is most readily distinguished from its congeners by its more southerly distribution, though the glans of the penis also appears narrower in lateral view than that of U. fabulosa and U. bona, and the spinose apophyses on distitarsus I are longer than those in other species (Taylor & Probert 2014).

Ungoliant turneri was described by Marples (1944) as having less inflated chelicerae than U. fabulosa, with less bow-shaped fingers. However, specimens from Mt Balloon Caves exhibited more inflated chelicerae than the holotype, and a similar specimen of U. turneri was illustrated by Vélez et al. (2014). Considering the existence of similar variation within U. photophaga, it is possible that U. fabulosa and U. bona may also prove to be polymorphic.