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).