Biodiversity Literature Repository

Submit to community
Liberated Data
Published July 7, 2016 | Version v1
Journal article Open

New data on the spider genus Pionothele (Araneae: Nemesiidae), with description of a new species from South Africa

Authors/Creators

  • 1. The Steinhardt Museum of Natural History and Department of Zoology, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, 69978 Israel

Description

The formerly monotypic African genus Pionothele Purcell is shown to comprise two members, the type species P. straminea Purcell, 1902 and P. capensis n. sp., described here. The distribution of both sympatric species is confined to the Cape Peninsula and adjacent territories. The new species differs from P. straminea by having a noticeably better developed cheliceral rastellum, more numerous maxillary cuspules (80–90 vs 15–20) and triangular (not domed) apical segment of the posterior lateral spinnerets, as well as by the short-cylindrical (not swollen) male palpal tibia and a paddle-like embolus slightly dilated apically (thorn-like in the latter species). To compare diagnostic characters directly, the type species is also redescribed from a conspecific male. The relationships of Pionothele are briefly discussed.

Files

Zonstein_2016_IJE_PionotheleSouthAfrica.pdf

Files (6.8 MB)

Name Size Download all
md5:d2750f3b418c65f387f5f14d594afea4
6.8 MB Preview Download

Linked records

Additional details

Identifiers

LSID
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:1AB4F448-8024-40D6-98F0-02CC7D7CC150

Related works

Is part of
2224-6304 (ISSN)

References

  • Dippenaar-Schoeman, A.S. 2002. Baboon and trapdoor spiders of southern Africa: an identification manual. Plant Protection Research Institute Handbook No. 13. Agricultural Research Coun­cil, Pretoria, 128 pp.
  • Goloboff, P.A. 1995. A revision of the South American spiders of the family Nemesiidae (Araneae, Mygalomorphae). Part I: species from Peru, Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 224: 1–189.
  • Haddad, C.R. & Dippenaar-Schoeman, A.S. 2009. A checklist of the non-acarine arachnids (Che­licerata: Arachnida) of the De Hoop Nature Reserve, Western Cape Province, South Africa. Koedoe 51 (1): 17–25.
  • Hewitt, J. 1916. Descriptions of several species of Arachnida in the collection of the Durban Museum. Annals of the Durban Museum 1: 217–227.
  • Lawrence, R.F. 1937. A collection of Arachnida from Zululand. Annals of the Natal Museum 8: 211–273.
  • Main, B.Y. & Framenau, V.W. 2009. A new genus of mygalomorph spider from the Great Victoria Desert and neighbouring arid country in south-eastern Western Australia (Araneae: Ne­me­siidae). Records of the Western Australian Museum 25: 277–285.
  • Pocock, R.I. 1900. Some new Arachnida from Cape Colony. Annals and Magazine of Natural His-tory 6: 316–333.
  • Pocock, R.I. 1902. Descriptions of some new species of African Solifugae and Araneae. Annals and Ma­ga­zine of Natural History 10: 6–27.
  • Purcell, W.F. 1902. New South African trap-door spiders of the family Ctenizidae in the collection of the South African Museum. Transactions of the South African Philosophical Society 11: 348–382.
  • Purcell, W.F. 1903. New South African spiders of the families Migidae, Ctenizidae, Barychelidae, Dipluridae, and Lycosidae. Annals of the South African Museum 3: 69–142.
  • Raven, R.J. 1985. The spider infraorder Mygalomorphae (Araneae): Cladistics and systematic. Bul­letin of the American Museum of Natural History 182: 1–180.
  • Raven, R.J. 1987. A new mygalomorph spider genus from Mexico (Nemesiinae, Nemesiidae, Arachnida). Journal of Arachnology 14: 357–362.
  • Raven, R.J. & Schwendinger, P.J. 1995. Three new mygalomorph spider genera from Thailand and China (Araneae). Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 38: 623–641.
  • Simon, E. 1903a. Histoire naturelle des araignées. Vol. 2 (4). Paris: Encyclopédique Roret, pp. 669–1080.
  • Simon, E. 1903b. Descriptions de quelques genres nouveaux de la famille Aviculariides. Bulletin de la So­ciété Entomologique de France 1903: 42–44.
  • Tucker, R.W.E. 1917. On some South African Aviculariidae (Arachnida). Families Migidae, Cteni­zidae, Diplotheleae and Dipluridae. Annals of the South African Museum 17: 79–138.
  • WSC [World Spider Catalog]. 2015. World Spider Catalog. Version 16.5. Natural History Museum, Bern. (http://wsc.nmbe.ch; accessed on 15/10/2015)