Araneopedis buffalo, Mesibov, 2025

Araneopedis buffalo sp. nov.

Figs 4 View Figure 4 , 5 A View Figure 5 , 15 A View Figure 15

Type material.

Holotype. Male, Mt Buffalo (Vic), 0.5 km SE by E of Mt Buffalo Park Office, site HS 15-C-L 1 , -36.7281, 146.8079 ± 25 m, 1380–1400 m, coll. Nicholas Porch, 2024-04 - 13, 1 m 2 litter sample from closed shrubby subalpine woodland, NMV K 16486 GoogleMaps . Paratypes. 2 M, 5 F, details as for holotype but 0.3 km ESE of Cresta Valley carpark entrance, site HS 13-O-L 3 , -36.7655, 146.7884 ± 25 m, 1465–1485 m, open herb-rich subalpine grassland, NMV K 16488 GoogleMaps ; 1 M in 95 % EtOH, same details, NMV K 16485 GoogleMaps ; 2 M, 4 F, same details but 0.29 km SE of Mt Buffalo Park Office, site HS 15-C-L 2 , -36.7274, 146.8059 ± 25 m, 1370 m, closed shrubby subalpine woodland, NMV K 16487 GoogleMaps .

Additional material.

2 M from two other sites. See Suppl. material 1 for details.

Diagnosis.

Adult males distinguished from other species of Araneopedis gen. nov. by the posterior rings being enlarged vs of similar size to anterior rings (Fig. 5 View Figure 5 ). Distinguished from A. bogong sp. nov. by the lack of a wide distal-facing concavity in the solenomere; from A. porchi sp. nov. and A. dargo sp. nov. by the terminal division of the lateral branch of the gonopod telopodite; and from A. gibbae sp. nov. by much larger size and presence of a terminal, posteriorly directed spine on the medial branch.

Description.

As for the genus, with the following details. Male / female length ca 9.0 / 8.5 mm, maximum midbody width 0.9 / 0.8, midbody metatergite width 1.3 × prozonite width.

Telopodite base with upturned basal margin (Fig. 4 A View Figure 4 ), sparsely setose. Lateral branch arising lower on telopodite than medial branch + solenomere at ca 1 / 2 telopodite height, somewhat flattened mediolaterally, curving anterodistally, divided at ca 1 / 3 branch height into medial process and shorter lateral process with two posteriorly directed subapical teeth; medial process expanded medially as rounded tab anterior to medial branch tab, then extending distally with thin, mediolaterally flattened, pointed apex. Medial branch curving anterodistally and expanding medially as rounded tab with posteriorly directed spine arising medially on posterior surface; distal to expanded section curving posteriorly, apex truncate and extending anterolaterally as short blunt spine and posteromedially as longer, thinner spine. Lateral and medial branches reaching same height overall. Solenomere on posterior telopodite surface, thin and subcylindrical, curving first anteriorly, then distolaterally, the tip curving posterodistally; prostatic groove opening at end of tip. On anterior surface of telopodite, a mediolaterally flattened, subquadrate tab arising at level of medial branch origin, directed anteriorly.

Name.

Noun in apposition, for Mt Buffalo.

Distribution.

Collected near Mt Buffalo and Mt Buller in the Victorian mountains (Fig. 15 A View Figure 15 ), in alpine and subalpine grassland and woodland from 1370 to 1740 m.

Remarks.

This species is very similar to A. gibbae sp. nov. in gonopod structure, but the male is substantially larger (Fig. 5 A View Figure 5 ) and its posterior rings are proportionally larger than its anterior ones. The medial branch of the gonopod telopodite also differs from that of A. gibbae sp. nov. in having a terminal, posteriorly directed spine rather than a subterminal one. Females of this species are substantially smaller than males from the same site.