Myrmarachne bicolor, (L. KOCH, 1879)

MYRMARACHNE BICOLOR (L. KOCH, 1879) View in CoL

Salticus bicolor L. Koch, 1879: 1055 ; pl. 93, fig. 2 (D ♂). Myrmarachne bicolor Rainbow (1911): 282 View in CoL . Myrmarachne rubra Ceccarelli, 2010: 246 View in CoL ; figs 1 – 9 (D ♂ ♀) syn. nov. ‘ Myrmarachne spp. ’ Davies & Zabka _ (1989): 203, fig. 10, drawings of ♂ (habitus, palp, chelicera, leg).

Type material

Australia. QLD: 1♂ holotype ( ZMH, 16506) , Peak Downs (23 ° 04 0 S, 148 ° 19 0 E).

Material examined

Australia. QLD: 1♀ ( QMB, S100144 View Materials ) (20 March 2013; I. Macaulay) Ingham   GoogleMaps (18 ° 39 0 16.27 ″ S, 146 ° 9 0 11.06 ″ E); 1♂ ( QMB, S100146 View Materials ) (11 November 2013; I. Macaulay) same locality (18 ° 39 0 18.39 ″ S, 146 ° 9 0 12.67 ″ E); 1♀ ( QMB, S100145 View Materials ) (1 March 2012; I. Macaulay) same locality; 1♀ ( QMB, S100147 View Materials ) (15 November 2012; I. Macaulay) same locality; 1♂ ( QMB, S100148 View Materials ) (15 November 2012; I. Macaulay) same locality; 1♂ ( MUB) (21 April 2014; I. Macaulay) same locality; 1♂ ( MUB) (21 April 2014; I. Macaulay) same locality; 1♂ ( QMB, S100131 View Materials ) (5 November 2014; I. Macaulay) same locality (18 ° 39 0 18.39 ″ S, 146 ° 9 0 12.67 ″ E); 1♂ ( QMB, S100149 View Materials ) (22 March 2013; I. Macaulay) near Townsville (19 ° 24 0 28.32 ″ S, 146 ° 44 0 3.53 ″ E); 1♂ ( AMS, KS.22137) (11 May 1975; N.C. Coleman) Gordonvale (17 ° 06 0 S, 145 ° 47 0 E) ; 1♀ ( AMS, KS.103148) (3 March 2008; G. Milledge, H. Smith) Emerald Creek Falls   GoogleMaps , picnic area (17 ° 03 0 11 ″ S, 145 ° 32 0 29 ″ E); 1♂ ( QMB, S44254 View Materials ) (19 December 1997; G. Monteith, D.J. Cook) Expedition Ra NP, ‘Amphitheatre’ yards, open forest (25 ° 13 0 0.012 ″ S, 149 ° 1 0 0.12 ″ E); 3♂♂, 4♀♀ ( QMB, S41398 View Materials ) (December 1971 – January 1972; N. Clyde, N. Coleman) Trinity Beach (16 ° 46 0 59.988 ″ S, 145 ° 42 0 E) ; 1♀ ( MUB) (25 March 2014; S. Pek ar �) Cairns   GoogleMaps , Cairns Botanic Gardens (16 ° 53 0 57.563 ″ S, 145 ° 44 0 59.953 ″ E); 1♂ ( QMB, S66648 View Materials ) (11 March 200; F.S. Ceccarelli) Townsville (19 ° 19 0 39 ″ S, 146 ° 45 0 32 ″ E); 1♀ ( QMB, S73296 View Materials ) (5 June 1993; B.M. Baehr) 1 km south of Dimbulah (17 ° 10 0 S, 145 ° 06 0 E) ; 1♀ ( AMS, KS.81341) (18 October 2002; M. Zabka _) Atherton area   GoogleMaps (17 ° 16 0 S, 145 ° 29 0 E) ; 1♂ ( AMS, KS.5770) (15 June 1970; N.C. Coleman) Wolfram   GoogleMaps (17 ° 05 0 S, 144 ° 57 0 E) . NT, 1♂ ( QMB, 73289) (5 November 1984; B. Baehr) Fog Dam   GoogleMaps (12 ° 34 0 10.9 ″ S, 131 ° 18 0 23. 6 ″ E) .

Diagnosis

For details, see Ceccarelli (2010). Myrmarachne bicolor is most closely related to M. macleayana . Both sexes differ from this species by smaller body size and red/black body coloration. Males of M. bicolor further differ in the absence of apophysis on chelicera, wider and shorter RTA, longer and S – shaped embolus, and females in the presence of appendices on spermathecae. This species is not diagnosable using DNA data (see below).

Description

Male: For a detailed description, see Ceccarelli (2010). Measurements: PTB = 0.79. Colour ( Fig. S1A View Figure 1 ): chelicera black, carapace yellow – brown, wedge of white hairs laterally on prosoma at the constriction; leg segments Cx I and II pale; abdomen red to black laterally, with white band. Morphology: chelicereae on prolateral margin with five strong teeth, one small tooth near the base; fangs slightly sinusoid, tip curved ( Fig. 1A, B View Figure 1 ); leg spines Ti I and Mt I each with two ventral pairs; palpal cymbium oval, tegulum large, embolus long, coiled twice, distantly S – shaped, can be extending out of cymbium ( Figs 1C View Figure 1 , 2A); RTA narrow, slightly sinusoid, flange of RTA developed, rectangular ( Figs 1D View Figure 1 , 2B).

Female: For a detailed description, see Ceccarelli (2010). Colour ( Fig. S1B View Figure 1 ): as in males. Morphology: epigyne with oval, pale atria, two times wider than septum; spermathecae elongate, situated above septum ( Figs 1E View Figure 1 , 3A View Figure 3 ); spermathecae oval, anteriorly each with an appendix, copulatory ducts not twisted ( Fig. 1F View Figure 1 ).

Natural history

This species seems to imitate the ant Opisthopsis haddoni Emery, 1893 .

Distribution

Australia: QLD, NT ( Fig. 4A View Figure 4 ).

Remarks

In all characters males of M. bicolor and M. rubra are identical. According to Ceccarelli (2010), Myrmarachne gurgulla Ceccarelli, 2010 differs from M. rubra only in the size of chelicera and in coloration. A lack of material prevented more detailed comparative analysis. We suggest that M. gurgulla is most likely a form of M. bicolor . Davies & Zabka _ (1989) provide drawings of an unidentified species (M. sp.). Based on the shape of chelicera and structures of palp we identified it as M. bicolor . In the same illustration Davies & Zabka _ (1989) combined a male of this species with a female of M. luctuosa f. aurea (see below).