Battalus byrneae, Raven, 2015

Battalus byrneae View in CoL sp. nov.

( Figs 5a View FIGURE 5 , 22a–i View FIGURE 22 , 23a–e View FIGURE 23 . Map 6)

Material. Tasmania: holotype ♂, Flat Rock ( Chauncey Vale), 42.60415°S, 147.27390°E, moth light trap at night, 20 March 2010, C. Byrne, R. Raven, TMAG J4149 View Materials . Paratypes GoogleMaps : Tasmania: (allotype) ♀, taken with holotype, TMAG J4570 View Materials ; 1♂ 1♀, Forth Falls, 41°23'S, 146°13'E, 28 Dec 1926, V. V. Hickman, AM KS28954 ; 1♀, Queens Domain, Hobart , 42°52'S, 147°19'E, 2 Dec 1963, V. V. Hickman, in rolled bark on ground, AM KS29040 ; 3♂, same data but October 1968, AM KS29014 ; 1♀, Mt GoogleMaps Wellington near Summit , 42°54'S, 147°14'E, 28 Nov 1963, V. V. Hickman, in nests under flat stones one with eggs in nest, AM KS29127 ; 1♂, Mt GoogleMaps Wellington, 42°54'S, 147°14'E, 10 Dec 1963, J.L. Hickman, AM KS29128 ; 3♀, Trevallyn, in curled bark on ground, 23 May 1931, V. V. Hickman, AM KS29007 ; 2♀, Bicheno Lookout, 41°52'S, 148°18'E, 60m, dry eucalypt bark on granite in rolled bark on ground, L.J. Boutin, May 1996, TMAG J4531 View Materials ; female, same data but Jan 1998, TMAG J3580 View Materials ; 1♀, Freycinet National Park, 42°09'S, 148°18'E, dry eucalypt bark on granite, L.J. Boutin, 27 May 1996, TMAG J4530 View Materials ; 4♂, Knocklofty Reserve , 42°53'S, 147°18'E, L.J. Boutin, 29 Nov 1998, TMAG J3544 View Materials GoogleMaps .

Diagnosis. Differs from B. diadens sp. nov. by the entirely black carapace and abdomen with larger white spot over the spinnerets ( Fig. 22a View FIGURE 22 ); females differ in the smaller, more widely spaced copulatory fossae ( Fig. 23a View FIGURE 23 ) and males in the shorter embolus tip ( Fig. 23c View FIGURE 23 ).

Etymology. The specific epithet is honour of Dr Catherine Byrne, moth taxonomist and Senior Curator, Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, who masterfully organised the first Bush Blitz expedition to Tasmania, on which the types were collected and, at whose moth Bucket (night) traps, the spiders were taken.

Description Holotype male TMAG J4149

Carapace 4.11 long, 2.74 wide. Abdomen 3.71 long, 2.36 wide. Total length 7.8.

Colour: dark brown with four fine lines of white hairs radiating from fovea along caput margin and posterior striae. Abdomen dark brown with 4–5 pairs of spots of white hair, anterior pair largest, with three distinct but smaller pairs behind that. Tongue-like abdominal scute for 0.4 of length dorsally; venter brown with pair of lines of pallid spots laterally; no ventral scute. Legs all orange brown. Carapace and chelicerae glabrous. Chelicerae with 2R, 2P with long diagonal fangs. Sternum and coxae glabrous, smooth. RCH not evident. Femur IV distally unmodified. Spines: prolateral spines on tibiae I and II, and metatarsi II. Basal and distal spines on tibiae I and II small. Ventral palpal femur with two bristles; two spines basally on cymbium. I: fe pv1p2d3; pa 0; ti p1v2.2.2.2; me v2.2. II: fe pv1p2d3r1; pa 0; ti p2v2.2.2.2; me p1v2.2. III: fe p3d3r3; pa (d1.1); ti p2r2v2.2.2; me p2r2v2.2.4. IV: as III but fe p1d3r1; pa0. Palp: p1d2; pa (p1d1.1); ti p2r2; cymbium pv2. Abdomen: tracheal spiracle a broad curved ridge in broad plate. Palp: bulb with small pre-distal keel twisting to small straight conical tip; paracymbial spine small, rounded; basal cymbium wide ventrally.

Allotype Female TMAG J4570 View Materials . As male but:

Carapace 3.36 long, 2.24 wide. Abdomen 4.96 long, 3.04 wide. Total length 8.5.

Colour: carapace black; abdomen dark brown dorsally; dorsal scute small, triangular, on anterior face; distal femur IV brown, otherwise legs yellow. Chelicerae: fang shield strong with 10 long curved thick serrate setae. Spines: prolaterally on tibiae and metatarsi II; patellae I–IV with long erect bristle distally and basally. I: fe pv1p2d3; pa 0; ti v2.2.2.(2); me v2.2. II: fe pv2p2d3r1; pa 0; ti p2v2.2.2.2; me p1v2.2. III: fe p3d3r3; pa 0; rest like male. IV: fep2d3r1; rest like male but ti also with or without dorsal spine. Palp: fe p1d2(v4 long and 1 short bristles); pa d1.1; ti p1d2; ta p2(basal) r1. Tracheal scute as in male. Epigyne: copulatory openings ovoid, separated by slightly more than twice their length; internally, head large, unequally folded with distinct accessory lobe, posterior ducts short.

Distribution and Habitat. Known from eucalypt forest from Trevallyn near Launceston in northern Tasmanian to southern and eastern Tasmania, near Chaunceyvale, around Mount Wellington and the Queens Domain, Hobart. Significantly, some material from around Hobart was taken in 1963, not long before Black Tuesday (February 7, 1967) in which, during 5 hours, fires ravaged 264,000 hectares, including the Queens Domain; 900 people were injured, 60 people died and thousands were left homeless. However, V.V. Hickman took material (AM KS29014) in October 1968, so this species was able to recover.