Calommata megae
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Ordo: Araneae
Familia: Atypidae
Genus: Calommata
Name
Calommata megae Fourie, Haddad & Jocqué sp. n. – Wikispecies link – ZooBank link – Pensoft Profile
Type material. Holotype male
ZIMBABWE: Harare, Highlands [17°48'S, 31°05'E], 13.I.2003, on soil, by hand, M. Cumming (NCA 2004/362).
Other material examined
ZIMBABWE: 1imm.: same locality as holotype, 21.II.2000, in garden, M. Cumming (NCA 2004/1361).
Diagnosis
The male of this species is recognised by the conductor that narrows and makes a half twist before broadening distally, and the obliquely orientated embolus and conductor (Figs 53–55). This species shares with Calommata tibialis sp. n. the carapace that is subequal in length and width (longer than wide in the other four species).
Etymology
The specific epithet is a patronym in honour of the collector of the holotype, Meg Cumming, in recognition of her contributions to African arachnology, particularly in Zimbabwe.
Description
Male holotype. Measurements: CL 2.00, CW 2.05, AL 2.95, AW 1.80, TL 7.00. Length of leg segments, and total: I 2.40 + 0.90 + 1.70 + 1.90 + 1.70 = 8.60; II 2.15 + 0.95 + 1.40 + 2.20 + 2.15 = 8.85; III 1.80 + 0.95 + 1.00 + 2.15 + 3.55 = 9.45; 2.35 + 1.10 + 1.28 + 2.50 + 4.35 = 11.58. Carapace index 0.98; patella-tibia index 1.30.
Carapace and chelicerae brown in colour (Fig. 1). Carapace flat and robust. Median ocular tubercle raised, darker in colour.Chelicerae with a single row of small teeth, increasing in size from fang base to base of chelicerae, with a few denticles near base of chelicerae (Fig. 12). Sternum and coxae light brown, remainder of legs dark brown, fading to light yellow-brown at tarsi. Legs weakly covered with bristles; prolateral side of patellae, tibiae and metatarsi of legs II–IV covered with spinules (thicker and shorter than bristles). Abdomen dark brown, with an irregular brown scutum present anteriorly (Fig. 1). Palpal cymbium short with rounded distal margin; embolus and conductor orientated obliquely, pointing retrolaterally towards base of chelicerae; conductor narrow, making a half twist before broadening distally, with single small curved tooth on its dorsal surface distally; embolus short and straight, slightly curved near tip (Figs 53–55).
Female. Unknown.
Distribution
Known only from the type locality (Fig. 73).
Biology
Poorly known. The holotype male was collected in mid-summer on the soil surface. The second instar juvenile specimen was captured while ballooning and landing on the porch of a house (M. Cumming, pers. comm.). Amongst atypids, ballooning has previously been recorded in both Atypus and Sphodros (Wiehle 1953 cited in Pedersen and Loeschcke 2001[1], Coyle 1983[2], Coyle et al. 1985[3]).
Original Description
- René, F; Charles R., H; Rudy, J; 2011: A revision of the purse-web spider genus Calommata Lucas, 1837 (Araneae, Atypidae) in the Afrotropical Region ZooKeys, 95: 1-28. doi
Other References
- ↑ Pedersen A, Loeschcke V (2001) Conservation genetics of peripheral populations of the mygalomorph spider Atypus affinis (Atypidae) in northern Europe. Molecular Ecology 10:1133-1142. doi:10.1046/j.1365-294X.2001.01266.x
- ↑ Coyle F (1983) Aerial dispersal by mygalomorph spiderlings (Araneae, Mygalomorphae). Journal of Arachnology 11:283-286.
- ↑ Coyle E, Greenstone M, Hultsch, A, Morgan, C (1985) Ballooning mygalomorphs: estimates of the masses of Sphodros and Ummidia ballooners (Araneae: Atypidae, Ctenizidae). Journal of Arachnology 13:291-296.
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