Lycosa gesserit Steinpress & Cohen & Pétillon & Chipman & Gavish-Regev 2022, sp. nov

Lycosa gesserit sp. nov. urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: A5A1F6AD-14B4-488F-BC74-A2B5E240A86B Figs 1, 2B, 3B, 4B, 5B, 6B, 7B, 8B, 12B, 23–24 Diagnosis Male Recognized by pedipalp structure: TAT not bent posteriorly, directed retrolaterally. Contrasts with L. hyraculus sp. nov. by having TAT shorter than TAC (TAT as long as TAC in L. hyraculus sp. nov.). Contrasts with all other known males of Lycosa, with TAT bent posteriorly (Figs 2B, 3B, 4B, 5B, 6B, 7B, 8B). Female Unknown. Etymology Species named after the order of Bene Gesserit, from Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel, Dune. Type material Holotype ISRAEL – Negev • ♂; Har Karkom; [30.28° N, 34.74° E]; 7 Sep. 2017; E. Gavish-Regev; col. sub.; collected at night; HUJ INV-AR20631. Description Male HOLOTYPE MEASUREMENTS.AME diameter:0.2;ALE diameter:0.18;PME diameter:0.8;PLE diameter:0.7; carapace length: 6.6; carapace width: 4.8; carapace maximal height: 2.1; abdomen length: 5.2; leg I (Fe, Pa, Ti, Mt, Tr): 5.5, 2.5, 4.9, 5.5, 2.8; leg II: 5.1, 2.3, 4.6, 5.3, 2.9; leg III: 4.9, 2.4, 4.1, 5.9, 2.3; leg IV: 6, 2.6, 5.5, 8.2, 3.4. CARAPACE. Ocular area>⅓ length of carapace, distinctly raised, making the carapace between PLE and fovea appear slightly concave in profile. COLOR. Carapace cream colored, with dark brown median bands, darker on margins, connecting to dark ocular area. Perimeter light brown. Sternum grey. Chelicerae reddish-brown. Abdomen yellow infused with light brown dorsad, cardiac mark brown, darker on margins. Abdomen venter with black patch surrounding epigastric fold, connecting to two parallel black bars stretching towards spinnerets (Π shaped patch). Spinnerets brown. Legs cream colored, infused with brown dorsad, yellow-grey ventrad, to reddish-brown distad, with two black bands on tibia. Coxae dark grey, trochanters brown. Pedipalps yellow, to dark brown distad (Figs 6B, 7B, 8B). GENITALIA. Genital opening sclerotized, similar to subadult epigyne. Cymbium reddish-brown. Tegular apophysis (TA) lying flat on bulb, oriented retrolaterally. TAT highly sclerotized, dark brown, not bent posteriorly (unlike most other species of Lycosa), but slightly bent ventrad. Crest of TA (CTA) with smooth edge, and abrupt, rounded end at base of TAT. TAT shorter than width of CTA. Tip of conductor membranous, triangular, with smooth edges. Synembolus with large, slightly sclerotized lobe (SEL), on retrolateral edge (Figs 2B, 3B, 4B, 5B, 12B). LEGS. Metatarsus I ventral spination: 2 pairs + apical triplet. Tibia I ventral spination: 2 pairs + apical pair. Tarsus with scopula. Natural history This species is nocturnal. A single juvenile male was collected at night, in September, at 650 m a.s.l., in a stony plain near Har Karkom, a secluded tableland in the hyperarid desert (annual precipitation L. hyraculus sp. nov., it makes a burrow with a trapdoor. Shares habitat with L. piochardi. Reproductive season unknown. Distribution ISRAEL. Possibly endemic to the Har Karkom tableland or found throughout hyperarid zone. Records ISRAEL: Negev (Har Karkom) (Fig. 1). Relationships According to our molecular phylogeny, this species is the sister taxon of Lycosa hyraculus sp. nov., and closely related to Lycosa oculata, Lycosa aff. oculata 1 and Lycosa aff. oculata 2 (Figs21–24). Cephalothorax is similar to Lycosa macrophthalma Nadolny & Zamani, 2020 and it might be related to it as well. The single known male specimen was raised in the laboratory for two molts. This has probably affected the size of the adult spider. Even though we have observed an aberrant morphology in the genitalia of females grown in lab conditions, we have not observed the same in males, either of L. piochardi or of L. hyraculus sp. nov. We consider it highly probable that the diagnostic characters in the male’s pedipalp were not affected by the laboratory conditions. Although genitalia of other males of Lycosa grown in our laboratory did not show distortions (see discussion about distortions of female genitalia), we cannot dismiss the possibility that the pedipalps of specimens in the wild are somewhat different to the type specimen, which was raised in the laboratory. Notes The locality where the type was found is a remote and not easily reachable nature reserve, encircled by army training areas, that are closed to the public most of the year. There are only few occasions every year that access to the public is possible. As of the writing of this paper, we have not succeeded in collecting additional specimens.
Published as part of Steinpress, Igor Armiach, Cohen, Mira, Pétillon, Julien, Chipman, Ariel D. & Gavish-Regev, Efrat, 2022, Lycosa Latreille, 1804 (Araneae, Lycosidae) of Israel, with a note on Geolycosa Montgomery, 1904, pp. 1-54 in European Journal of Taxonomy 832 (1) on pages 14-17, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2022.832.1877, http://zenodo.org/record/6916850
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