The first Hapalotremus Simon, 1903 (Araneae: Theraphosidae) from Argentina: description and natural history of Hapalotremus martinorum sp. nov.

Abstract

A new species of Hapalotremus Simon, 1903 from northern Argentina is described and illustrated. Hapalotremus martinorum sp. nov. differs from all other congeners by the colour pattern of live specimens. Males differ in the male palpal bulb morphology, with thickened and less curved embolus having a blunt subapical keel and less-developed apical keel. Females differ in the shape of the spermathecae, with the lateral bases more pronounced than the superiors and the upper edge more rounded. Specimens were captured inhabiting short burrows or crevices under stones in high cloud forests. Hapalotremus cyclothorax (Mello-Leitão 1923) is a junior synonym of Homoeomma montanum (Mello-Leitão, 1923), Hapalotremus scintillans (Mello-Leitão 1929) is a junior synonym of Pachistopelma rufonigrum Pocock, 1901, Hapalotremus exilis (Mello-Leitão 1923) and Hapalotremus muticus (Mello-Leitão 1923) are considered species inquirenda.

http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:1758F6FD-8883-445D-A757-0AC7E120DCF6

Keywords:

• taxonomy
• theraphosid
• South America
• Neotropical
• Yungas

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Martin Hüsser and Martin Gamache for sharing the Salta survey and discovery of the new species, to family and friends for their support and to colleagues Sofía Copperi, Gabriel Pompozzi and Leonela Schwerdt from the Universidad Nacional del Sur (Bahía Blanca). Thanks to Rick West, Fernando Pérez.-Miles and Jorge Barneche for their valuable comments on the manuscript. Special thanks go to Fernando Pérez-Miles and Fabian Vol who kindly provided most of the Hapalotremus bibliography, images and illustrations from type material. P.E.C. is grateful to Dr Raúl H. Madero for his guidance and advice and N.E.F. is a researcher of CONICET.