Gliding canopy flatties and relatives from the Selenops banksi group (Araneae: Selenopidae)

ABSTRACT

The Selenops banksi group is known from Central America, South America, and throughout the Southern Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean and currently contains four species: S. banksi Muma, 1953 – found disjunctly from Central America across northern South America – Panama, Guyana, Brazil, Ecuador, Peru; S. micropalpus Muma, 1953 – from Dominica, Martinique, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Southern Lesser Antilles; S. ducke Corronca, 1996 only known from a single locality in Brazil, and S. curruganja sp. nov., known only from the Chocoan region of Colombia. Here, we synonymise Selenops kikay Corronca, 1996 with S. banksi, re-describe the female of S. banksi (described previously as S. kikay syn. nov.), and describe a new species of the group from Nariño and Chocó Departments in Colombia. We provide new illustrations and images, a key, new records, and update the distributional range of the group members, extending it by more than 700 km. We also briefly discuss unique aspects of some species within the group, such as camouflage by appearing mossy or lichen-like and gliding from the canopy.

http://www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:EBB43509-9E17-4F75-920A-BE332F014705

Resumen

El grupo Selenops banksi se conoce en América Central, América del Sur y en todas las Antillas Menores del Sur del Caribe y actualmente contiene cuatro especies: S. banksi Muma, 1953, que se encuentra dispersa desde América Central hasta el norte de América del Sur: Panamá, Guyana, Brasil, Ecuador, Perú; S. micropalpus Muma, 1953 - de Dominica, Martinica, Santa Lucía, San Vicente y las Granadinas, Antillas Menores del Sur; S. ducke Corronca, 1996, solo conocida en una localidad en Brasil, y S. curruganja sp. nov., conocida solo en la región chocoana de Colombia. Aquí, sinonimizamos Selenops kikay Corronca, 1996 con S. banksi, re-describimos la hembra de S. banksi (descrita previamente como S. kikay syn. nov.) y describimos una nueva especie del grupo de los departamentos de Nariño y Chocó en Colombia. Aportamos nuevas ilustraciones e imágenes, una clave, nuevos registros y actualizamos el rango de distribución de los miembros del grupo ampliándolo en más de 700 km. También discutimos brevemente los aspectos únicos de algunas especies dentro del grupo, como el camuflaje para adoptar una apariencia de musgos o líquenes y el deslizamiento desde el dosel.

KEYWORDS:

• South America
• Central America
• Lesser Antilles
• new species
• inaturalist
• citizen science
• Chocoan

PALABRAS CLAVE:

• América del Sur
• América Central
• Antillas Menores
• nueva especie
• inaturalist
• ciencia ciudadana
• región chocoana

Acknowledgements

We thank the following people for lending us specimens or photographing specimens for us: Dana DeRoche (NMNH), Adriano Kury and Carla Barros (MNRJ), L. Leibensperger (MCZ), R. Ott (MCN), and L. Sorkin (AMNH). We are grateful to Fernando Fernández Castiblanco and Eduardo Flórez D. (Universidad Nacional de Colombia) for their invitation to the field in the Pacific region of Colombia allowing the collection of the new species described here. We also thank Paul Bertner, Gernot Kunz, Projeto Mantis (https://www.projetomantis.com/), and Athena Lam for granting permission to use their photographs, to Gernot Kunz for answering many questions about natural history, Antonio Brescovit for providing collection information, Ainsley Seago and Brian Fisher for help identifying one of S. banksi’s meals, M. Grube for lichen information, and Jessica Sarmiento for translation of the abstract.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.