THE GENUS HAMATALIWA KEYSERLING (ARANEAE: OXYOPIDAE) IN AUSTRALIA WITH DESCRIPTION OF TWO NEW SPECIES

Abstract

Two new species of spiders from northern Australia are placed in Humutaliwu Keyserling, the first record of this genus in Australia. H. cooki sp.n. is described from both sexes from Queensland and the Northern Territory, but H. monroei sp.n. is known only from females collected in Queensland and the Torres Strait. A key to females is given. IntroductionHamataliwa Keyserling has not previously been recorded from Australia. The genus was established in 1887 for Hamataliwa grisea Keyserling from "North America" and the type specimen is now in the Keyserling collection in the British Museum (Natural History) London. The type locality is either Florida or Virginia (Bryant 1948).Hamataliwa has a confusing history. It was originally placed in the Agalenoidae by Keyserling. In 1894. 0. Pickard-Cambridge established Oxyopeidon in the Oxyopidae, describing 7 new species, but without designating a type species. One of these species, 0. facile was transferred to Hamataliwa, now within the Oxyopidae, by F.O. Pickard-Cambridge in 1902. In that same paper, he designated Oxyopeidon putum 0. Pickard-Cambridge as the type species of Oxyopeidon and synonymised Emmenophrys Simon, 1898 with Hamataliwa.The distinction between Hamataliwa and Oxyopeidon relied heavily on eye pattern, which however, often differs between males and females of the same species. Bryant (1 948) pointed out that differences in eye pattern are small and variable and stated "unless some other difference can be found, the genus Oxyopeidon must be considered as a synonym of Hamataliwa Keyserling". After examining large numbers of oxyopids from "all parts of the world Brady (1964) synonymised Oxyopeidon with Hamataliwa and redefined Hamataliwa. He stated that "the arrangement of the eyes is not a valid criterion for separating genera". He emphasised the structure of the female epigynum and the male palpi, particularly the shape of the embolus.In 1970, Brady reconsidered the genus Hamataliwa based on material from Mexico and central America, and described 3 species-groups. He transferred several species from Oxyopes to Hamataliwa. For this revision, Brady examined 22 type specimens of species previously referred to Hamataliwa, Oxyopeidon or Oxyopes. I have examined 17 of these specimens and agree with Brady's concept of the genus which is based on general body shape and colouring, and structure of the genitalia. There are, however variations of eye pattern and mouthpart proportions in the genus and these are reflected in Brady's 3 species-groups. The Australian fauna shows greatest affinity with his banksi group.The 2 new species described below are placed in Hamataliwa sensu Brady, even though they differ markedly from the type species, H. grisea, in the shape of the labium and maxillae. These structures have not previously been considered in the taxonomy of oxyopids. There is, however, a clear difference in their shape between the genera Oxyopes and Peucetia, and there is variation within Oxyopes itself.

Phylogenetic significance of the morphology of the cuticular scales of the lynx spiders (Araneae: Oxyopidae)

“…In contrast, spiders in the genus Hamataliwa do not build webs, but instead, ambush their prey. These spiders occur on shrubs and the bark of trees (Brady, 1964(Brady, , 1970Grimshaw, 1989), and possess legs that are best suited for running, not jumping (leg III is longer or equal in length to leg IV). In the genus Oxyopes, spiders actively hunt their prey or may use an ambush strategy (Whitcomb, Hile & Eason, 1966;Whitcomb & Eason, 1967;Cutler, Jennings & Moody, 1977).…”

“…For several species, we were unable to acquire adults of both sexes (Table 1). In these instances, we ascertained the reproductive morphology of the missing sex (if described) by examining line drawings presented in either original descriptions or taxonomic revisions, such as those by Lessert (1915, 1927, 1946), Mello Leitao (1929, Sherriffs (1951Sherriffs ( , 1955, Brady (1964Brady ( , 1970Brady ( , 1975, Grimshaw (1989), Van Niekerk & Dippenaar-Schoeman (1994), and Vink & Sirvid (1998). In addition to the taxa listed in Table 1, we also borrowed the holotypes of 2 additional species, Hamataliwa tuberculatum (Chamberlin, 1925) from the MCZ, and Tapponia insulana (Thorell, 1891) from the ZMUC.…”

The Australian Lynx Spiders (Araneae, Oxyopidae, Oxyopes) of the Godeffroy Collection, including the description of a new species

“…Generic concepts in oxyopids are in flux and the current classification of the Australian fauna can only be achieved through a detailed analysis (Grimshaw 1989). On a smaller scale, it is interesting that our study also highlights that Koch's original species hypothesis are not set in stone and the collections by him can lead to surprises.…”

“…It should now be possible to identify new species by comparison with the descriptions we have produced here for the old specimens, assess species boundaries based on morphology, and generic concepts that are clearly imprecise at the moment (but see Grimshaw 1989).…”

“…Compiled on behalf of Johann Cesar VI Godeffroy for his private Museum Godeffroy in Hamburg from 1861 to 1885, this is arguably the oldest major collection of arachnids from Australia and still one of the primary Here, we redescribe, illustrate and designate Lectotypes, where necessary, for the oxyopid species that were collected for the Godeffroy Collection more than 140 years ago in Australia. There is no taxonomic revision for oxyopids in Australia and the published record of Australian Oxyopidae lists 14 species of Oxyopes and four additional species in the genera Hamataliwa, Peucetia and Pseudohostus (ALA 2017;Grimshaw 1989) although up to 60 species may occur (Framenau et al 2014;Whyte and Anderson 2017).…”