Kukulcania cochimi Magalhaes & Ramírez 2019, sp. nov.

Kukulcania cochimi, sp. nov.

Figures 4B, 5G, 7B, 37–40

TYPE MATERIAL: HOLOTYPE: MEXICO. Baja California: Bahía de Los Angeles, in building [N28.95192°, W113.56243°], V. Roth, 15.i.1965, 1♂, in the same vial as 2 imm. (AMNH IZC00326328, IFM-1594). PARATYPES: MEXICO. Baja California: Isla Espiritu Santo [N24.46739°, W110.3428°], B. Firstman, 23.iii.1953, 1♀ (AMNH). Baja California Sur: no further data, 1♀ (CAS 9060649); 13.4 miles S Loreto, Chuenque [N25.82848°, W111.3319°], D. Ubick, 13.i.1982, 1♀ (CAS 9060494); under volc. cbl., 2.i.1982, 1♀ (CAS 9060436); Isla Carmen, Puerto Ballandro [N25.97747°, W111.15335°], collector illegible, 21.v.1921, 1♀ (MCZ 145040); Isla San José, night collecting [N24.97103°, W110.62881°], B. Firstman, 25.iii.1953, 5♀ 3 imm. (AMNH IZC00326324, IFM-1635), night collecting, 3♀ 3 imm. (AMNH); 1♀ 3 imm. (AMNH); near boy’s prison, 2♀ 1 imm. (AMNH); Isla Tortuga [N27.43608°, W111.88683°], J.C. Chamberlin, 11.v.1921, 1♀ (MCZ 145038), 1♀ (MCZ 145039); La Purísima [N26.18554°, W112.07596°], 1♂ (CAS 9060641); road to Sierra San Francisco, mostly under rocks, night collecting (N27.4899°, W113.1881°), M. Hedin, P. Paquin and S. Crews, 31.iii.2002, 1♂ (SDSU G264); San Ignacio, palm grove, under cbl. [N27.28207°, W112.89545°], D. Ubick, 31.xii.1981, 1♀ (CAS 9060464); San José de Comondú, canyon [N26.05858°, W111.8237°], V. Roth, 15.ii.1966, 1♀ 1 imm. (AMNH). NO DATA. Marx Collection, label reads: “Galapagos, Marx collection, careful of loc. data”—specimen certainly mislabeled, 1♀ (USNM).

ETYMOLOGY: The Cochimi were indigenous people originally inhabiting parts of the Baja California peninsula before the arrival of the Spanish in America. Their language and culture became extinct around 1900, after their population declined due to contact with Old World diseases. To be treated as a noun in apposition.

DIAGNOSIS: Males are easily recognizable by the very large and conspicuous keel in the embolus (fig. 38D–E) and by the first tibia and metatarsus bearing few prolateral macrosetae (fig. 37E). Females can be distinguished by the slender, curved, and long sclerotized bars, by the subrounded membranous portion of the spermathecae apex, and by having the spermathecal pores distributed in several small patches (instead of a single, large patch) (figs. 7B, 40). Females can also be distinguished from other species from the Baja California Peninsula by their orange brown coloration (usually darker in other species) and by their relatively longer and more slender legs.

DESCRIPTION: Male holotype from Bahía de Los Angeles, Baja California, Mexico (AMNH IZC00326328) (figs. 37, 38A–D). Coloration faded light orange. Carapace with radial brownish-orange markings. Abdomen dorsum grayish yellow. Clypeus short. Sternum oval, with two pairs of barely visible sigillae. Total length 6.08. Carapace length 2.79, width 2.39, clypeus length 0.3. Eye diameters and interdistances: AME 0.139; PME 0.187; ALE 0.221; PLE 0.219; AME– AME 0.073; PME–PME 0.223. Sternum length 1.44, width 1.38. Palp: femur length 3.84, height 0.36; tibia length 3.54, height 0.42. Leg I: femur (fe) 6.85; patella (pa) 1.38; tibia (ti) 7.56; metatarsus (mt) 8.01; tarsus (ta) 3.54. II: fe 5.56; pa 1.09; ti 5.44; mt 6.15; ta 2.79. III: fe 4.86; pa 1.17; ti 4.3; mt 5.6; ta 2.62. IV: fe 6.27; pa 1.26; missing from tibia. Abdomen: length 3.49, width 1.64. Palp macrosetae in several rows along femur ventral and dorsal faces. Leg macrosetae: fe I 11d, 1p, 30v, 32r; ti I 3p, 12v, 2r; mt I 2p, 16v, 2r; ta I 6v; fe II 10d, 1p, 17v, 4r; ti II 3d, 4p, 7v, 3r; mt II 2d, 4p, 11v, 4r; ta II 9v; fe III 10d, 2p, 17v, 1r; ti III 3d, 3p, 5v, 3r; mt III 3d, 4p, 9v, 4r; ta III 8v; fe IV 9d, 17v, 1r; ti IV?; mt IV?; ta IV?. Palp: cymbium about as long as bulb, with anterior border bearing a ring of setae that end close to the embolus; bulb short, robust; sperm duct with three tightly packed coils; embolus short, curved, with a broad, flattened and very conspicuous keel. State of the specimen: poor, right legs I and II and both legs IV missing from tibia, left palp dissected, missing most of the setae and macrosetae.

Female paratype from Isla San José, Baja California, Mexico (AMNH IZC00326324). Coloration dark orange-brown. Carapace stippled with dark brown. Sternum orange, not particularly hirsute. Legs not particularly hirsute, with lightbrown longitudinal stripes on coxae, femora and tibiae. Abdomen dorsum brown. Anterior margin of the carapace unmodified. Sternum oval, with two pairs of sigillae. Total length 10.91. Carapace length 4.8, width 3.64, clypeus length 0.85. Eye diameters and interdistances: AME 0.21; PME 0.266; ALE 0.331; PLE 0.312; AME– AME 0.058; PME–PME 0.248. Sternum length 2.39, width 2.38. Palp: femur length 2.84, height 0.91; tibia length 1.76, height 0.798. Leg I: femur (fe) 6.41; patella (pa) 1.62; tibia (ti) 6.33; metatarsus (mt) 5.49; tarsus (ta) 3.05. II: fe 4.96; pa 1.63; ti 4.56; mt 4.24; ta 2.34. III: fe 4.25; pa 1.51; ti 3.48; mt 3.97; ta 2.09. IV: fe 5.7; pa 1.58; ti 4.88; mt 4.99; ta 2.38. Abdomen: length 6.42, width 3.5. Palp macrosetae on ventral surface of tibia and tarsus. Leg macrosetae present on ventral surfaces of tibiae, metatarsi, and tarsi; all femora 4–6 dorsal macrosetae, metatarsus III with two dorsal macrosetae. Calamistrum with three rows with 9–14 setae each. Interpulmonary fold large, rounded, covering the spermathecae dorsally. Sclerotized lateral bars present, slender, curved, posteriorly slightly notched; membranous portion of the spermathecae apex lobelike, wide; glandular portion present as several small patches bearing glandular pores, positioned ventrally to the membranous portion. State of the specimen: good, genitalia dissected.

INTRASPECIFIC VARIATION: Females (N = 3): total length 10.51–11.32 (10.91), carapace length 4.09–4.8 (4.55), femur I length 5.82–6.41 (6.17), tibia I length 6.33–6.37 (6.35), femur/carapace ratio 1.32–1.42 (1.36). The shape of the sclerotized bars varies among females (fig. 40).

NATURAL HISTORY: Label data indicate specimens have been collected in palm groves, under stones and under volcanic cobble. The male holotype was collected in a building, suggesting this species might be found in synanthropy.

DISTRIBUTION: Mexico, in Baja California Sur and the southern part of Baja California Norte, including some islands in the Gulf of California (fig. 4B).

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL EXAMINED: None.