Meriola davidi Grismado

Meriola davidi Grismado

Figs 22–24, 94b

Meriola davidi Grismado, 2004: 234, figs 1-5 (male holotype from Tandil, Buenos Aires, Argentina in MACN, examined). Meriola ramirezi Platnick & Ewing, 1995, misidentification (female only).

Note. Platnick & Ewing (1995: 39) identified as M. ramirezi a single female from “Partido de Luján”, but the label currently says “Río Luján”, a locality in Partido de Campana, near Reserva Otamendi where M. davidi occurs. This specimen is here considered to be the female of M. davidi, because the carapace sculpturing and general coloration are more similar to those of the males of M. davidi (Figs 22–23); the long copulatory ducts (Fig. 24b) suggest that it would correspond to the very long embolus of the male (Grismado 2004: figs 2–5); additionally, spines are absent from all of the legs, as in the male of M. davidi.

Diagnosis. Males (Figs 22 h–23, 24c–e) resemble those of M. cetiformis and M. longitarsis by the elongated cymbium and the long, filiform embolus, arising from the retrodistal part of the bulb. It differs from the former by the shorter embolus not surrounding the bulb, and from the latter by the retrolateral tibial apophysis shorter and simple (without a dorsal element), by lacking the pointed distal projection on the tegulum and by the shorter cymbium. Meriola davidi males also differ from both by the smaller size and by having only one cuspule on each metatarsus I. Females (Figs 22 a–g, 24a–b) resemble those of M. ramirezi by their orange-brown carapace and the general morphology of the genitalia (nearly parallel sclerotized ridges, and large, piriform S2), but differ by having longer and convoluted copulatory ducts, relatively smaller median spermathecae, and by the conspicuous granulation on the carapace.

Description. Male described by Grismado (2004). Female described by Platnick & Ewing (1995: 38, under M. ramirezi).

Variability. The female from Reserva Otamendi differs from the specimen illustrated by Platnick & Ewing (1995: figs 105, 106) only by the more symmetrical copulatory ducts (Fig. 24b) and by having a small spine on the dorsal surface of each femur IV.

Natural history and habitat. The female specimen from Reserva Otamendi was collected in the same plot of pasture as M. ramirezi. Several specimens were collected in grasslands, some of them by pitfall traps.

Distribution. Known from Buenos Aires and Córdoba provinces, Argentina (Fig. 95b).

New records. ARGENTINA: Buenos Aires: Campana: Reserva Natural Otamendi, S 34.225306°, W 58.90025°, elev. 32 m, 22.IV.2006, M. Ramírez, F. Labarque & C. Sosa, 1 male, temporary preparations CJG-00667, MGM-00353–00354 (MACN-Ar 10965). Estación Río Luján, S 34.278°, W 58.890168°, elev. 4 m, 28.VII.2007, grassland, beating, C. Grismado, L. Damer, I. Crudele, N. Olejnik, N. López & S. De Biase, 1 female, temporary preparations CJG-00652, MGM-00351–00352 (MACN-Ar 12787). Tigre: Delta del Río Paraná, S 34.356295°, W 58.561485°, VII.1938, J. Viana, 2 females (MACN-Ar 480). Río Luján, S 34.375302°, W 58.609377°, 14.IX.1991, M. Ramírez, 1 female, temporary preparations CJG-00668, sub M. ramirezi in Platnick & Ewing 1995 (MACN-Ar 16337). Tandil, S 37.317810°, W 59.150391°, 18.XII.1997, C. & D. Grismado, 1 male holotype, together with 1 imm. (MACN-Ar 10507). Reserva Natural Sierra del Tigre (MJR-loc-170a), S 37.37826°, W 59.13033°, elev. 357 m, 7.XII.2014, Paspalum sp., M. Ramírez, S. Ceccarelli, L. Peralta & M. Izquierdo, 1 female (MACN-Ar 33086). Reserva Natural Sierra del Tigre, S 37.379444°, W 59.128889°, V.2012, pitfall traps, N. Ferretti, 1 male (MACN-Ar 33026), 1 female (MACN-Ar 33027). Tornquist: Parque Provincial Ernesto Tornquist, 300 m del bosque del sismógrafo, S 38.06668°, W 61.96355°, elev. 534 m, 2–3.VII.2013, grassland, hand collection, M. Izquierdo, N. Ferretti, G. Pompozzi & S. Copperi, 1 male, sample MAI-04147, temporary preparation MAI-01518 (MACN-Ar 32231), 1 female, sample MAI-04148, temporary preparation MAI-01509 (MACN-Ar 32248), 1 male, sample MAI- 04156, temporary preparation MAI-01507 (MACN-Ar 32247). Córdoba: Punilla: Copina, RP 14, S 31.573694° W 64.708722°, elev. 1594 m (MAI-Loc-280), 26.V.2017, hand collecting, M. Izquierdo, D. Abregú, M. Oviedo & G. Boaglio, 1 male (LBRE 229, preparation MAI-04608, photos MAI 2952, 2953-3030), same data, 1 female (LBRE 222), 1 male (LBRE 225).