Zootaxa 3841 (3): 403–417 ISSN 1175-5326 (print edition) www.mapress.com/zootaxa/ Article ZOOTAXA Copyright © 2014 Magnolia Press ISSN 1175-5334 (online edition) http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3841.3.5 http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:B4C1CAA8-A80F-46FC-9F4A-FA15F8B2EF8D On three endemic species of the linyphiid spider genus Canariphantes Wunderlich, 1992 (Araneae, Linyphiidae) from the Azores archipelago LUÍS CARLOS CRESPO1,2, ROBERT BOSMANS3, PEDRO CARDOSO4 & PAULO A.V. BORGES1 1Azorean Biodiversity Group (GBA, CITA-A) and Platform for Enhancing Ecological Research & Sustainability (PEERS), Departamento de Ciências Agrárias, Universidade dos Açores, Rua Capitão João d’Ávila, 9700 – 042 Angra do Heroísmo, Terceira, Azores, Portugal; E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected] 2Centro de Biologia Ambiental/PEERS Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Ed. C2, 2º Piso, Campo Grande, PT-1749- 016 Lisboa, Portugal. 3Laboratorium voor Ecologie, Terrestrial Ecology Unit, Ledeganckstraat 35, B-9000 Belgium; [email protected] 4Finnish Museum of Natural History, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 17, 00014 Helsinki, Finland. Abstract We describe Canariphantes junipericola n. sp. and C. relictus n. sp., new single-island endemic linyphiid spiders from the islands of Flores and Santa Maria (Azorean archipelago, Macaronesia), respectively. The female of the first species was incorrectly assigned to Canariphantes acoreensis (Wunderlich, 1992), a species occurring in four islands in the Cen- tral Group of Azores (Faial, Pico, São Jorge and Terceira). The latter species is transferred to Canariphantes, its male re- described and the female genitalia described for the first time. We discuss the systematic affinities of these new species and comment on their conservation status.. Key words: Linyphiinae, Canariphantes, Lepthyphantes, Macaronesia, Azores, Taxonomy, Conservation, Endemics Introduction The archipelago of Azores is situated in the North Atlantic Ocean and is considered the most recently formed archipelago of Macaronesian islands; the oldest island, Santa Maria, has a geological age of 8.12 M.y. and the most recent island, Pico, of 0.3 M.y. (Serralheiro & Madeira 1993; França et al. 2003). The dominant natural habitat dominant in the Azorean islands, prior to human colonization about 600 years ago, was mainly composed of laurel forest and other native shrub vegetation (Frutuoso 1963). This particular type of relictual forest can nowadays be found only in Macaronesia. Currently, only about 2.5% of the total area of Azores is occupied by patches of native forest (Triantis et al. 2010), and it is thought that man-caused extinctions played a major role in shaping the current patterns in the archipelago’s spider assemblages (Cardoso et al. 2010a). In addition, biological invasions are severely altering the original arthropod communities (Cardoso et al. 2013; Florencio et al. 2013), with invasive species replacing natives and the functions they perform in ecosystems (Cardoso et al. 2014). This loss of natural habitat and its respective communities has been most intensive in the smallest islands, Graciosa and Corvo, which have lost all primary native terrestrial forest habitat, but it is also massive in most of the other islands. The Azorean spider fauna has received little attention before the 20th century. Brief reports were made by Simon (1883), Machado (1944, 1982) and Denis (1964), and it was only by the end of the 1980’s that the endemic fauna of the Azorean archipelago attracted considerable attention. Joerg Wunderlich made the first intensive effort to describe Azorean spiders (1992), listing 10 new endemic species. More recently, the complementary work of Borges & Wunderlich (2008) containing the description of eight additional endemic species and a first checklist of Cardoso et al. (2010b) were published. These studies were possible due to the intensive sampling effort conducted by Borges and colleagues in the scope of several projects in both native (see Borges et al. 2005 and a review in Borges et al. 2011) and exotic (Cardoso et al. 2009, 2013, 2014; Florencio et al. 2013; Meijer et al. 2011) habitats. The large genus Lepthyphantes Menge, 1866 has recently suffered large-scale splitting, mainly due to the Accepted by G. Hormiga: 2 Jul. 2014; published: 28 Jul. 2014 403 works of Saaristo & Tanasevitch (1993, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003), who performed detailed comparative analyses of the genitalic features of micronetine spiders, for both males and females, which resulted in the creation of many genera. These authors also revised the diagnoses of already described genera. One Azorean endemic species described by Wunderlich (1992) was Lepthyphantes acoreensis Wunderlich, 1992. This micronetine species was originally placed in Lepthyphantes but with an uncertain status (Wunderlich 1992: 374). Since the original species description, specimens of both sexes have been captured in high abundance throughout the central group of islands, none from the eastern or western groups. The newly captured material also included specimens from two new, undescribed endemic species, closely related with L. acoreensis. These new species were found in the western and eastern groups of islands, complementing the distribution of the previously described related species (L. acoreensis) in the archipelago. Methods Most specimens were collected using pitfall traps spread through transects of roughly 150 m. Half of these traps were filled with monoethyleneglicol and half with an attractive solution composed of dark beer and some preservatives (Turquin 1973). Details of the sampling protocol can be found in Borges et al. (2005). In Santa Maria Island, additional specimens of C. relictus n. sp. were collected directly, with the use of an entomological aspirator. In the laboratory, specimens and their genitalia were studied using a Leica MZ 9.5, a Leica MZ 16 or a Zeiss Stemi 2000. The second was used for photography, with a ZVC KY–F1030 camera. Images were mounted with the software Auto–Montage Pro (Syncroscopy 1997). Embolic divisions were dissected from the male palps with the aid of a small scalpel and hypodermic needles. These were observed in ethanol and in methyl salicylate, and stored in ethanol. Epigyna were cleared using methyl salicylate, after being dissected from the specimen, and put back into ethanol. For simplicity, only one of the entrance grooves was drawn in the illustrations of the lateral view of cleared epigyna. For illustrations, photos of the copulatory structures were taken and printed to A4 size. A drawing was made on a superimposed paper, through transparency. Two males and two females of L. junipericola n. sp. and five males and five females of L. acoreensis and L. relictus n. sp. were used for measurements. These were taken with an ocular with a ruler imbedded in it. All measurements are in mm. Coordinates are taken using the WGS 84 datum. Terminology of male and female genital morphology follows Saaristo & Tanasevitch (1996) and species nomenclature follows Platnick (2014). Abbreviations used for morphology: AME—Anterior median eyes ALE—Anterior lateral eyes C—Column EG—Entrance grooves EP—Embolus proper FG—Fertilization grooves L—Lamella characteristica LL—Lateral lobes of epigynum L Sp Ti—Proportion of the length of tibial spine with the width of tibia MM—Median membrane P—Paracymbium PLE—Posterior lateral eyes PME—Posterior median eyes PMP—Posterior median plate PPS—Proximal part of scape 404 · Zootaxa 3841 (3) © 2014 Magnolia Press CRESPO ET AL. Ra—Radix Re—Receptacula SA—Suprategular apophysis Su—Suprategulum St—Stretcher T—Tegulum TA—Terminal apophysis Th—Thumb Collections: SNM—Senckenberg Naturmuseum, Frankfurt, Germany EDTP—Entomoteca Dalberto Teixeira Pombo, University of Azores, Angra do Heroísmo, Portugal ULT—Universidad de La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain Taxonomy Canariphantes Wunderlich, 1992 Type species: Canariphantes alpicola Wunderlich, 1992 Composition. C. alpicola Wunderlich, 1992, C. atlassahariensis (Bosmans, 1991), C. epigynatus Tanasevitch, 2013, C. homonymus (Denis, 1934), C. naili (Bosmans & Bouragba, 1992), C. nanus (Kulczynski, 1898), C. palmaensis Wunderlich, 2011 and C. zonatus (Simon, 1884). Distribution. C. alpicola and C. palmaensis from Canary Islands, C. nanus from Central, Eastern Europe to Israel, the remaining species from the Mediterranean. Canariphantes acoreensis (Wunderlich, 1992) new combination (Figs. 1–7; 23–24) Lepthyphantes acoreensis Wunderlich, 1992: 378, figs. 399–402 (description of male, not female, misidentified). Type material. Holotype ♂ (right pedipalp missing) from Mistérios Negros, Terceira, 28.VII.1987, ULT; paratype ♀ from Mistérios Negros, Terceira, 30.VIII.1987, ULT; 1 paratype ♂ from Caldeira, Pico, VIII.1987, SNM 37603- 124; 1 paratype ♀ from Mistérios Negros, Terceira, SNM 37610-124; 5 paratype ♂ and 3 paratype ♀ from Fonte da Faneca, Terceira, SNM 60151-124; 2 paratype ♂ from Fonte da Faneca, Terceira, SNM 60162-124. Additional material examined. Terceira—Biscoito da Ferraria Natural Reserve, (UTM 26S 479370 4289985), VI.1999, 1 ♀; VII.2003, 1 ♂; VI.2011, 1 ♀. Terceira—Pico Galhardo Natural Reserve, (UTM 26S 479664 4287554), VII.2002, 1 ♂, 1 ♀; VI.2003, 3 ♂; VII.2003, 1 ♂, 1 ♀; IX.2003, 3 ♂, 2 ♀; VIII.2003, 1 ♀; V.2007, 1 ♂; VI.2010, 1 ♀. Terceira—Serra de Santa Bárbara Natural Reserve, (UTM 26S 472028 4288949), VII.2001, 2 ♂; VI.2003, 1 ♂; VII.2003, 3 ♂; VIII.2003, 5 ♂; IX.2003, 1 ♂; VII.2008, 1 ♂; IX.2010,