A new genus of the spider family Caponiidae (Araneae, Haplogynae) from the West Indies. (American Museum novitates, no. 3705)
Files
Supplemental Materials
Date
item.page.datecreated
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
DOI
DOI
Abstract
A new genus, Cubanops, is established for a distinctive group of caponiid spiders from the West Indies. Nops ludovicorum Alayón, from Cuba, and Caponina darlingtoni Bryant, from Hispaniola, are transferred to Cubanops. Nine new species are described from the Bahama Islands (C. bimini, C. andersoni), Cuba (C. armasi, C. alayoni, C. juragua, C. granpiedra, C. terueli, C. tortuguilla), and Hispaniola (C. vega). All these species are nopines (i.e., have subsegmented tarsi) and have the ventral translucent keel on the anterior metatarsi, and the translucent extension of the membrane between the anterior metatarsi and tarsi, that are also found in the genera Nops MacLeay, Orthonops Chamberlin, and Tarsonops Chamberlin. However, Cubanops species lack the dorsally extended inferior claw found in Nops, and differ from those of Orthonops and Tarsonops in having a distinctly patterned carapace, a widened labium, and bisegmented metatarsi IV. Two species groups are recognized within the genus, which probably occurs also in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, as juveniles with these somatic characters have been taken on St. John.