A. M. Chickering.
The Female of Lucarachne beebei Gertsch (Araneae: Symphytognathidae).
Psyche 67(4):95-97, 1960.

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THE FEMALE OF LUCARACHNE BEEBEI GERTSCH
(ARANEAE: SYMPHYTOGNATHIDAE)
BY ARTHUR M. CHICKERING
Albion College, Albion, Michigan
Miss Elizabeth B. Bryant established the genus Lucarachne in 1940 on the basis of both males and females taken in Oriente Province, Cuba, at 1500 feet elevation. She placed the genus, with some hesita- tion, anlong the Metinae of the Argiopidae and noted that it appeared to be closely related to Theridion cidrelicola Simon from Venezuela, the male of which is now considered to belong to the genus Lucarachne and is included in the Family Symphytognathidae. When Dr. Gertsch 1960) described L. beebei from males alone he noted that four spe- cies of the genus Lucarachne are now known as follows: L. tibialis Bryant from Cuba; L. cidrelicola (Simon) from Venezuela; L. beebei Gertsch from Trinidad; L. palpalis Kraus from Honduras and Mexico. Dr. Gertsch has recently identified a male L. heebei Gertsch from my Panamanian collection of 1936 taken in El Valle. In my collection made in Panama in 1958 numerous specimens of both males and females of this last-named species were found also near El Valle. One of the females has been selected and is described below in accord with my usual procedure.
Genus Lucarachne Bryant, 1940
Lucarachne beebei Gertsch
Female. Total length 2.05 mm. Carapace 1.012 mm. long, .85 mm. wide opposite interval between second and third coxae where it is widest; well rounded along margin from opposite posterior eyes to posterior border; gently arched from PE to near posterior border with highest part shortly behind those eyes; with few bristles or hairs. Eyes. Eight in two rows. Region of AME considerably raised into a low blunt tubercle. Seen from above, posterior row nearly straight, anterior row strongly recurved; seen from in front, anterior row slightly procurved, posterior row strongly so, all measured by centers. 'Published with the aid of a grant from the Museum of Comparative Zool- ogy at Harvard College.
Pachc 67:95-97 (1960). hup tipsychc einclub org/67/67-@IS html



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96 Psyche [December
Ratio of eyes AME :ALE : :PME :PLE = 10:6 : :6 :7. AME separ-
ated from one another by about three fifths of their diameter, from ALE by only a line. PME separated from one another by about five sixths of their diameter, from PLE by about the same distance. LE almost in contact. Central ocular quadrangle wider in front than behind in ratio of about 6 :5 ; nearly as long as wide in front. Clypeus very high; height equal to nearly three times the diameter of AME. Figures 1-4. External Anatomy of the Female of Lucarachne beebei Gertsch. Fig. 1. Left first femur; nearly ventral view. Fig. 2. Eye group of female; somewhat obliquely from above. Fig. 3. Epigynum, from below. Fig. 4. Abdomen; posterior surface.
Chelicerae. Moderately robust, vertical, parallel ; fang regularly curved; promargin of fang groove apparently with three teeth the first of which is only a denticle while the other two are fairly robust; retromargin with only one rather small tooth. Maxillae. Robust ; slightly convergent.
Lip. Reaches about two thirds the length of the maxillae. Sternal suture only slightly procurved.
Sternum. Scutiform in general; quite convex; only slightly longer than wide; widest opposite interval between first and second coxae; extends between fourth coxae and terminates in a blunt truncature; fourth coxae separated by nine tenths of their width; posterior end with a cluster of stiff bristles.
Legs. 1243. Width of first patella at "knee" .I32 mm., tibial index of first leg 9. Width of fourth patella at "knee" .no mm., tibial index of fourth leg 10.




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19601 Chickering - Lucarachne beebei 97
Femora Patellae Tibiae Metatarsi Tarsi Totals (All measurements in millimeters)
Legs with many long slender stiff bristles and few definite long slender spines the most significant of which appear to be the following: each patella with two of these dorsally placed, one near each end of the segment; each tibia has one of these on the dorsal surface near the proximal end; numerous extremely slender spines occur more or less in rows on the ventral surfaces of the femora. The first femur has a distinctive ventral apophysis near the distal end (Fig. I). Tricho- bothria are present on the tibiae and metatarsi but the exact numbers and distribution have not been determined. Abdomen. Ovoid ; carried in nearly a perpendicular position ; over- laps the carapace considerably; similar to that of L. paZ$aZis Kraus (Fig. 4)-
Epigynum. Simple; details best shown in Figure 3. Color in alcohol. Essentially as described for the male by the author of the species; exposed posterodorsal surface essentially as shown in Figure 4.
Collection records. Dr. Gertsch had the male holotype and one male paratype from Trinidad. Collection records in Panama are as follows: a single male from El Valle from my collection of July, 1936, recently identified by Dr. Gertsch ; several specimens of both sexes are included in my collection of 1958; these were taken about five miles south of El Valle in January. BRYANT, ELIZABETH, B.
1940.
Cuban Spiders in the Museum of Compara-
tive Zoology B,ull. Mus. Comp. 2001. at Harvard College, 86 (7) : 249-532, 22 pis.
FORSTER, RAYMOND R. 1958. Spiders of the Family Symphytognathidae from North and South America. American Museum Novitates, No. 1885 :1-14. GERTSCH, WILLIS J.
1960. Descriptions of American Spiders of the Family Symphytognathidae. American Museum Novitates, No. 1981. KRAUS, OTTO 1955. Spinnen aus El Salvador (Arachnoidea, Araneae). Abhand. der Senckenbergischen Naturforschenden Gesellschaft. 493: 1-112. 12 tafeln.




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