A new species of Pterinopelma ( Araneae : Theraphosidae ) from the highlands of the state of Minas Gerais , Brazil and description of the male of P . sazimai

We describe a new species of tarantula from the highlands of the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Males of the new species can be distinguished from congeners by having palpal bulb keels weakly developed, and metatarsus I strongly curved, touching apex of retrolateral spur when folded. Females can be distinguished by the color pattern, carapace and legs black with conspicuous white rings on distal femora, patellae, tibiae, and metatarsi. The male of Pterinopelma felipeleitei sp. nov. was previously misidentified and described under the name Pterinopelma sazimai Bertani, Nagahama & Fukushima, 2011. The true male of P. sazimai is herein described from a specimen collected near the type locality. Similar to the conspecific female, this male has characteristic blue iridescent setae covering the carapace, chelicerae, legs, and palps. The new species is sympatric with P. sazimai. Both species inhabit a habitat locally known as ‘campos rupestres’.

Pterinopelma Pocock, 1901 comprises two valid species of tarantulas, P. sazimai Bertani, Nagahama & Fukushima, 2011, and the type species P. vitiosum (Keyserling, 1891).Individuals of these species inhabit hilly environments in Brazil.Pterinopelma vitiosum is found in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, whereas P. sazimai is distributed in the states of Minas Gerais and Bahia (Bertani et al. 2011).Pterinopelma is related to Lasiodora C.L. Koch, 1850, Nhandu Lucas, 1983and Vitalius Lucas, Silva & Bertani, 1993.The presence of denticles on the prolateral inferior male palpal bulb keel has been proposed as a generic synapomorphy of Pterinopelma (Bertani et al. 2011).
During a herpetological survey in the highlands of the Espinhaço Mountain Range in Minas Gerais, the second author (FL) found a peculiar female and an immature male of a theraphosid species.They were very similar in general appearance and color pattern: very dark with conspicuous white rings and stripes over the legs and palps.In the laboratory, after several weeks, the male molted and reached maturity, and the specimens were sent to the first author (RB) for identification.The male was identified as P. sazimai; the female, however, did not correspond to the female of that particular species, since it lacks the iridescent, metallic blue coloration that characterizes it (Bertani et al. 2011).Concomitantly, a mature theraphosid male specimen was collected by colleagues at the type locality of P. sazimai.This male has the characteristic coloration of the P. sazimai female.Thus, it became clear that there are two sympatric theraphosine species of similar size in the highlands of the Espinhaço Mountain range, one of which was undescribed.This new species, belonging to Pterinopelma, is herein described, and the true male of P. sazimai is described for the first time.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
The general format of the description follows Bertani (2001) and raven (2005), with some modifications.The terminology used for the male palpal bulb follows Bertani (2000), for urticating setae follows Cooke et al. (1972) and Bertani & Guada-nuCCi (2013), and for leg spines follows PetrunkevitCh (1925) with modifications proposed by Bertani (2001).All measurements are in millimeters.Measurements of the legs and palp were taken from the dorsal aspect of the left side (unless appendages were lost or obviously regenerated) with a Mitutoyo ® digital caliper,

TAXONOMY AND NOMENCLATURE
A new species of Pterinopelma (Araneae: Theraphosidae) from the highlands of the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil and description of the male of P. sazimai  Geographical coordinates: primary sources are between round brackets, secondary sources (Google Earth © ) between square brackets.The coordinates from the secondary source were obtained from the center of the municipality cited in the specimen label and are in DMS (Degrees, Minutes and Seconds) format rounded off to minutes.
Remarks.The examination of morphological structures of the true male of P. sazimai suggests that the species does not belong to Pterinopelma.However, we refrain from making taxonomic changes until a cladistic analysis including this species is carried out and its position is elucidated.See the discussion for additional information.
Diagnosis.Males of Pterinopelma sazimai can be distinguished from all congeners by having in conjunction: the palpal bulb with well-developed PS, PI, R, A, and SA keels ; embolus slender at its distal portion (Figs.6-7); absence of stridulatory setae on prolateral face of coxa I; bifid tibial spur with almost straight retrolateral branch (Fig. 5); and metatarsus I, when folded, touching the apex of retrolateral tibial spur.Females of this species can be distinguished by having the following combination of traits: short spermathecae, separated by a short, heavily sclerotized area; absence of stridulatory setae on prolateral face of coxa I; absence of long setae on the carapace; presence of urticating setae of type III on abdomen dorsum; and a sternum that is longer than wide.Additionally, both males and females have carapace, chelicerae, and legs covered with blue iridescent setae (Figs. 1,19).
Remarks.The female paratype (MNRJ 6874) has dorsal abdominal setae covering intact and only type I urticating seta was found.Therefore, we consider that type III urticating seta is absent in this species.The distribution of urticating setae on abdomen corresponds to fig. 5 in Bertani & GuadanuCCi (2013).Bertani et al. ( 2011) considered the presence of denticles on the prolateral inferior male palpal bulb keel (Fig. 17) a putative synapomorphy of Pterinopelma.However, these denticles were not noted in the recently collected male (MNRJ 6873) (Fig. 18).The keels of the male palpal bulb are strongly reduced in this species (Figs.13-18) and it is difficult to examine them in detail.The absence of these keels in the specimen can be due to morphological variation, but can also indicate that the specimen analyzed in Bertani et al. ( 2011) is damaged or even anomalous.Therefore, Pterinopelma is defined by a particular combination of characters listed above in the generic diagnosis.
Natural History.Pterinopelma felipeleitei occurs in the highlands (above 1100 m a.s.l.) and in open rock fields called "Campos Rupestres," a typical phytophysiognomy of the Espin-

DISCUSSION
Bertani et al. ( 2011) revalidated Pterinopelma after examining the holotype of the type species (P.vitiosum) and comparing it with freshly collected specimens, including the unknown female.In the same paper, a second species, P. sazimai, was described from the Espinhaço Mountain range of the states of Bahia (Chapada Diamantina, holotype female) and Minas Gerais (Serra do Cipó, juvenile paratype female and two paratype males), Brazil.The holotype female of P. sazimai has conspicuous blue iridescent setae covering its body, and the described paratype male is completely black.The paratype males were collected from the same place in Serra do Cipó National Park, where juvenile and female specimens of P. sazimai were also collected (Bertani et al. 2011).This made them suspect that they were conspecifics.However, additional theraphosine specimens from Chapada Diamantina and Serra do Cipó (and other highlands in Minas Gerais) showed that two related species with individuals of similar size inhabit in the same environment of the Campos Rupestres of the Espinhaço Mountain range.
One of these specimens, a male, has the blue iridescent setae covering its body (Fig. 19) and was found near the type locality of P. sazimai.This specimen is the true male of P. sazimai and is herein described for the first time.The male described by Bertani et al. (2011) as P. sazimai is a new species, and is described herein as P. felipeleitei sp.nov., based on the females collected in the municipalities of Serro and Morro do Pilar, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil.Females of P. felipeleitei sp.nov.and P. sazimai are similar in size and their spermathecae have similar shape.They can be distinguished by their very distinct color pattern, with P. sazimai having blue metallic setae covering its body, while P. felipeleitei sp.nov.has a black color with conspicuous white rings and stripes on the dorsum of the legs and palps (Fig. 20).Furthermore, the sternum of P. sazimai is longer than wide (Fig. 2) and the dorsal portion of the abdomen has type III urticating setae, whereas the sternum of P. felipeleitei sp.nov. is as wide as long (Fig. 9) and the dorsal portion of the abdomen has only type I urticating setae.
Given that the cladistic analysis of Bertani et al. ( 2011) was strongly based on male characters, the position of P. felipeleitei sp.nov. on that cladogram should replace P. sazimai, i. e., as the sister-species of P. vitiosum.The geographic distribution of the genus remains somewhat similar to that presented in Bertani et al. ( 2011), as P. sazimai and P. felipeleitei sp.nov.are sympatric in some localities of Espinhaço Mountain Range in the state of Minas Gerais.However, the latter species has not yet been recorded in the state of Bahia.
The taxonomic position of P. sazimai is more complex.Several characters of the male palpal bulb and male tibial spur are distinct from Pterinopelma.The combination of male palpal bulb shape and keels of P. sazimai are similar to those found in the species of the related genus Vitalius, as the well-developed prolateral inferior and prolateral superior keels, a medially developed apical keel, a sharp retrolateral keel, a medially long embolus, a well-developed subapical keel and embolus slightly flattened and slender at its distal portion (Figs.6-7).However, the tibial spur has two branches that are almost straight (Fig. 5) and the metatarsus of the first leg touches the tip of the retrolateral branch when folded, which is different from the condition found in the species of Vitalius, but similar to Lasiodora spp.and some species of Nhandu, for instance N. cerradensis Bertani, 2001and N. coloratovillosus (Schmidt, 1998) (Bertani 2001).The female spermathecae are compatible with species of Pterinopelma, Nhandu, Vitalius, and Lasiodora, but type III urticating setae on the dorsum of the abdomen occur in females of the Nhandu and Lasiodora species, but not in females of either Vitalius or Pterinopelma species.The morphology of the bulb indicates P. sazimai should not be included in Pterinopelma.Its inclusion in Vitalius could be justified based on the morphology of the bulb, but the tibial spur of males and the presence of type III urticating setae in females suggests that this placement may not be correct.Its inclusion in Lasidora or Nhandu are also not justified, as it lacks the stridulatory setae characteristic of Lasiodora species and the females lack the longer setae on the carapace, a synapomorphy of Nhandu.Therefore, the position of Pterinopelma sazimai is very controversial.Since the first author (RB) is conducting a cladistics analysis including all Lasiodora, Vitalius, Nhandu and Pterinopelma species, we have decided to postpone any changes in its taxonomic position.