PALPIMANID SPIDERS FROM GUYANA : NEW SPECIES OF THE GENERA FERNANDEZINA AND OTIOTHOPS ( ARANEAE , PALPIMANIDAE , OTIOTHOPINAE )

Two new species of the spider family Palpimanidae from Guyana are described: Fernandezina takutu, the first species of this genus known from this country and Otiothops giralunas, that seems to be the sister species of O. goloboffi Grismado, 1996 from northwestern Argentina.

Only two species are known from Guyana: Otiothops oblongus Simon, 1891 and O. whitticki Mello-Leitão, 1940(PLATNICK, 1975).Now I had the possibility to examine some specimens recently collected in this country, founding a male (along several immatures) of a new Otiothops, and a male of a new Fernandezina, the first one known from Guyana.The habitat of these spiders is the leaf litter of the tropical rainforest near the margin of Essequibo River, in a zone not floodable (Gustavo Hormiga, pers. comm.).
Fernandezina contains only eigth species (from Argentina, Brazil and Peru) described by BIRABÉN (1951), PLATNICK (1975), RAMÍREZ &GRISMADO (1996) andPLATNICK et al. (1999), and is recognized by the unexpanded femur I, the tarsus I nearly as long as tibia I, and the enlarged abdominal scutum of males, covering at least half of dorsum.
Otiothops is a more speciose genus and has the widest geographic distribution in the subfamily (more than thirty species, from Caribbean Islands to Argentina, PLATNICK, 1997), and is diagnosed by the presence of claw tufts and closely spaced posterior median eyes (PLATNICK, 1975).The new Otiothops here described shares with O. goloboffi, described by GRISMADO (1996) from Salta, northwestern Argentina, the flattened and sinuous embolus with a longitudinal traslucent area restricted to the distal half are not present in other congeners nor in other known otiothopine genera, it seems to be a synapomorphy of these two species.The disparate geographical distribution of these (probably) sister species may reflects the insufficient collection fieldwork in extensive areas of South America, at least concerning on litter fauna.
Specimens are deposited in the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution (USNM, Jonathan Coddington).The format of descriptions follows PLATNICK (1975).All measurements are in millimeters.Etymology.The specific name is a noun in apposition taken from the type locality.

Fernandezina takutu
Diagnosis.The male of Fernandezina takutu differs from all other congeners by the shape of the embolus, sinuous and striated (figs.2-4) without any flange or ledge.
Etymology.Named from "Giralunas", the Theatre group of my wife Andrea.
Diagnosis.The palp of Otiothops giralunas resembles those of O. goloboffi by the sinuous, flattened embolus with a longitudinal traslucent area restricted to the distal half (TA, fig.6), but differs by their more elongate and thin shape and by the lesser curved terminal part of sperm duct (figs.5-7).
Other material examined.Six immatures (same data as the holotype) probably belong to the same species (USNM).