Redescription of Avicularia taunayi and notes on its habitat and geographical distribution ( Araneae : Theraphosidae : Aviculariinae )

We redescribe the poorly known tarantula species Avicularia taunayi (Mello-Leitao, 1920) and present information on its geographical distribution and habits. The spermatheca of the female is unusual for the genus: short, broad, with a median slight curvature and lobes on its basal, median and distal portions. The male resembles other Avicularia species but can be distinguished by the presence of a tibial apophysis on leg I in conjunction with legs I and IV having roughly the same length and the presence of pale rings on the distal femora, tibiae and metatarsi. Additionally, males and females have three pairs of light brown spots extending from the dorsum to the lateral region of the abdomen. Avicularia taunayi is found in the Brazilian Cerrado, a savannah-like biome. It is one of the aviculariine species with the southernmost distribution, reaching as far South as the Tropic of Capricorn.


MATERIAL AND METHODS
The general description format follows RAVEN (2005) with some modifications; e.g., we do not describe the hair types and the trichobothrial conformation on the legs in as much detail Redescription of Avicularia taunayi and notes on its habitat and geographical distribution (Araneae: Theraphosidae: Aviculariinae) Rogério Bertani 1,3 & Paulo Cesar Motta 2 ZOOLOGIA 30 (1): 107-114, February, 2013 as RAVEN.All measurements are in millimeters and were obtained with a Mitutoyo ® digital caliper with an error of 0.005 mm.Leg and palp measurements were taken from the dorsal aspect of the left side (unless appendages were lost or obviously regenerated).A Nikon ® SMZ1500 dissecting microscope was used for illustrations (with a camera lucida attachment).Abbreviations: (ALE) anterior lateral eyes, (AME) anterior median eyes, (ITC) inferior tarsal claw, (PLE) posterior lateral eyes, (PME) posterior median eyes, (PMS) posterior median spinnerets, (STC) superior tarsal claws.
Color pattern (Figs 10 and 13): Carapace dark brown with light brown hairs.Coxae, labium, sternum and maxilla dark brown.Legs dark brown with light brown, long setae.Distal femora, patellae, tibiae and metatarsi with broad white rings.Abdomen black with three pairs of light brown spots extending from dorsum to lateral region (Fig. 13).Abdomen ventrally black.
Color pattern (Fig. 11): As in female, but light brown spots on dorsum of abdomen ill-defined.
Variation.Length of carapace and legs I and IV in Table I.A high degree of morphological variation was detected in the number and development of the spermathecal lobes (Figs 6-9).One basic pattern seems to be the presence of a basal, a median and a distal lobe (Fig. 8).In some specimens, one or more of these lobes may be absent (Fig. 9, left spermatheca) or duplicated (Fig. 6, left spermatheca).Some of these lobes can be so developed that the spermathecae appear branched (Figs 7 and 9).
Ontogeny of the color pattern.Juveniles (Fig. 12) exhibit a similar pattern to other Avicularia species: a dorsal central longitudinal black stripe with four transversal black stripes on each side of the abdomen.The remaining parts of the dorsal and lateral abdomen are reddish.In adult females, the lateral ZOOLOGIA 30 (1): 107-114, February, 2013 black stripes become larger.However, contrary to what happens in most Avicularia species, the reddish areas do not disappear totally.Consequently, that part of the pattern still remains (Fig. 13).
Distribution.BRAZIL: from the south region of the state of Tocantins southwards to the state of São Paulo, and from the state of Mato Grosso eastwards to the extreme west of the state of Bahia, in the Cerrado biome (see the discussion on natural history below) (Fig. 14).Together with Avicularia sooretama Bertani & Fukushima, 2009, A. taunayi  Since most Avicularia species are known to occur in the rainforest, the presence of this species in a savannah-like biome is unusual.The specific area where the specimens of A. taunayi were found is a slope covered with rocky vegetation ("cerrado rupestre") (Fig. 15).Specimens of A. taunayi were found on small trees in the hill.Of the five specimens found in Brasília (one juvenile and four females), four were on Myrcia tomentosa (Aubl.)DC., 1828 (Myrtaceae) (Figs 15-23) and one on "Jatobá" (Hymenaea sp., Fabaceae) trees.These trees, mainly the former, normally have hollows in the trunk that are used as retreats by the spiders.These hollows can extend for several centimeters down or up and follow the trunk's branching.The aperture to the outside The openings positions were 0.5 meter (2 specimens), 1 meter (2 specimens) and 1.65 m (1 specimen) in height from the soil.
In the locality of Cocalzinho de Goiás, three individuals were found in hollows of M. tomentosa and one in Aspidosperma macrocarpon Mart., 1824 (Apocynaceae) in the "cerrado rupestre" phytophysiognomie (PCM, pers.obs.).The males (n = 7) were collected from February to July, indicating that mating occurs in the end of the rainy season to early in the dry season.In the field, two females were found with egg sacs in July (DZUB 4707).One female (DZUB 2957), which was collected in Brasília (Distrito Federal) on April 14, 2004 and housed in the laboratory, built a completely closed silken retreat from July 9 to 12 and laid eggs on July 14.The spiderlings (n = 29) hatched 80 days later (October 1).About 18 days later (early rainy season), the female opened the shelter and the spiderlings began to disperse. Additional

DISCUSSION
MELLO-LEITÃO (1920) described the new genus and species Ancylochiros taunayi characterizing it mainly by the unusual shape of the palpal tarsi.As already stated by RAVEN (1985), this was an indication that the male is immature, not a species apomorphy.Despite the fact that the type is immature, it is possible to determine the species identity when the information obtained from examination of the holotype is considered in conjunction with the original description and the type locality data.The holotype has legs I and IV almost of the same length (Table I; leg IV is only 0.057 longer than I); the description makes reference to a black abdomen, with the dorsum having three pairs of large, oblique, rusty spots; and the type locality is in Mariana, state of Minas Gerais, is out of the geographic distribution of other Avicularia species.The specimens examined in this work and proceeding from localities neighboring the type locality (specially a female from Barão de Cocais, Minas Gerais, roughly 50 km from type locality) have the above characteristics and match the species description.
Avicularia taunayi has a modified spermatheca, broad and with several lobes, distinct from that of other Avicularia species.However, we do not think this character alone is enough to revalidate Ancylochiros.This question will be resolved only when the morphological variability and relationships of most Avicularia species are better understood.For now, we prefer to consider the character to be a putative autapomorphy for the species
reaches the southernmost areas among congeners, near the Tropic of Capricorn (records from Duartina [22°24'S, 49°24'W] and Bebedouro [20°56'S, 48°29'W] in the state of São Paulo).The absence of records of A. taunayi after 1955, allied to the high degree of deforestation and human impact in this region suggest that the species is locally extinct or close to extinction in the state of São Paulo.Specific sampling efforts in the Cerrado remnants of the region are necessary to ascertain this.Natural history.A population of A. taunayi was discov-ered and some individuals were observed and collected by us in the Distrito Federal, Brazil (15°43'8.84"S,47°44'6.34"W) in July 2007.The area is a slope situated at 1050-1100 m above sea level.There are residences and small farms in the upper plateau and in lower areas forming mosaics of altered areas with less impacted patches of Cerrado "stricto sensu" vegetation.

Figure 14 .
Figure 14.Records of Avicularia taunayi in Brazil.Square = type locality of A. taunayi.Triangle = new records.The gray area represents the approximate original distribution of Brazilian Cerrado.

Table I .
Lengths, median and standard deviation (SD) of carapace and legs I and IV (femora to tarsi) of Avicularia taunayi.