Two new species of the spider genus Alpaida ( Araneae : Araneidae ) from restinga areas in Brazil

Two new species of Alpaida O.P.-Cambridge, 1889 are described based on male and female specimens from seven restinga areas from northeastern to southern Brazil. Alpaida teresinha sp. nov., from Rio de Janeiro and Espirito Santo, differs from other species of the genus in the wider lobe of the conductor, the concave median apophysis and with the posterior lobe ventrally positioned, and the wrinkled distal projection of the terminal apophysis in males. Females can be recognized by having widely spaced epigynal lips and by the narrow epigynal notch in ventral view. Alpaida toninho sp. nov., from Bahia, Espirito Santo, Rio de Janeiro and Santa Catarina, can be distinguished by the round lobes of the terminal apophysis, and by the median apophysis with a distal lobe and a projection in males, and by the epigynum elliptical, with a short scape in females.

Alpaida O.P.-Cambridge, 1889 is composed of 140 species (PLATNICK 2012) of diurnal orb web spiders.Known only from the New World, and one of the largest genera of Araneidae, this genus is estimated to contain 200-300 species (LEVI 1988).Species of the genus are characterized by having orange to red carapace, carapace and abdomen without bristles, and females with the contours of the eyes darkened; the male palp has the paramedian apophysis mushroom-shaped and connected to the conductor and radix, and the embolus and terminal apophysis fused in a single structure; the sclerotized epigynum usually has a scape in the middle portion and posterior lips (LEVI 1988).
Most of the species of the genus were described by LEVI (1988), who increased the number of described species of Alpaida from 40 to 134.Two other species were later transferred to the genus, Alpaida tullgreni (Caporiacco, 1955), first described in Parawixia F. O.P.-Cambridge, 1904(LEVI 1992, redescribed in LEVI 1993);and A. oliverioi (Soares & Camargo, 1948), originally described in Cyclosa Menge, 1866 (LEVI 1999, not redescribed due to the loss of palps of the holotype).
The taxonomic history of Alpaida shows that, although it is amongst the best known Neotropical spider genera, much of its diversity is still to be described.At least part of this diversity can be found in ecosystems that have not received much attention from taxonomists, for instance the Brazilian restingas.Restingas are a set of Brazilian coastal plant communities present on sandy soils.Even though most plant species in it also occur in adjacent biomes, for instance the caatinga, at least some plant species are endemic to the restinga (CERQUEIRA 2000).The description of the restinga flora and fauna is particularly important, given that this information can be useful to guide conservation decisions.In this study, two new species of Alpaida are described based on specimens collected in an extensive study of restinga spider communities in several localities along the Brazilian coast (Thiago Gonçalves-Souza et al., unpubl. data).

MATERIAL AND METHODS
The specimens examined for this study were collected in six localities of the Brazilian coast, and are all deposited in the Coleções Taxonômicas da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG, curator A.J. Santos), Belo Horizonte.Specimens were
Diagnosis.Males of Alpaida teresinha sp.nov.resemble those of A. lanei Levi, 1988 in the rectangular median apophysis with a lobe directed toward the cymbium and the squarish terminal apophysis of the palp (LEVI 1988: fig. 171).The wider lobe of the conductor, the concave median apophysis with the posterior lobe positioned ventrally and the wrinkled distal projection of the terminal apophysis of A. teresinha sp.nov.(Fig. 5) distinguish this species from A. lanei.The female of A. teresinha is similar to that of A. marta Levi, 1988 in the shape of the epigynum, triangular in ventral view (LEVI 1988: fig. 623), and to A. hoffmanni in the presence of two dorsal, round, dark spots on the posterior view of the epigynum (LEVI 1988: fig.93).They can be distinguished by the base of epigynal lips visible in posterior view (in A. marta it is hidden under the scape -LEVI 1988: fig.624) and by the narrow epigynal notch in ventral view (wide in A. hoffmanni) (Figs 6 and 7).
Description Male Holotype.Carapace orange, eye region yellow.Chelicerae, clypeus, sternum, coxae and trochanters I and II yellow.Trochanters III and IV, and remaining leg articles grayish-yellow.Endites yellow, with the central region gray.Labium yellow, with the upper half gray.Dorsum of abdomen yellow, with black spots on edges and center of distal portion (Fig. 1).Venter yellow, with few small, median black spots.Spinnerets black.Total length 3.35.Carapace 1.8 long, 1.47 wide.First femur 1.63 long, patella, tibia, metatarsus and tarsus lost.Second patella and tibia 1.47; third 0.95; fourth 1.36.Tegulum with ventral bump.Median apophysis with proximal projection and curved edge, forming a concave structure.Conductor with ventral hyaline lobe and ventral sclerotized one.Embolus relatively short, filiform.Terminal apophysis large and smooth, with distal, rough lobe (Fig. 5).
Natural History.All the specimens were collected in shrubby vegetation in areas of restinga.Specimens were found on plants of two families, Arecaceae (Allagoptera sp.) and Myrtaceae.
Distribution.Known from restinga areas of southeastern Brazil, in the states of Espírito Santo and Rio de Janeiro (Fig. 17).
Etymology.The specific epithet is a noun in honor on the senior author's mother, Teresinha das Graças Braga Pereira.
Female Paratype.Carapace orange-yellow, paler medially.Chelicerae yellow, paler distally.Clypeus, endites, sternum and coxae I and IV yellow.Labium and coxae II and III with dark spots.Legs yellow-orange, with dark rings at articulations.Sternum orange-yellow.Abdomen elongated, yellow, with dorsal white spots, tapering posteriorly, with terminal black spot.Anterior margin with a median and a pair of lateral small elevations (Fig. 4).Venter with median black spot and lateral black lines.Spinnerets black, near a black, longitudinal line on distal portion of abdomen.Total length 4.91.Carapace 1.77 long, 1.43 wide.First femur 1.16 long, patella and tibia 1.5;

Two new species of the spider genus Alpaida (Araneae: Araneidae) from restinga areas in Brazil Gracielle F. Braga-Pereira 1 & Adalberto J. Santos 1
LEVI (1988)pecies of Alpaida O.P.-Cambridge, 1889 are described based on male and female specimens from seven restinga areas from northeastern to southern Brazil.Alpaida teresinha sp.nov., from Rio de Janeiro and Espírito Santo, differs from other species of the genus in the wider lobe of the conductor, the concave median apophysis and with the posterior lobe ventrally positioned, and the wrinkled distal projection of the terminal apophysis in males.andillustratedwith an Olympus SZ40 stereoscopic microscope.The male and female genitalia were excised, airdried, fixed in aluminum rivets with adhesive copper tape and sputter-coated with 10 nm of gold.This material was examined under high vacuum in a Quanta 2000 Scanning Electron Microscope at the Centro de Microscopia da UFMG.Morphological terminology and description format were the same used byLEVI (1988).All the measurements are in millimeters.Geographic coordinates of localities mentioned in the text are presented in decimal format, first latitude than longitude.
1 Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto de CiênciasBiológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais.Avenida Antônio Carlos  6627, 31270-901 Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.E-mail: gracifbp@yahoo.com.br,oxyopes@yahoo.comABSTRACTFemalescanbe recognized by having widely spaced epigynal lips and by the narrow epigynal notch in ventral view.Alpaida toninho sp.nov., from Bahia, Espírito Santo, Rio de Janeiro and Santa Catarina, can be distinguished by the round lobes of the terminal apophysis, and by the median apophysis with a distal lobe and a projection in males, and by the epigynum elliptical, with a short scape in females.KEY WORDS.Brazilian coast; Neotropical Region; taxonomy.Two new species of the spider genus Alpaida ZOOLOGIA 30 (3): 324-328, June, 2013 examined