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searchable PDF - Association for Mexican Cave Studies

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Recently, in nearby Amber <strong>Cave</strong>, a male was foundwhich appears conspecific with the holotype.New record.-One male from Amber <strong>Cave</strong>,Travis County, Texas, 8 April 1984 (1. Reddell andM. Reyes); mounted on slide (FSCA). As this is thefirst male known <strong>for</strong> the genus TartarocreagrisCurcic, it is appropriate to provide a shortdescription. Very similar to female in most respects.Carapace with epistome much reduced; no eyes;23 setae, 4 at anterior and 6 at posteriormargin. Palpal coxa with 4 apical setae. Tergalchaetotaxy 8: 10: 12: 11: 12: 12: 13: 13: 12: 10:3:2. Sternalchaetotaxy 24:[2-5]:(5)6/12(5):(5)1/12(5): 15:2/15:2/14:2/13: 1/12: 12:9:2 (Fig. 3). Internal genitalia(Fig. 4) much like those of Microcreagrisphyllisae Chamberlin (1962:fig. 12), with 2conspicuous, rounded sacs lying dorsal to a largeround ventral sac, and the 2 lateral sacs long, rathernarrow, and wrinkled. Cheliceral hand with 7 setaeon right and 6 on left; flagellum of 9 serrate setae;galea bifurcated just distad of middle, each ramus intum bifurcated. Palp with femur 5.75, tibia 4.55,and chela (with pedicel) 6.1 times as long as broad;hand (with pedicel) 2.75 times as long as deep;movable fmger 1.34 times as long as hand withpedicel. Fixed finger with 97 and movable fingerwith 108 marginal teeth of which only the distal10-15 are cusped. Leg IV with entire femur 5.15and tibia 8.25 times as long as deep; subterminaltarsal setae with a small median spine and 1-2spinules toward tip.Measurements (mm).-Body length 3.96. Carapacelength 1.08. Chelicera length 0.68. Palpal trochanter0.71 by 0.28; femur 1.52 by 0.265; tibia1.36 by 0.30; chela (without pedicel) 2.47 by0.435; hand (without pedicel) 0.975 by 0.42;pedicel 0.185 long; movable finger 1.55 long. LegIV: entire femur 1.18 by 0.23; tibia 1.07 by 0.13.Remarks.-In his revision of some North Americanspecies of Microcreagris, Curcic (1984) did notdeal with M. texana. However, his new genus Tartarocreagrisis based on M. infernalis from InnerSpace <strong>Cave</strong>rn, about 25 miles north of Tooth <strong>Cave</strong>,the type locality of M. texana. The holotypes ofboth M. infernalis and M. texana are females, whichare quite similar to one another in basicmorphology, differing only in the degree ofattenuation of their appendages and in small detailsof chaetotaxy. The male from Amber <strong>Cave</strong> is verylike the females except in sex-related characters. It isclear that these specimens are congeneric and texanais assigned to Tartarocreagris.The male described above is the first male knownin the genus. It is interesting and intriguing that itsgenitalia are quite similar to those of Microcreagrisphyllisae, which Curcic has placed in the genusSaetigerocreagris (1984: 158). Further study will berequired to resolve the questions posed by this similarity,as very little has yet been recorded about thegenitalia of neobisioid pseudoscorpions.Curcic (1989:360) has assigned M. texana to thegenus Australinocreagris Curcic (1984), which isbased on M. grahami Muchmore from CalaverasCounty, Cali<strong>for</strong>nia. I fmd that assignment untenablebecause the internal genitalia of the male texana arequite different from those of male grahami, whichlack the conspicuous rounded dorsal sacs (personalobservation, to be published elsewhere).It should be noted that T. texana has been declaredan endangered species (see Chambers andJahrsdoerfer, 1988) along with some other invertebratesin Travis and Williamson Counties.Tartarocreagris reddelli (Muchmore),NEW COMBINATIONMicrocreagris reddelli Muchmore, 1969:17, fig. 11.Microcreagris spp. (in part): Reddell, 1970:403.Australinocreagris reddelli (Muchmore): Curcic,1989:360, figs. 7, 16.This species was described from the holotype femalecollected in McDonald (Schulze) <strong>Cave</strong>, TravisCounty, Texas. More recently, two other specimensreferable to this species have been found.New records.-A topotype male from McDonald<strong>Cave</strong>, Travis County, Texas, 15 December 1988 (J.Reddell and M. Reyes) and a female from Beck'sRanch <strong>Cave</strong>, Williamson County, Texas, 23 June1968 (J. Reddell and R.W. Mitchell); mounted onslides (FSCA). Both the female and the male arevery similar to the holotype female in most respects,with the following noteworthy features. While theholotype has 21 setae on the carapace, with 4 at bothanterior and posterior margins, the new specimenshave 24 (male) and 25 (female) setae, with 4 at anteriorand 5 at posterior margins. The holotype has 3long setae on the apex of each palpal coxa, but eachof the new specimens has 4 setae in that position.Anterior genital operculum of female with 8 setae,posterior operculum with 12. Male genitalia muchlike those of T. texana, with 2 rounded sacs lyingdorsal to a single ventral sac; chaetotaxy23:[3-3]:(6)12/14(7): (4)11(4):-. Both of the newspecimens have 6 (rather than 7) setae on the handof the chelicera; galea smaller in male than female,bifurcate in distal half, each ramus with 0-2spinules. Ratios of palpal segments, male (female):132

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