TAXONOMIC REVISION AND MORPHOLOGY OF THE TRAPDOOR SPIDER GENUS ACTINOPUS (MYGALOMORPHAE: ACTINOPODIDAE) IN ARGENTINA

The genus Actinopus Perty, 1833, is revised for Argentina, comprising a total of 23 species. The female of A. insignis (Holmberg, 1881) is described for the first time; the species is found in northern Buenos Aires, southern Santa Fe, and Uruguay. The female of A. longipalpis (Koch, 1842), previously known only from the male type from Uruguay, is described for the first time, and the species is newly cited for Argentina (Entre Rios). Twenty new species are recognized, described and illustrated. Thirteen of the new species are based on males and females (A. reycali, sp. nov., from Jujuy and Salta; A. clavero, sp. nov., from Cordoba; A. szumikae, sp. nov., from Cordoba, southern Buenos Aires, Santa Fe and Corrientes; A. coylei, sp. nov., from Salta and Santiago del Estero, A. argenteus, sp. nov., from Santiago del Estero, Cordoba and Catamarca, A. ramirezi, sp. nov., from Misiones, A. patagonia, sp. nov., from Chubut, La Pampa, Rio Negro and southern Buenos Aires, A. gerschiapelliarum, sp. nov., from Cordoba, northern Buenos Aires, southern Santa Fe, northern La Pampa and Canelones in Uruguay, A. pampa, sp. nov., from La Pampa, A. septemtrionalis, sp. nov., from Salta, Tucuman, Catamarca, and Formosa, A. taragui, sp. nov., from Corrientes, Chaco, and Misiones, A. excavatus, sp. nov., from Cordoba, A. casuhati, sp. nov., from southern Buenos Aires). Only one of the new species described is based on females only (A. indiamuerta, sp. nov., from Tucuman); and the remaining six on males (A. puelche, sp. nov., from southern Buenos Aires and Uruguay, A. cordobensis, sp. nov., from San Luis and Cordoba, A. magnus, sp. nov., from Cordoba, A. ariasi, sp. nov., from Formosa, A. palmar, sp. nov., from Entre Rios, and A. balcarce, sp. nov., from southern Buenos Aires). New morphological characters that can help solve phylogenetic relationships within the genus are described. A dichotomous key for all the species from Argentina is provided, as well as maps of the known geographic distribution for all the species. Three of the species treated here (A. gerschiapelliarum, A. puelche, and A. insignis) are recorded also for Uruguay.