On Ecitocobius, a new genus from Central Amazonia with comments on the tribe Attacobiini (Arachnida, Araneae, Corinnidae, Corinninae) Alexandre B. Bonaldo and Antonio D. Brescovit Bonaldo, A. B. & A. D. Brescovit (1998): On Ecitocobius, a new genus from Central Amazonia with comments on the tribe Attacobiini (Arachnida, Araneae, Corinni-dae, Corinninae). -Spixiana 21/2: 165-172 Ecitocobius, gen. nov. is proposed for E. comissator, spec. nov., from Central Amazonia, Brazil. A new record and additional illustrations of Attacobius attarum (Roewer) are given. A. verhaaghi , spec. nov. from Cearä State, Brazil is described. The tribe Attacobiini and the genus Attacobius are rediagnosed on the base of putative derived characters. Alexandre B. Bonaldo, Museu de Ciencias Naturais, Fundacäo Zoobotänica do Rio Grande do Sul, C.P. 1188, CEP 90690-000, Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil. Bolsista CAPES, Doutorado, Universidade Federal do Paranä. Antonio D. Brescovit, Laboratörio de Artröpodos Peconhentos, Instituto Butan-tan, Av. Vital Brasil 1500, CEP 05503-900, Sao Paulo, SP, Brasil. Introduction Recently, knowledge of the family Corinnidae was increased by Platnick & Baptista (1995) who transferred the tribe Attacobiini from Liocranidae to Corinninae. This tribe, comprising only the type genus Attacobius Mello-Leitäo, was characterized by the large anterior median eyes, recurved anterior eye row, absence of serrula, reduced leg spination and darkened and laterally compressed tips of the tarsi. In this paper we propose a second genus of Attacobiini, Ecitocobius which includes the first known two-eyed representative of the family Corinnidae, an odd spider found running in a column of the army ant Eciton burchelli (Westwood). The discovery of this new genus which seems to be the sister group of Attacobius, permits testing the synapomorphies of the tribe. The reduced leg spination and the absence of a serrula seem to be derived characters for Attacobiini. As Ecitocobius has only the anterior median eyes, the eye row shape remains untestable. However, two other characters can be considered as putative synapomorphies for the tribe: labium much wider than long (first observed by Mello-Leitäo 1923) and the male palp with a long, thin retrolateral process, medially embedded in the tegulum, here called attacobiine tegular process. The laterally compressed tips of the tarsi seem to be exclusive to Attacobius species and this character is herein considered an apomorphy of that genus. The bipartite anterior median eye pattern described by Platnick & Baptista (1995) for Attacobius is absent in Ecitocobius. Since this pattern is easily observed in fresh material (specimens of A. attarum recently collected) as well as in poorly preserved specimens (as in the types of A. luederwaldti (Mello-Leitäo)), the absence of this feature in Ecitocobius is unequivocal. Thus, assuming the similar structure present in the liocranid genus Andromma Simon as homoplastious, the demarcation in each anterior median eye can be considered as another apomor-phy of Attacobius. 165
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