| Barnard's Anyphops Flat Spider | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
| Family: | Selenopidae |
| Genus: | Anyphops |
| Species: | A. barnardi |
| Binomial name | |
| Anyphops barnardi (Lawrence, 1940) [1] | |
Anyphops barnardi is a species of spider in the family Selenopidae. [2] It occurs in southern Africa and is commonly known as Barnard's Anyphops flat spider. [3]
Anyphops barnardi is found in Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and South Africa. [2] In South Africa, the species occurs in the Northern Cape and Gauteng provinces, at altitudes ranging from 1069 to 1457 m above sea level. [3]
The species inhabits the Savanna and Grassland biomes. [3] These are free-living cryptozoic nocturnal ground dwellers that have been collected with pitfall traps and from under rocks. [3]
The species is known only from females. [3] The carapace is fairly dark reddish brown, cephalic portion a little darker than thoracic portion, ocular area black, radiations from the thoracic stria not strongly marked, with a number of submarginal spots subjoined to form a wavy band. The chelicerae are a little darker than the cephalic area. [3]
The opisthosoma above is blackish brown, with some ill-defined symmetrical markings. The legs have well-defined and fairly strong bands. Tibia I and II have 5, metatarsus I and II have 3 pairs of inferior spines. Total length is 30.3 mm. [3]
Anyphops barnardi is listed as Least Concern due to its wide geographical range. [3] There are no known threats to the species. It is protected in Rooipoort Nature Reserve and Rietvleidam Nature Reserve. More sampling is needed to collect males. [3]
The species was originally described by R. F. Lawrence in 1940 as Selenops barnardi from Pokwani, Zimbabwe. [1] It was transferred to the genus Anyphops by Benoit in 1968. [3]
This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 4.0 license.