| Zululand Anyphops Flat Spider | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
| Family: | Selenopidae |
| Genus: | Anyphops |
| Species: | A. lawrencei |
| Binomial name | |
| Anyphops lawrencei (Roewer, 1951) [1] | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Anyphops lawrencei is a species of spider in the family Selenopidae. [2] It occurs in South Africa and Zimbabwe and is commonly known as Zululand Anyphops flat spider. [3]
Anyphops lawrencei occurs in South Africa and Zimbabwe. In South Africa, it is known from three provinces: Free State, Gauteng, and KwaZulu-Natal. [3] Notable localities include Golden Gate Highlands National Park, Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park, and various nature reserves around Pretoria. [3]
The species inhabits Forest, Indian Ocean Coastal Belt, Grassland, and Savanna biomes at altitudes ranging from 112 to 1920 m above sea level. These are free-living cryptozoic nocturnal ground living spiders that are frequently found under rocks and have been collected from pitfall traps in open and dense indigenous forest. [3]
Known from both sexes. The carapace is orange-brown with lateral dark grey markings, and the chelicerae are orange-brown. The legs are pale orange-brown with markings on femora I–II forming two incomplete rings, while femora III–IV have two prolateral dark grey parallel lines limiting a pale and narrow band. [3]
The dorsal opisthosoma is dark brown with yellowish spots and a typical posterior transversal light band, while the venter is light grey. The anterior tibiae have 5 pairs of spines, anterior metatarsi with 3, and femora above with 3 very long and more or less erect blackish spines. [3]
Total length is 5-6 mm. [3]
Anyphops lawrencei is listed as Least Concern due to its wide geographical range. [3] The species is protected in multiple reserves including Klipriviersberg Nature Reserve, Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve, Golden Gate Highlands National Park, Rietvleidam Nature Reserve, and uMkhuze Game Reserve. [3]
This species was originally described by Lawrence in 1947 as Selenops pusillus, but this name was preoccupied by an earlier use by Simon in 1887. [3] Roewer provided the replacement name lawrencei in 1951. [1] The species was later transferred to the genus Anyphops by Benoit in 1968 and was revised by Corronca in 2005. [3]
This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 4.0 license.