| Touwsriver Anyphops Flat Spider | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
| Family: | Selenopidae |
| Genus: | Anyphops |
| Species: | A. lesserti |
| Binomial name | |
| Anyphops lesserti (Lawrence, 1940) [1] | |
Anyphops lesserti is a species of spider in the family Selenopidae. [2] It is endemic to South Africa and is commonly known as Touwsriver Anyphops flat spider. [3]
Anyphops lesserti is endemic to the Western Cape province of South Africa. The species is known from a few localities including Touws River, Gouritsmond, and Swartberg Nature Reserve. [3]
The species inhabits the Fynbos biome at altitudes ranging from sea level to 1405 m above sea level. These are free-living cryptozoic nocturnal ground living spiders. [3]
Known only from the male. The carapace is orange-yellow with the thoracic striae visible, and the chelicerae are much darker than the carapace, being reddish brown. [3]
The opisthosoma is light yellow-brown above with minute scattered black dots and a wavy transverse black stripe above the spinnerets. The legs apparently lack markings or bands of any kind. The anterior tibiae have 5 pairs of inferior spines. [3]
Total length is 10.2 mm. [3]
Anyphops lesserti is listed as Data Deficient due to taxonomic reasons. The species has a small range and more sampling is needed to collect females and determine the full extent of its distribution. It receives some protection in Swartberg Nature Reserve. [3]
The species was originally described by Lawrence in 1940 as Selenops lesserti from Touws River. [1] It was later transferred to the genus Anyphops by Benoit in 1968. [3]
This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 4.0 license.