| Vanderwalt's Diphya Web Spider | |
|---|---|
|   | |
| Dorsal view of Diphya vanderwalta | |
| Scientific classification   | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia | 
| Phylum: | Arthropoda | 
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata | 
| Class: | Arachnida | 
| Order: | Araneae | 
| Infraorder: | Araneomorphae | 
| Family: | Tetragnathidae | 
| Genus: | Diphya | 
| Species: | D. vanderwaltae | 
| Binomial name | |
| Diphya vanderwaltae Omelko, Marusik & Lyle, 2020 [1]  | |
Diphya vanderwaltae is a species of spider in the family Tetragnathidae. [2] It is endemic to South Africa and is commonly known as Vanderwalt's Diphya web spider. [3]
Diphya vanderwaltae is known only from Cwebe Nature Reserve in the Eastern Cape. [3]
The species was collected while sifting leaf litter from coastal dune forest. [3] The species range is very small. [3]
The species is only known from females.The female of Diphya vanderwaltae is small (total length ~3.3 mm (0.13 in)) and predominantly dark: a dark-brown carapace with an indistinct median band, a uniformly black sternum, dark-grey femora with fine yellowish longitudinal lines, and a largely patternless dark-grey abdomen with a few guanine spots; the epigyne bears a triangular septum with closely spaced copulatory openings. [1]
Diphya vanderwaltae is listed as Data Deficient by the South African National Biodiversity Institute for taxonomic reasons. [3] A rare species, more sampling is needed around Cwebe to determine the range and to collect males. [3]
 This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 4.0 license.
  This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 4.0 license.