Hermacha brevicauda

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Hermacha brevicauda
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Mygalomorphae
Family: Entypesidae
Genus: Hermacha
Species:
H. brevicauda
Binomial name
Hermacha brevicauda
Purcell, 1903 [1]
Synonyms
  • Pionothele capensisZonstein, 2016 [2]

Hermacha brevicauda is a species of spider in the family Entypesidae. [3] It is found in South Africa. [3]

Contents

Distribution

Hermacha brevicauda was originally described from two males found at the foot of "Devils Mountain" near Cape Town. [1] . Zonstein described both genders as Pionothele capensis (Pycnothelidae) in 2016. [2] These were collected in 1991 at Muizenberg in the Western Cape Province, where it has been recorded at an altitude of 6 m above sea level. [4]

Habitat and ecology

The species is a ground dweller that inhabits dunes north of Muizenberg in the Fynbos biome. [4] Known only from several records sampled at the type locality in 1991. [4]

Description

Conservation

Pionothele capensis is listed as Data Deficient due to limited sampling and the need for identification of museum material to determine the species' range. [4]

Etymology

The species name brevicauda comes from Latin meaning "short tail".

Taxonomy

The species was originally described by William Frederick Purcell in 1903. [1] In 2016, Zonstein described Pionothele capensis, which was later synonymized with Hermacha brevicauda by Ríos-Tamayo, Engelbrecht & Goloboff in 2021. [3] This taxonomic change transferred the species from the genus Pionothele back to Hermacha.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Purcell, W.F. (1903). "New South African spiders of the families Migidae, Ctenizidae, Barychelidae Dipluridae, and Lycosidae". Annals of the South African Museum. 3: 69–142.
  2. 1 2 Zonstein, S.L. (2016). "New data on the spider genus Pionothele (Araneae: Nemesiidae), with description of a new species from South Africa". Israel Journal of Entomology. 46: 31–42. doi:10.5281/zenodo.56928.
  3. 1 2 3 "Hermacha brevicauda Purcell, 1903". World Spider Catalog. Retrieved 2025-09-28.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Dippenaar-Schoeman, A.S.; Haddad, C.R.; Foord, S.H.; Lotz, L.N. (2021). The Pycnothelidae of South Africa. Version 1. South African National Survey of Arachnida Photo Identification Guide. p. 6. Creative Commons by small.svg  This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 4.0 license.
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