Ibala bulawayensis

Zimbabwean Spotted Ibala Flat-bellied Ground Spider
	male
	male
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Infraorder:	Araneomorphae
Family:	Gnaphosidae
Genus:	Ibala
Species:	I. bulawayensis
Binomial name
	Ibala bulawayensis; (Tucker, 1923)

Last updated October 11, 2025

Ibala bulawayensis is a species of spider in the family Gnaphosidae.^[2] It is a southern African endemic species commonly known as the Zimbabwean spotted Ibala flat-bellied ground spider.^[3]

Distribution

Ibala bulawayensis is distributed across Zimbabwe and South Africa.^[3] In South Africa, it is recorded from the two provinces Limpopo and Northern Cape.^[3]

Habitat and ecology

The species is a free-living ground dweller sampled from the Savanna biome, at altitudes ranging from 1,190 to 1,341 m above sea level.^[3]

Description

Conservation

Ibala bulawayensis is listed as Least Concern by the South African National Biodiversity Institute due to its wide geographic range in southern Africa.^[3] It is protected in Benfontein Game Reserve and Lhuvhondo Nature Reserve.^[3]

Taxonomy

The species was originally described by Tucker in 1923 from Zimbabwe as Setaphis bulawayensis.^[1] It was revised by Fitzpatrick (2009).^[3]

References

1 2 Tucker, R.W.E. (1923). "The Drassidae of South Africa". Annals of the South African Museum. 19 (2): 324.
↑ "Ibala bulawayensis (Tucker, 1923)". World Spider Catalog. doi:10.24436/2 . Retrieved 25 September 2025.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Dippenaar-Schoeman, A.S.; Haddad, C.R.; Foord, S.H.; Lotz, L.N. (2021). The Gnaphosidae of South Africa. Part 2 (E-S). South African National Survey of Arachnida Photo Identification Guide. p. 17. doi:10.5281/zenodo.7197672. This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 4.0 license.

External links

Citizen science observations for Ibala bulawayensis at iNaturalist

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[tucker1923-1] 1 2 Tucker, R.W.E. (1923). "The Drassidae of South Africa". Annals of the South African Museum. 19 (2): 324.

[wsc-2] "Ibala bulawayensis (Tucker, 1923)". World Spider Catalog. doi:10.24436/2 . Retrieved 25 September 2025.

[dippenaar2021-3] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Dippenaar-Schoeman, A.S.; Haddad, C.R.; Foord, S.H.; Lotz, L.N. (2021). The Gnaphosidae of South Africa. Part 2 (E-S). South African National Survey of Arachnida Photo Identification Guide. p. 17. doi:10.5281/zenodo.7197672. This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 4.0 license.

[1]

[2]

[3]