Rhene amanzi

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Rhene amanzi
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Salticidae
Subfamily: Salticinae
Genus: Rhene
Species:
R. amanzi
Binomial name
Rhene amanzi
Wesołowska & Haddad, 2013

Rhene amanzi is a species of jumping spider in the genus Rhene . The male was first identified in 2013 and the female in 2018. The species is named after the Amanzi Private Game Reserve in Free State, South Africa, which is the only place that it has been found. It is dark brown, almost black, and small, although the female is larger than the male. The upper part of the cephalothorax, or carapace, is trapezoid and dominated by a large trapezoid eye field. Its front legs are fatter than the others. Its copulatory organs are distinctive. It differs from other spiders in the genus by the large triangular embolus found on the male and the shallow notch in the female's epigyne. The male also has a very small palpal tibia that has a sharp curved spike, or tibial apophysis, which ends in a point.

Contents

Etymology and taxonomy

Rhene amanzi is a species of jumping spider, a member of the family Salticidae, that was first described by Wanda Wesołowska and Charles Haddad in 2013. [1] It is one of over 500 different species identified by Wesołowska in her career, making her the most prolific author in the discipline since Eugène Simon. [2] They allocated it to the genus Rhene , which is named after the Greek female name shared by mythological figures. [3] The species is named after the Amanzi Private Game Reserve, where the first example was collected. [4]

First circumscribed in 1869 by Tamerlan Thorell, the genus Rhene is a part of the subtribe Dendryphantina in the tribe Dendryphantini. [5] [6] Wayne Maddison allocated the tribe to the subclade Simonida in the clade Saltafresia in the clade Salticoida. [7] It is related to the genera Dendryphantes and Macaroeris . The genus is also similar to Homalattus . [8] In 2017, Jerzy Prószyński designated it a member of a group of genera named Dendryphantines after the genus Dendryphantes. [9] He also noted that it is similar to the genera related to Simaetha , a group he named Simaethines, particularly in the shape of spider's body. [10] The genus is known for its good eyesight and its high level of spatial awareness, which is likely to show that it is recent in evolutionary terms. [11]

Description

Like many in the genus, Rhene amanzi resembles a beetle. [12] The spider was first identified in 2013, with initially only the male described by Wesołowska and Haddad. The female was first described in 2018 by the same team. [1] The spider is small, flat, robust and a very dark brown, almost black, in colour. The spider's body is divided into two main parts: a cephalothorax and an abdomen. The male's carapace, the hard upper part of the cephalothorax, is trapezoid in shape and has a length of 1.5 mm (0.06 in) and width of 1.9 mm (0.07 in). The spider's eye field is also trapezoid, and unusually large, dominating the majority of the upper surface. Its abdomen is very flat and 1.7 mm (0.07 in) long and 1.9 mm (0.07 in) wide. It is fringed with dense hairs. The spider has dark pedipalps and dark brown legs, the front legs fatter than the rest. [4]

The female is similar to the related Rhene timidus , but is smaller, despite being larger than the male. The cephalothorax has a length of 1.3 mm (0.05 in) and width of 1.5 mm (0.06 in), while the abdomen is 2.2 mm (0.09 in) long and 1.9 mm (0.07 in) wide. Externally, it is generally similar to the male. The carapace is dark, but has some very short white hairs on the edges. The abdomen also has some short dark hairs. It is blackish on the top and brown underneath. The spinnerets are also dark. [13]

The spider has distinctive copulatory organs. The male has a rounded cymbium that surrounds a bulgy palpal bulb. A large triangular embolus, the shape of which distinguishes the spider from others in the genus, emanates from the top. There is a very small palpal tibia that has a sharp curved spike, or tibial apophysis, which ends in a point. [4] It is similar externally to Dendryphantes neethlingi , differing in the way that the embolus curves and its longer tibial apophysis. [14]

The female has a round epigyne with a small notch at the end. The copulatory openings are at the front. They lead to two broad insemination ducts, via atria that are used as part of the insemination process, that loop around before entering the spermathecae, or receptacles. Both the spermathecae and the lips of the atria have some sclerotin. There are also large accessory glands. [15] The epigyne differs from Rhene timidus in details, including having a shallower notch. [16]

Distribution

Although Dendryphantine spiders a predominantly found in the Americas, Rhene spiders live in Africa and Eurasia. [6] Rhene amanzi is endemic to South Africa. [1] It has only been identified in the Amanzi Private Game Reserve near Brandfort in Free State. [17] [13] Unusually for the genus, it has been found in grasslands as well as in wooded areas. [18]

Related Research Articles

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<i>Langona hirsuta</i> Species of spider

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<i>Evarcha awashi</i> Species of spider

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<i>Evarcha rotundibulbis</i> Species of spider

Evarcha rotundibulbis is a species of jumping spider in the genus Evarcha that lives in Ethiopia. The species was first described in 2008 by Wanda Wesołowska and Beata Tomasiewicz. The spider is small to medium-sized, with a cephalothorax measuring between 2.4 and 2.7 mm long and an abdomen between 2.3 and 2.6 mm long. The carapace is light brown with a dark brown eye field. The abdomen is russet with a yellowish pattern of arrows and spots. The spider has brown and yellow legs. Its copulatory organs are unusual and help identify it. The male has a distinctive rounded palpal bulb that is recalled in the name of the species. It also has a very short forked embolus and a shovel-like projection, or apophysis, on the palpal tibia that distinguishes it from other related species. The female has not been described.

<i>Pseudicius ridicularis</i> Species of spider

Pseudicius ridicularis is a species of jumping spider in the genus Pseudicius that lives in Ethiopia. The spider was first described in 2008 by Wanda Wesołowska and Beata Tomasiewicz. The spider is medium-sized, with a cephalothorax that is between 2.1 and 2.2 mm long and an abdomen that measures between 2.6 and 3.1 mm long. It has a dark brownish carapace, while the abdomen differs between the male, which has a yellowish-brown hue, and the female, which is marked by an indistinctive pattern of brown patches. It is the copulatory organs that most enable the spider to be distinguished. The male has a particularly large bent tibial apophysis and a short thick embolus. The female has longer spermathecae than others in the genus.

Evarcha maculata is a species of jumping spider in the genus Evarcha that lives in Guinea, Ivory Coast and Ethiopia. It has been found in savanna in the Guinea Highlands and near bodies of water like the Awash River. The species was first described in 2002 by Christine Rollard and Wanda Wesołowska. The spider is small, with a cephalothorax measuring between 1.7 and 2.3 mm long and an abdomen that is between 1.6 and 3.6 mm long. The female is generally larger than the male, although there are exceptions, particularly amongst those found in Guinea. The cephalothorax has a yellowish topside, or carapace, with a darker eye field, and an yellow or yellowish-orange, or sternum. The abdomen has a distinctive pattern that is basically shaped like a capital "H", referred to in the species name, which can be translated "spotted". The spider has orange or yellow legs. It has distinctive copulatory organs. The female has distinctively shaped insemination ducts. The male has a very short curved embolus.

<i>Evarcha arabica</i> Species of spider

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<i>Evarcha picta</i> Species of spider

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<i>Evarcha seyun</i> Species of spider

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<i>Evarcha ignea</i> Species of spider

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<i>Langona tortuosa</i> Species of spider

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<i>Pseudicius matabelensis</i> Species of spider

Pseudicius matabelensis is a species of jumping spider in the genus Pseudicius that ilves in Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe. The spider was first defined in 2011 by Wanda Wesołowska. The spider is small, with a cephalothorax between 1.6 and 1.9 mm long and an abdomen between 1.7 and 2.3 mm long. It has a dark brown carapace and olive-brownish abdomen, the latter with an indistinct pattern of two stripes. The male has stout dark brown front legs. The species is similar to the related Pseudicius procerus but differs in its copulatory organs. The female has two pockets at the front of the epigyne and short seminal ducts leading to large receptacles. The male has a very long tibial apophysis and short embolus.

<i>Pseudicius flabellus</i> Species of spider

Pseudicius flabellus is a species of jumping spider in the genus Pseudicius that is endemic to South Africa. The spider was first defined in 2013 by Wanda Wesołowska and Charles Haddad. It has a genus name that is derived from two Greek words meaning false and honest and a species name that is a Latin word for fan that recalls the shape of the male's palpal tibial apophysis. The spider is small, with a cephalothorax typically 2.0 mm (0.08 in) long and an abdomen typically 2.3 mm (0.09 in) long. It is generally brown in colour, with an indistinct lighter streak down the middle, and greyish-yellow legs. It is similar to the related Pseudicius dentatus, differing in the shape of its copulatory organs. The male has a distinctive fan-like tibial apophysis and an embolus that has a broad base and narrow tip.The female has not been described.

Euophrys recta is a species of jumping spider in the genus Euophrys that is endemic to South Africa. The species was first described in 2014 by Wanda Wesołowska, Galina Azarkina and Anthony Russell-Smith. It is a small spider, with a body that consists of a cephalothorax that is typically 1.4 mm (0.06 in) long and an abdomen that is typically 1.5 mm (0.06 in) long. The carapace, the topside of the cephalothorax, is brown and the sternum, or underside, is black. The abdomen has a pattern of yellow and dark brown stripes on top and is blackish underneath. The copulatory organs are distinctive amongst spiders in the genus, particularly male's long tibial apophysis, or protrusion on the palpal tibia, and small embolic disk, or disk on the palpal bulb at the base of the embolus. The female has not been described.

<i>Icius bandama</i> Species of spider

Icius bandama is a species of jumping spider in the genus Icius that lives in Ivory Coast. It was first described in 2022 by Wanda Wesołowska and Anthony Russell-Smith.. The spider lives communally amongst other spiders and preys on insects. It is small, with a cephalothorax between 2.0 and 2.1 mm long and an abdomen 2.0 and 3.0 mm long. The female and male carapace are similar in size and colouration. The male abdomen is greyish-beige and marked with a light streak and two stripes. The female has a yellowish-olive abdomen broken by a white band on the forward edge. The species is similar to other Icius spiders but differs in the shape of the tibial apophysis, or spike, on the male and the lack of a pocket on the epigynal and internal structure of the copulatory organs of the female.

<i>Langelurillus squamiger</i> Species of spider

Langelurillus squamiger is a species of jumping spider in the genus Langelurillus that lives in South Africa. The species was first described in 2018 by Wanda Wesołowska and Charles Haddad. It is small, the male being slightly smaller than the female, with a cephalothorax that is between 1.9 and 2.4 mm long and an abdomen between 1.5 and 2.4 mm long. It is generally dark brown, with an orange pattern on the abdomen. It is very similar to other spiders in the genus, but differs in the shape of the male's tibial apophysis and the way that the female has both lobes at the back of the epigyne and short seminal ducts. The spider lives in leaves and eats Odontotermes termites alongside Stenaelurillus guttiger and Stenaelurillus modestus.

<i>Pseudicius procerus</i> Species of spider

Pseudicius procerus is a species of jumping spider in the genus Pseudicius that ilves in South Africa. The spider was first defined in 2018 by Wanda Wesołowska and Charles Haddad. The spider is small, with a cephalothorax between 1.6 and 2.0 mm long and an abdomen between 1.8 and 2.04 mm long. It is dark brown with a distinctive pattern on the abdomen. The male has a lattice-like design of white stripes and the female has three stripes, the rearmost broken in chevrons. The male has stout brown legs while the female has whitish-yellow, except the front legs, which are dark brown, longer and thicker. The species is similar to the related Pseudicius matabelensis but differs in its copulatory organs. The female has two pockets at the front of the epigyne and long seminal ducts leading to elongated spermathecae. The male has a very long curved tibial apophysis, or spike, and a medium-sized embolus that is attached to the tegulum.

<i>Pseudicius africanus</i> Species of spider

Pseudicius africanus is a species of jumping spider in the genus Pseudicius that lives in Lesotho and South Africa. The spider was first defined in 1903 by George and Elizabeth Peckham. It is small, with an oval cephalothorax measuring between 2 and 2.5 mm in length and an ovoid abdomen that is between 2.2 and 2.5 mm in length. The female is smaller than the male. Otherwise, they are similar, generally dark brown but with white stripes, made of hairs, down the middle and the along the sides of the top of both the carapace and abdomen. The underside of the abdomen differs in being grey and marked by two lighter lines. The female's legs are also lighter, and the front legs on the male are stouter than all the others. The pattern on the abdomen helps distinguish the spider from the related Pseudicius maculatus. It also has distinctive copulatory organs. The male has a shorter curved embolus and a characteristic tooth near the base of the tibial apophysis, or spike on the palpal tibia. The female has copulatory openings are on the edges of its epigyne.

References

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 World Spider Catalog (2023). "Rhene amanzi Wesolowska & Haddad, 2013". World Spider Catalog. 23.5. Bern: Natural History Museum. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
  2. Wiśniewski 2020, p. 6.
  3. Thorell 1869, p. 37.
  4. 1 2 3 Wesołowska & Haddad 2013, p. 222.
  5. Wesołowska & Russell-Smith 2022, p. 100.
  6. 1 2 Maddison 2015, p. 245.
  7. Maddison 2015, p. 278.
  8. Maddison 2015, pp. 246, 278.
  9. Prószyński 2017, pp. 88, 92.
  10. Prószyński 2017, p. 17.
  11. Su et al. 2007, p. 1485.
  12. Maddison 2015, p. 254.
  13. 1 2 Wesołowska & Haddad 2018, p. 902.
  14. Haddad & Wesołowska 2013, p. 467.
  15. Wesołowska & Haddad 2018, pp. 885, 902.
  16. Wesołowska & Haddad 2018, p. 901.
  17. Wesołowska & Haddad 2013, p. 228.
  18. Wesołowska & Haddad 2013, p. 223.

Bibliography