Rhene pinguis | |
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Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
Class: | Arachnida |
Order: | Araneae |
Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
Family: | Salticidae |
Subfamily: | Salticinae |
Genus: | Rhene |
Species: | R. pinguis |
Binomial name | |
Rhene pinguis Wesołowska & Haddad, 2009 | |
Rhene pinguis is a species of jumping spider in the genus Rhene that was identified in South Africa. The male was first described in 2009 and the female in 2018. The spider is flat and hairy, its swollen look giving rise to its specific name. The female is slightly larger than the male, but neither have been seen with a cephalothorax longer than 1.5 millimetres (0.059 in) and abdomen more than 2.0 millimetres (0.079 in) in length.
Rhene pinguis is a member of the genus Rhene , which is named after the Greek female name, shared by mythological figures. [1] The specific name "pinguis", means fat or thick, and relates to the swollen look of the spider. [2]
The spider was first identified in 2009, with initially only the male described. The female was first described in 2018. [3] The spider is flat, hairy and brown in colour. The male is distinguished by its the wide vane at the tip of the embolus. [2] The female is similar to the related Rhene formosa , but differs in the design of its copulatory openings. The species are similar in size, the female being marginally larger. The cephalothorax has a length of 1.2 to 1.5 millimetres (0.047 to 0.059 in) and the abdomen is 1.4 to 2.0 millimetres (0.055 to 0.079 in) long. [4]
Rhene pinguis has only been identified in South Africa. [3] It is restricted to the Ndumo Game Reserve in KwaZulu-Natal. [4]
Drawings of Rhene pinguis
Menemerus transvaalicus is a species of jumping spider in the genus Menemerus that lives in Lesotho and South Africa. The species was first identified in 1999 by Wanda Wesołowska, one of over 500 descriptions she has written during her lifetime. The spider often lives on Eucalyptus trees and the walls of buildings. It is small, with a dark brown hairy carapace that is between 2.1 and 2.5 millimetres long and a fawn to dark brown abdomen that is between 2.0 and 3.6 millimetres in length. The female is larger than the male. It has a yellowish leaf-shaped pattern on its abdomen and orange to brown legs. The male has a conductor on its double embolus, which helps to distinguish the spider from the related Menemerus bifurcus.
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Nigorella hirsuta is a species of jumping spider in the genus Nigorella that lives in South Africa and Zimbabwe. It was first describedin 2009 by Wanda Wesołowska. The spider is medium-sized, with a carapace that is between 3.5 and 4.7 mm long and an abdomen that is between 3.2 and 6.6 mm long. The female is larger than the male. The carapace is generally dark brown and hairy. While the male abdomen is similarly hairy and dark brown, the female abdomen is more grey. The species has been confused with the related Nigorella plebeja. However, it can be generally identified by the strongly sclerotized cups in the female epigyne and the male's longer embolus.
Nigorella aethiopica is the type species of the genus Nigorella. A jumping spider that lives in Ethiopia and named in honour of the country in which it is found, it was first described in 2008 by Wanda Wesołowska and Beata Tomasiewicz. The spider is larger than others in the species with a cephalothorax that is between 4.1 and 4.8 mm long and an abdomen that is between 4.3 and 5.6 mm long. The carapace is generally brown and hairy, although the male is darker. While the male abdomen is marked by a light stripe on the topside and dots underneath, the female abdomen has a pattern of a light stripe and patches on the top and dark stripes on the bottom. As well as its larger size, the species can be distinguished by its copulatory organs. The split at the end of the appendage on the pedipalp tibia marks out the male, and the female has longer seminal ducts and thinner spermathecae than others in the genus.
Langona hirsuta is a species of jumping spider in the genus Langona that lives in South Africa. It was first described in 2011 by Charles Haddad and Wanda Wesołowska. The spider is large with a carapace between 2 and 3.7 mm long and a abdomen between 1.9 and 4.4 mm long. The female is significantly larger than the male, particularly in the abdomen, which is also wider and a lighter brown. The male has very hairy pedipalps, after which it is named. It has the toothless chelicerae typical of the genus, and a single appendage, or apophysis, on the palpal tibia. The length of the apophysis helps to distinguish it from other spiders in the genus. It lives in semi-arid climates.
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.
Afraflacilla venustula, the Ndumo Afraflacilla Jumping Spider, is a species of jumping spider in the genus Afraflacilla that lives in South Africa. The spider was first described in 2009 by Wanda Wesołowska and Charles Haddad. Originally allocated to the genus Pseudicius, it was moved to its current name by Jerzy Prószyński in 2016. The spider is small, with a carapace that is between 1.7 and 2.0 mm long and an abdomen between 1.8 and 2.5 mm long. The male is larger than the female. The carapace is light brown, although some males are darker, with a black eye field. The male abdomen is black with a pattern of four pairs of white spots, like Pseudicius sengwaensis. The female abdomen is yellowish with four brown spots. The legs are generally yellow, apart from the front pair on the male, which are brown, longer and stouter. The male also has a distinctive bulbous shape to its palpal bulb and a longer embolus than related species.
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Rhene lingularis is a species of jumping spider in the genus Rhene that can be found in South Africa. The male was first identified in 2011. It is typical of the genus, and is small, dark brown and hairy. The spider is distinguished by its tongue-shaped embolus, from which its species name derives.
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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.
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.