Rhene punctatus

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Rhene punctatus
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. punctatus
Binomial name
Rhene punctatus
Wesołowska & Haddad, 2013

Rhene punctatus is a species of jumping spider in the genus Rhene that lives in South Africa. The male was identified in 2013 and has distinctive black dots on its abdomen, which gives rise to its name.

Contents

Taxonomy

Rhene punctatus was first identified by Wanda Wesołowska and Charles Haddad in 2013. [1] It was allocated to the genus Rhene , which is named after the Greek female name, shared by mythological figures. [2] The species name is derived from the Latin for point, punctus, and relates to the dotted pattern on the abdomen. [3]

Description

Only the male of the species has been described. The spider is flat, stocky and hairy. It has a flat, almost square, dark brown carapace that is 1.8 millimetres (0.071 in) in length. The abdomen is pale brown with a pattern of black dots and is 2.1 millimetres (0.083 in) long. Both the carapace and abdomens are covered with dense white hairs. [3]

Distribution

Rhene punctatus has only been found in the Cathedral Peak Nature Reserve in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. [3]

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Rhene amanzi is a species of jumping spider in the genus Rhene. The male was first identified in 2013 and the female in 2018. It is small and dark brown, almost black, although the female is larger than the male. 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 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.

Rhene timidus is a species of jumping spider in the genus Rhene that lives in South Africa. Only the female has been described, in 2013. The spider is typical of the genus, but larger than Rhene facilis, with a relatively large abdomen measuring 3.5 mm (0.14 in) in length. It has a distinctive epigyne featuring spiralling ridges.

<i>Stenaelurillus guttiger</i> Species of spider

Stenaelurillus guttiger is a species of jumping spider in the genus Stenaelurillus that is native to southern Africa. It was first described in 1901 by Eugène Simon based on examples found in South Africa, and subsequently also identified in Botswana, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. Initially allocated to the genus Aelurillus, the species was moved to its current genus in 1974. The spider is medium-sized, with a carapace that is between 2.0 and 2.75 mm long and an abdomen that is between 1.8 and 2.9 mm long. It is dark brown or brown, and has a pattern of white hairs on both the abdomen and carapace and a pattern of two stripes on the carapace. The abdomen has a white pattern of straight and V-shaped stripes and spots which varies between specimens. The colouring of the clypeus and legs can also range from yellow to dark brown depending on the particular example. It is distinguished from other species in the genus by the design of its sexual organs. The male has an embolus that is short and crab like. The female has a flat plate epigyne with widely separated copulatory openings and insemination ducts and a deep narrow pocket. Stenaelurillusguttiger feeds on termites, particularly Macrotermes and Odontotermes.

References

  1. World Spider Catalog (2017). "Rhene punctatus Wesolowska & Haddad, 2013". World Spider Catalog. 18.0. Bern: Natural History Museum. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
  2. Thorell, Tamerlan (1869). On European Spiders, Part 1: Review of the European Genera of Spiders, Preceded by Some Observations on Zoological Nomenclature. p. 37.
  3. 1 2 3 Wesołowska, W.; Haddad, C. R. (2013). "New data on the jumping spiders of South Africa (Araneae: Salticidae)". African Invertebrates. 54 (1): 225–226. doi: 10.5733/afin.054.0111 . S2CID   59450669 . Retrieved 22 August 2017.