Phrurolithidae is a family of araneomorph spiders, known as guardstone spiders. The family was first described by Nathan Banks in 1892. First included in the Corinnidae as the subfamily Phrurolithinae, later phylogenetic studies justified a separate family.
Aelurillus mirabilis is a species of jumping spider in the genus Aelurillus that lives in Namibia. It was first described in 2006 by Wanda Wesołowska. The species is medium-sized to large, with a dark brown carapace that is between 2.6 and 3.6 mm long and a fawn abdomen that is between 2.2 and 3.3 mm long. The spider has an indistinct marking of two brown streaks on the abdomen, which is nearly invisible on the female. It is unusual in the genus for the lack of central depression and sclerotized flaps at the top of the copulatory openings in the female epigyne. This, along with the shape of the male copulatory organs with their distinctive coiled embolus, enable the spider to be differentiated from others in the genus.
Evarcha bakorensis is a species of jumping spider in the genus Evarcha that lives in Guinea, Ivory Coast and Nigeria. It thrives in savanna grasslands. The species was first described in 2002 by Christine Rollard and Wanda Wesołowska. The spider is small, with a cephalothorax measuring between 1.6 and 1.8 mm long and an abdomen that is between 1.3 and 1.9 mm long. The female is larger than the male. The cephalothorax has a light brown topside, or carapace, yellow underside, or sternum, and darker sides. The abdomen is greyish-brown or brown and has a lighter pattern on it. The spider has generally brown legs. It has distinctive copulatory organs. The female has a large membrane in the centre of its epigyne while the male has a straight and blunt tibial apophysis, or projection on its palpal tibia.
Thiratoscirtus harpago is a species of jumping spider in the genus Thiratoscirtus that lives in Nigeria. The species was first described in 2011 by Wanda Wesołowska and Russell-Smith. Only the male has been identified. It is a medium-sized spider, with a cephalothorax that is typically 3.9 mm long and an abdomen that is 2.7 mm in length, both oval in shape. The carapace is generally dark brown and the abdomen dark greyish-fawn on top. The clypeus, or face, has a triangular marking of white hairs. The mouthparts include large chelicerae and a short fang. Its copulatory organs are unusual, including the a very small palpal bulb enclosed in a cymbium that is shaped like a half-moon and a hook at the end of the embolus, which is recalled in the species name, a Latin word that can be translated "harpoon".
Evarcha arabica is a species of jumping spider in the genus Evarcha that lives in Yemen. The species was first described in 2007 by Wanda Wesołowska and Antonius van Harten. The spider is small, with a carapace that measures between 2.1 and 2.7 mm long and an abdomen that is between 1.8 and 3.2 mm long. The female is generally larger and lighter than the male. The spider's eye field is darker. The top of the male abdomen is blackish-brown with a pattern of white dots and a large yellowish-orange belt. The top of the female abdomen has similar white dots but is mainly yellow with small darker dots. The male's legs are brown and yellow while the female's are orange to yellow. It has distinctive copulatory organs. The female has accessory glands near the copulatory openings and simple bean-like spermathecae. The male has a thin embolus and a tibial apophysis that has a forked tip.
The Fayda Jumper or Afraflacilla fayda is a species of jumping spider in the genus Afraflacilla that lives in the United Arab Emirates. The spider was first described in 2010 by Wanda Wesołowska and Antonius van Harten. The spider is small, with an cephalothorax that is typically 1.8 mm (0.07 in) and an abdomen typically 2.9 mm (0.11 in) long. The female has a distinctive design on its abdomen that includes a pattern of an indistinct light patch in the centre and two light patches to the rear on a greyish-beige background, darker to the end. In comparison, the carapace is a uniform brown with a darker brown eye field. The spider's legs are yellow, the first legs being larger and featuring stridulatory apparatus. It has distinctive copulatory organs. The female has long winding insemination ducts and large spermathecae. The male has not been described.
Afraflacilla mushrif is a species of jumping spider in the genus Afraflacilla that lives in the United Arab Emirates. The spider was first described in 2010 by Wanda Wesołowska and Antonius van Harten. It is small, with a cephalothorax typically 2.0 mm (0.08 in) long and an abdomen that is typically 3.9 mm (0.15 in) long. The carapace is reddish-brown with a black eye field marked with two light lines. The abdomen is greyish-brown with a pattern of spots and stripes on top. The spider makes sounds by rubbing its yellow front legs against the area of its carapace under its eyes. It can be distinguished from the related Afraflacilla wadis by its copulatory organs. It has a shorter and wider epigyne, shorter insemination ducts and large unusually-shaped accessory glands than the other species.
Afrobeata firma is a species of jumping spider in the genus Afrobeata that lives in Yemen. The species was first described in 1994 by Wanda Wesołowska and Antonius van Harten. The spider has a carapace measuring between 2.9 and 3.6 mm long and an abdomen between 2.9 and 4.2 mm long. It is generally dark brown, although the underside is lighter. The male has a pattern of chevrons and spots on its abdomen. The female has shiny scales. The male also has distinctively-shaped teeth to the rear of the chelicerae while the female has a single bicuspid tooth. The front legs of the male are longer than the rest. The female copulatory organs are similar to the related Afrobeata latithorax but the seminal ducts are distinctive. They are complex and coiled, surrounding the heavily sclerotized spermathecae. The male has a small tooth-like appendage on its palpal tibia, or tibial apophysis, and a very long thin embolus that circles the round palpal bulb.
Plexippus minor is a species of jumping spider in the genus Plexippus that lives in the United Arab Emirates. The male was first described by Wanda Wesołowska and Antonius van Harten in 2010 and the female in 2020. The spider is medium-sized with a cephalothorax between 3.1 and 3.8 mm long and an abdomen between 3.3 and 4.1 mm long. It has a shape and colouring typical of the genus. The male has a orange carapace while the female is brownish-fawn. The copulatory organs distinguish it from related species, particularly the male's shorter embolus and tibial apophysis and the female's wide pocket on its epigyne.
Evarcha denticulata is a species of jumping spider in the genus Evarcha that is endemic to South Africa. It is ground-dwelling spider, thriving in the fynbos found in the Eastern Cape. The spider is small, with a rounded cephalothorax that is usually between 2.1 and 2.5 mm long and an ovoid abdomen that is between 1.8 and 3.4 mm long. The female has a larger abdomen than the male. It is also lighter, with a pattern of grey patches visible on its yellow background. The male is generally blackish-brown. Both have three lines of white hairs on the spider's cheeks. The male Evarcha denticulata has a distinctive tooth on the spike, or apophysis, that emanates from its palpal tibia, which is recalled in the specific name. The species was first described in 2013 by Wanda Wesołowska and Charles Hadded.
Euophrys cochlea 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 medium-sized brown spider, with a body that consists of a cephalothorax that is between 1.7 and 2.4 mm long and an abdomen between 1.7 and 2.9 mm (0.11 in) long. The cephalothorax has a dark brown carapace, or topside. The spider's eye field is darker, with black rings around the eyes but marked with a white patch. The female has a yellowish-brown abdomen while the male is a darker brown. While the female has light brown to yellow legs, the male's legs whitish-yellow or yellowish-orange. The spider is most easily differentiated from others species in the genus by its screw-like embolus, part of the male's copulatory organs. This is recalled in the species name, the Latin word for screw.
Phintella kaptega is a species of jumping spider in the genus Phintella that lives in Kenya. The species is named after the area around the Kaptega river where it was first found. The spider was first described in 2016 by Angelika Dawidowicz and Wanda Wesołowska in 2016, and is distinguished by the large pockets in the female's epigyne. It is a small spider with a light brown carapace that has a dark line along its edge. The abdomen is between 1.95 and 2.2 mm long and has light brown markings on a yellow background.
Plexippoides regius is a species of jumping spider in the genus Plexippoides. The species was first described by Wanda Wesołowska in 1981 based on specimens from North Korea but its distribution has been extended to include China, Russia and South Korea, with examples found as far as Sichuan. The spider is small, with a body length between 6.9 and 8.65 mm, the female being generally larger than the male. It is distinguished by the two brown lines that stretch across the back of its carapace and abdomen that is recalled in its Korean name. Otherwise, the spider varies in coloration, with some examples having an orange or yellow-brown carapace and others dark brown. The male has a long embolus that encircles the palpal bulb. The female has complex seminal ducts that lead to heavily sclerotised and many-chambered spermathecae.
Scotinella is a genus of North American araneomorph spiders in the family Phrurolithidae, first described by Nathan Banks in 1911.
Alboculus is a monotypic genus of east Asian spiders in the family Phrurolithidae containing the single species, Alboculus zhejiangensis. As of 2020 it has only been found in China. A female was originally described under the name "Phrurolithus zhejiangensis", but was described under its new name when a male was identified by K. K. Liu, H. P. Luo and Y. H. Ying in 2020.
Bosselaerius is a genus of Asian spiders in the family Phrurolithidae. It was first described by Alireza Zamani and Yuri M. Marusik in 2020. As of March 2022 it contains only three species: B. daoxianensis, B. hyrcanicus, and B. tajikistanicus.
Stenaelurillus nigricaudus, synonyms Aelurillus sahariensis and Stenaelurillus nigritarsis, is the type species of the genus Stenaelurillus. It is a jumping spider that lives in Algeria, Burkina Faso, Gambia, Mali, Niger and Senegal. The male was first described by Eugène Simon in 1886 and the female initially in 1936 by Ludovico di Caporiacco and more thoroughly by Nikolaj Scharff and Tamás Szűts in 2005. It is a medium-sized spider with a cephalothorax between 2.4 and 2.7 mm and an abdomen that is between 2 and 3.7 in long. The carapace is reddish-brown and has two white or yellow stripes. The female abdomen has a pattern of stripes and spots, with some examples having brown spots inside yellow spots. The male abdomen has either a single dark stripe or two white and one brown stripes. While the female pedipalps are yellow, the male has either dark or brown pedipalps. The female has distinctive flanges at its copulatory openings. The male is distinguished by the shape of its palpal bulb and, particularly, of its hook-shaped embolus.
Phrurolithus festivus is a spider in the family Phrurolithidae. It was originally distributed only in the Palaearctic and was introduced into Canada. The highly adaptable species inhabits a variety of both dry and wet habitats and can also be found in man-made habitats, but generally prefers open areas.
Pochyta aurantiaca is a species of jumping spider in the genus Pochyta that lives in Gabon. A small spider, it was first described in 2021 by Wanda Wesołowska and Tamás Szűts. It has an oval cephalothorax that is between 1.8 and 2.8 mm long and an ovoid abdomen, between 1.8 and 2.4 mm long. The female is lighter than the male and has a narrower abdomen. The spider has a generally yellow to light brown carapace and a yellowish abdomen, but the female specimens have patterns that can include black, reddish-orange and reddish patches. All the spiders have light yellow spinnerets. The front pair of legs are longer than the others and have brown spines. The spider has unique copulatory organs, with the male having a clump of long dense hairs around its small projection on the palpal tibia, called a tibial apophysis, and the female having sclerotized hoods around the copulatory openings on its epigyne.
