Uroballus carlei | |
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Male | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
Class: | Arachnida |
Order: | Araneae |
Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
Family: | Salticidae |
Subfamily: | Salticinae |
Genus: | Uroballus |
Species: | U. carlei |
Binomial name | |
Uroballus carlei Logunov & Obenauer, 2019 |
Uroballus carlei is a species of spider of the genus Uroballus . It is endemic to Hong Kong. [1]
Like U. koponeni , this species seems to mimic small caterpillars, likely those of lichen moths. The authors of the description hypothesize that U. carlei might normally live in tree canopies. [1]
Uroballus carlei has been described from one male, which was collected in 2018 from a railing at the edge of Shek O Country Park, Hong Kong.
The species is named after American illustrator Eric Carle of The Very Hungry Caterpillar , at the occasion of his 90th birthday, the 50th anniversary of his most famous book, and to honor his contribution to early childhood nature education. [1]
Like other species of this genus, U. carlei has unusually long spinnerets, and a flat and broadened carapace. The body of the male is about 3 mm long. The abdomen is unusually long, with a longitudinal serrate brown stripe, and densely covered with long erected hairs. [1]
The female (probably immature) is only known from pictures in the book A Guide to the Spiders of Hong Kong (2016) by Dickson Wong.
The male moves rather slowly, with long rest phases. It rarely jumps, and might escape by falling down on a thread of several centimeters, then climbing back up. When encountering a mirror, it displays to its male mirror image.