Biology:Phintella africana

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Short description: Species of spider

Phintella africana
Phintella.versicolor.male.png
The related male Phintella versicolor
Scientific classification edit
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Salticidae
Subfamily: Salticinae
Genus: Phintella
Species:
P. africana
Binomial name
Phintella africana
Wesołowska & Tomasiewicz, 2008

Phintella africana is a species of jumping spider in the genus Phintella that lives in Ethiopia. The female of the species was first described in 2008 by Wanda Wesołowska and Beata Tomasiewicz. The spider, which is named after the continent where it was found, is small and brown, with a mottled brown and yellow abdomen 2.4 mm (0.094 in) long. It lives in grasslands.

Taxonomy

Phintella africana is a jumping spider that was first identified in 2008 by Wanda Wesołowska and Beata Tomasiewicz.[1] The spider was named after Africa, the continent in which it was first found.[2] It is one of over 500 species identified by Wesołowska during her career.[3] It was allocated to the genus Phintella, first raised in 1906 by Embrik Strand and W. Bösenberg. The genus name derives from the genus Phintia, which it resembles.[4] The genus Phintia was itself renamed Phintodes, which was subsequently absorbed into Tylogonus.[5] There are similarities between spiders within genus Phintella and those in Chira, Chrysilla, Euophrys, Icius, Jotus and Telamonia.[6] Genetic analysis confirms that it is related to the genera Helvetia and Menemerus and is classified in the tribe Chrysillini.[7][8]

Description

The spider was described based on a specimen found by Anthony Russell-Smith between 1982 and 1988.[9] Only the female has so far been described.[1] The species differs from other members of the genus by the fact that the copulatory openings are at the rear edge of the epigyne. Otherwise, it is typical of the genus. The spider has a brown carapace with black rings around its eyes. The clypeus is similarly brown. The abdomen is oval and mottled yellow and brown, and is 2.4 mm (0.094 in) long. The cephalothorax is smaller, measuring 1.5 mm (0.059 in) in length. The epigyne is rounded and has a single pocket.[2]

Distribution

The spider has been found in the Sidamo Province of Ethiopia, in grasslands.[2]

References

Citations

Bibliography

  • Bösenberg, W.; Strand, Embrik (1906). "Japanische Spinnen". Abhandlungen der Senckenbergischen Naturforschenden Gesellschaft 30: 93–422. 
  • Cameron, H. D.; Wijesinghe, D. P. (1993). "Simon's Keys to the Salticid Groups". Peckhamia 3 (1): 1–26. 
  • Maddison, Wayne P.; Hedin, Marshal C. (2003). "Jumping spider phylogeny (Araneae: Salticidae)". Invertebrate Systematics 17 (4): 529–549. 
  • Maddison, Wayne P. (2015). "A phylogenetic classification of jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae)". The Journal of Arachnology 43 (3): 231–292. doi:10.1636/arac-43-03-231-292. 
  • Prószyński, Jerzy (1983). "Position of genus Phintella (Araneae: Salticidae)". Acta Arachnologica 31 (2): 43–48. 
  • Wesołowska, Wanda; Tomasiewicz, B. (2008). "New species and records of Ethiopian jumping spiders (Araneae, Salticidae)". Journal of Afrotropical Zoology 4: 3–59. 
  • Wiśniewski, Konrad (2020). "Over 40 years with jumping spiders: on the 70th birthday of Wanda Wesołowska". Zootaxa 4899 (1): 5–14. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4899.1.3. 

Wikidata ☰ Q3445273 entry