''Asemonea flava'' is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

jumping spider Jumping spiders are a group of spiders that constitute the family (biology), family Salticidae. , this family contained over 600 species description, described genus, genera and over 6,000 described species, making it the largest family of spide ...

in the

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

'' Asemonea'' that is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to Kenya. The spider was first defined in 2001 by

Wanda Wesołowska Wanda Wesołowska (born 11 August 1950) is a Polish zoologist known for her work with jumping spiders. She has described more species of jumping spider than any contemporary writer, and is second only to Eugène Simon in the history of arachnolo ...

, one of over 500 that the

arachnologist Arachnology is the scientific study of arachnids, which comprise spiders and related invertebrates such as scorpions, pseudoscorpions, harvestmen, ticks, and mites. Those who study spiders and other arachnids are arachnologists. More narrowly ...

described during her career. The spider is small, with a yellow

carapace A carapace is a dorsal (upper) section of the exoskeleton or shell in a number of animal groups, including arthropods, such as crustaceans and arachnids, as well as vertebrates, such as turtles and tortoises. In turtles and tortoises, the unde ...

and

abdomen The abdomen (colloquially called the gut, belly, tummy, midriff, tucky, or stomach) is the front part of the torso between the thorax (chest) and pelvis in humans and in other vertebrates. The area occupied by the abdomen is called the abdominal ...

each typically long, although the abdomen is narrower and lighter. The female has spines on its palpal tibia and a distinctive

epigyne The epigyne or epigynum is the external genital structure of female spiders. As the epigyne varies greatly in form in different species, even in closely related ones, it often provides the most distinctive characteristic for recognizing species. ...

that with a complex internal structure with helical receptacles. The male has not been described.

Taxonomy

''Asemonea flava'' is a

that was first described by the Polish

in 2001, one of over 500

she identified during her career. The species was allocated to the

'' Asemonea'', first raised by

Octavius Pickard-Cambridge Octavius Pickard-Cambridge FRS (3 November 1828 – 9 March 1917) was an English clergyman and zoologist. He was a keen arachnologist who described and named more than 900 species of spider from a large collection that he made with contrib ...

in 1869. The genus is related to ''

Lyssomanes ''Lyssomanes'' is a spider genus of the family Salticidae (jumping spiders), ranging from South and Central America, up to the southern United States. There have been described 94 extant and two fossil species from the Neotropical Region. The g ...

''. Molecular analysis demonstrates that the genus is similar to '' Goleba'' and '' Pandisus''. In

Wayne Maddison Wayne Paul Maddison (born 1958) is a Canadian evolutionary biologist, arachnologist, and biological illustrator. He is Canada Research Chair in Biodiversity and a professor at the departments of zoology and botany at the University of British ...

's 2015 study of spider phylogenetic classification, the genus ''Asemonea'' was the type genus for the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

Asemoneinae. A year later, in 2016,

Jerzy Prószyński Jerzy Prószyński (born 1935 in Warsaw) is a Polish arachnologist specializing in systematics of jumping spiders (family Salticidae). He is a graduate of the University of Warsaw, a long-term employee of the Siedlce University of Natural Sc ...

named it as the type genus for the Asemoneines group of genera, which was also named after the genus. The species itself has a name that is derived from the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

for yellow.

Description

The spider is small. The female has a moderately high elongated

that is typically long and wide. It is yellow with a whitish eye field. Typically for the genus, the eyes arranged in two rows. The

chelicerae The chelicerae () are the arthropod mouthparts, mouthparts of the subphylum Chelicerata, an arthropod group that includes arachnids, horseshoe crabs, and sea spiders. Commonly referred to as "jaws", chelicerae may be shaped as either articulated ...

are whitish-yellow, with two small teeth visible at the front and three at the back. The

is similar in shape to the carapace but narrower, typically long and wide, and a lighter yellow. It has light

spinneret A spinneret is a silk-spinning organ of a spider or the larva of an insect. Some adult insects also have spinnerets, such as those borne on the forelegs of Embioptera. Spinnerets are usually on the underside of a spider's opisthosoma, and ar ...

s and long thin yellow

legs A leg is a weight-bearing and locomotive anatomical structure, usually having a columnar shape. During locomotion, legs function as "extensible struts". The combination of movements at all joints can be modeled as a single, linear element cap ...

. The

pedipalp Pedipalps (commonly shortened to palps or palpi) are the secondary pair of forward appendages among Chelicerata, chelicerates – a group of arthropods including spiders, scorpions, horseshoe crabs, and sea spiders. The pedipalps are lateral to ...

s are light brown. There are spines on the palpal tibia. The

is an oval with a large depression towards the front and a raised part towards middle. This is a distinguishing feature of the species. The seminal ducts are initially very wide, narrowing as the wend their way to the receptacles, which are a complex of coiled helixes. The male has not been described.

Behaviour

The spider is typical of the genus. ''Asemonea'' spiders rarely jump. Instead, they generally walk and run. They spin sheet webs on the underside of leaves, where they also lay their eggs. Although predominantly a diurnal hunter, the spider is also likely to eat nectar if it is available.

Distribution and habitat

The species is

to Kenya. The

holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

was found on

Mount Elgon Mount Elgon is an extinct shield volcano on the border of Uganda and Kenya, north of Kisumu and west of Kitale. The mountain's highest point, named "Wagagai", is located entirely within Uganda.

in 1937 at an altitude of

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...

. It thrives in mountainous areas.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q2257118 Endemic fauna of Kenya Fauna of Kenya Salticidae Spiders of Africa Spiders described in 2001 Taxa named by Wanda Wesołowska