''Asemonea pinangensis'' 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 Malaysia. The spider was first defined in 1980 by Fred Wanless. It is a small spider, with a

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 ...

that is typically long and an

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 ...

typically long. The carapace is whitish-yellow with black markings and the abdomen black with whitish-yellow markings. The coloration, as well as the lip on its dorsal tibial apophysis, help distinguish the species from the otherwise similar ''

Asemonea maculata ''Asemonea maculata'' is a species of jumping spider in the genus '' Asemonea'' that is endemic to Ivory Coast. The spider was first defined in 1980 by Fred Wanless. It is a small spider, with a carapace that is between long and an abdomen typ ...

'', '' Asemonea minuta'' and ''

Asemonea tanikawai ''Asemonea tanikawai'' is a species of jumping spider in the genus '' Asemonea'' that is endemic to Japan. It lives in trees in mountain ranges. The spider was first described in 1996 by Hiroyoshi Ikeda. The spider is small, with a carapace abd ...

''. The female has not been described.

Taxonomy

''Asemonea pinangensis'' is a

that was first described by Fred Wanless in 1980. The

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. It 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 Asemoneinae, split from

Lyssomaninae Lyssomaninae is a subfamily of jumping spiders. It includes four genera, three from the New World. Description Members of the subfamily Lyssomaninae are mostly green or yellow, and have long legs compared to other salticids. The anterior later ...

. 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.

Description

The spider is small, with a typical total length of . The male has a

that is typically long and wide. It is generally whitish-yellow with heavy black markings but appears iridescent green when lit. The eye field is black, as is the clypeus, but this has a yellow band. 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 ...

is a shiny whitish yellow with light bluish-grey markings. The labium and

sternum The sternum (: sternums or sterna) or breastbone is a long flat bone located in the central part of the chest. It connects to the ribs via cartilage and forms the front of the rib cage, thus helping to protect the heart, lungs, and major bl ...

are also shiny whitish yellow. The

is black and covered with grey-black hairs, typically long. It has a pattern on its back consisting of whitish-yellow patches. The

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 are also black with grey-black hairs. The spider has long thin pale 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 ...

that also have blackish markings. The legs have pale spines. 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 ...

is also pale yellow with black markings and a distinctive apophysis, or appendage, on its femur. The dorsal tibial apophysis also has a characteristic lip. The female has not been described. The species is similar to '' Asemonea minuta'' but can be distinguished by its coloration, the shape of the appendage on its palpal femora and the lip on its dorsal tibial apophysis. The spider resembles both ''

'' and ''

'' but likewise differs in the form of its dorsal tibial apophysis and femoral apophysis.

Behaviour

''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.

Distribution and habitat

''Asemonea pinangensis'' is

to Malaysia. 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 in Pinang Island in 1979 in vegetation along the road near

Teluk Bahang Teluk Bahang is a suburb of George Town, Penang, George Town within the States and federal territories of Malaysia, Malaysian state of Penang. It is located west of the Central George Town, Penang, city centre near the northwestern tip of Penang ...

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q2159246 Spiders of Malaysia Salticidae Spiders described in 1980