''Asemonea virgea'' 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 the Republic of the Congo. The spider was first described in 2003 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 ...

and Tamás Szűts. The spider is small, with a dark 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 ...

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 ...

long. The male has a distinctive set of spines on its palpal tibia, after which it is named. It is similar to the related ''

Asemonea cristata ''Asemonea'' is a genus of jumping spiders that was first described by Octavius Pickard-Cambridge in 1869. Species it contains twenty-three species, native to Asia and Africa. One species has been introduced to Queensland: *'' Asemonea amatola'' ...

'' but differs in its

species range Species distribution, or species dispersion, is the manner in which a biological taxon is spatially arranged. The geographic limits of a particular taxon's distribution is its range, often represented as shaded areas on a map. Patterns of distr ...

, as the other spider is found in Burma, and its shorter femoral apophysis. The female has not been described.

Taxonomy

''Asemonea virgea'' is a

first described by

and Tamás Szűts in 2003. It is one of over 500

identified by the Polish

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 ...

Wesołowska. 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. 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 ...

'', but the relationship is uncertain. Molecular analysis demonstrates that the genus is similar to '' Goleba'' and ''

Pandisus ''Pandisus'' is a genus of jumping spiders that was first described by Eugène Louis Simon in 1900. Species it contains six species, endemic to Madagascar, except for one, which is found only in India: *'' Pandisus decorus'' Wanless, 1980 – Ma ...

''. 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 rod and recalls the spines on the palpal tibia.

Description

The spider is small. The male has a moderately high pear-shaped

that is typically long and wide. It is dark yellow with a thin brown line around the edge. It has a slightly lighter eye field with the eyes arranged in four rows. The

clypeus The clypeus is one of the sclerites that make up the face of an arthropod. In insects, the clypeus delimits the lower margin of the face, with the labrum articulated along the ventral margin of the clypeus. The mandibles bracket the labrum, but ...

is whiteish. 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 orange, with five small teeth visible on the edge. The

is an oval that is typically long and wide. It is pale yellow with a brownish band across the edge, small dark dots towards the sides and two arrow-shaped dark patches on the top. The underside is whiteish. The spider has long

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

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 ...

, all generally whiteish-yellow. 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 is a long furrow on the palpal femur and a femoral apophysis with a pointed end. The retrolateral tibial apophysis is large and shaped like an anvil. There are three rod-like spines on the top of the

palpal bulb The two palpal bulbs – also known as palpal organs and genital bulbs – are the copulatory organs of a male spider. They are borne on the last segment of the pedipalps (the front "limbs" of a spider), giving the spider an appearance often descr ...

. The female has not been described. The spider most resembles ''

'', found in Burma. It can be distinguished by its shorter femoral apophysis.

Behaviour

The spider is typical of the genus. ''Asemonea'' spiders rarely jump. Instead, they generally walk and run. The y 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 the Republic of the Congo. 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 near

Brazzaville Brazzaville () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Republic of the Congo. Administratively, it is a Departments of the Republic of the Congo, department and a Communes of the Republic of the Congo, commune. Constituting t ...

in 1963. The spiders thrive in trees and shrubs.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q2882028 Endemic fauna of the Republic of the Congo Salticidae Fauna of the Republic of the Congo Spiders of Africa Spiders described in 2003 Taxa named by Wanda Wesołowska