''Attulus inexpectus'' is a species of spider from family Salticidae, found in from Europe (including southern England) to central Asia. It was previously misidentified as '' Attulus rupicola'' (

syn. The Botanical and Zoological Codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. * In botanical nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that applies to a taxon that (now) goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linnae ...

''Sitticus rupicola''). Until 2017, it was placed in the genus ''

Sitticus ''Attulus'' is a genus of jumping spiders that was first described by Eugène Louis Simon in 1889. The name is a diminutive form of a common prefix for salticid genera, '. Taxonomy In 1889, Eugène Simon separated the genus ''Attulus'' from the ...

''.

Description

''Attulus inexpectus'' females have a body length of about , males being slightly smaller at about . The fourth leg is the longest, about in females and about in males. Both sexes are generally brown to dark brown in overall coloration, males being darker than females. Both the carapace and abdomen have stripes and patterns formed by whitish or otherwise paler hairs, the carapace pattern being more distinct in males, with three longitudinal whitish stripes and a similarly coloured lateral border with the posterior part having a short line extending inwards.

Taxonomy

''Attulus inexpectus'' was first described in 1997 by Dimitri Logunov and Torbjörn Kronestedt (as ''Sitticus inexpectus''). The specific name ''inexpectus'' means "unexpected"; the species was separated from '' Calositticus rupicola'' (then ''Sitticus rupicola''), the authors stating, for example, that all spiders previously identified as ''S. rupicola'' in England were in fact the new species ''A. inexpectus'' (then ''Sitticus inexpectus''). The two species can be distinguished by the pattern of white hairs on the

carapace A carapace is a Dorsum (biology), 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 tor ...

of the male – in ''C. inexpectus'' there is usually a short white stripe extending inwards from the posterior part of the carapace, and by the detailed shapes of the male palpal bulb and the internal female genitalia. ''A. inexpectus'' is a lowland species, whereas ''A. rupicola'' is found at higher altitudes. The species was transferred from ''Sitticus'' to the new genus ''Sittiflor'' in 2017, but this was later discovered to be pre-empted by ''Calositticus''. In 2020, the genus was synonymized with the genus ''Attulus ''.

Distribution and habitat

''Attulus inexpectus'' is found from southern England through central and northern Europe (Germany, Austria, Sweden, Poland, Estonia and Russia) to central Asia (Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan). It is a lowland species (thus contrasting with ''A. rupicola''), typically found near to water, either coastal or inland. In southern England, where the species is found from April to October, it lives in coastal shingle and tidal litter, often adjacent to saltmarshes.

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q56808500, from2=Q588404 Sitticini Spiders described in 1997 Spiders of Europe Spiders of Asia