''Spartaeus ellipticus'' is a species of

jumping spider Jumping spiders are a group of spiders that constitute the family Salticidae. As of 2019, this family contained over 600 described genera and over 6,000 described species, making it the largest family of spiders at 13% of all species. Jumping spi ...

s found only in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northe ...

. It has a total length (excluding legs) of nearly 6 mm. The

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 und ...

is dark brown with paler markings towards the rear and a black margin. The whole carapace is densely covered with white hair. The legs are brown with many large, prominent spines. The oval

abdomen The abdomen (colloquially called the belly, tummy, midriff, tucky or stomach) is the part of the body between the thorax (chest) and pelvis, in humans and in other vertebrates. The abdomen is the front part of the abdominal segment of the tors ...

is greyish brown marked overall with small dark patches. This species is most similar to '' Spartaea thailandica'' but is much smaller with diagnostic differences in the configuration of spines on the first pair of legs and in the

genitalia A sex organ (or reproductive organ) is any part of an animal or plant that is involved in sexual reproduction. The reproductive organs together constitute the reproductive system. In animals, the testis in the male, and the ovary in the female, ...

References

* Salticidae Spiders described in 2002 Spiders of Taiwan Endemic fauna of Taiwan {{Salticidae-stub