''Akela'' is a

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 ...

of jumping spiders (family Salticidae), consisting of three described

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), ...

. Two of these occur in Central and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

and the third in

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

Name

The genus name is derived from Akela, "The Lone Wolf" from

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English journalist, novelist, poet, and short-story writer. He was born in British Raj, British India, which inspired much ...

's ''

Jungle Book ''The Jungle Book'' is an 1894 collection of stories by the English author Rudyard Kipling. Most of the characters are animals such as Shere Khan the tiger and Baloo the bear, though a principal character is the boy or "man-cub" Mowgli, who ...

''. Other salticid genera with names of Kipling's characters are ''

Bagheera Bagheera ( / ''Baghīrā'') is a fictional character in Rudyard Kipling's Mowgli stories in '' The Jungle Book'' (coll. 1894) and '' The Second Jungle Book'' (coll. 1895). He is a black panther ( melanistic Indian leopard) who serves as frie ...

'', '' Messua'' and ''

Nagaina ''Nagaina'' is a genus of Salticidae, jumping spiders that was first described by George and Elizabeth Peckham in 1896. The name is derived from ''Nagaina'', a character from Rudyard Kipling's Rikki-Tikki-Tavi. Other salticid genera with names of ...

''.

Species

* '' Akela charlottae'' Peckham & Peckham, 1896, found in Central America (Guatemala, Panama). * '' Akela fulva'' Dyal, 1935, found in Pakistan. * '' Akela ruricola'' Galiano, 1999, found in South America (Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina).

References

External links

Diagnostic drawings of ''A. ruricola''
Salticidae genera Spiders of Central America Spiders of South America Spiders of Asia Salticidae {{Salticidae-stub

Name

Species

References

Further reading

External links