''Bacelarella dracula'' 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 ...

'' Bacelarella'' that lives in Ivory Coast and Nigeria. It was first described in 2001 by Tamás Szűts and Rudy Jocqué based on a

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 ...

found near Appouasso. The spider is medium-sized with a plain dark brown

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 has a length between and a mottled

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 ...

that is between long. The female is larger than the male. The male has a prominent tooth, which gives the species its name, recalling the fictional

Count Dracula Count Dracula () is the title character of Bram Stoker's 1897 gothic horror novel ''Dracula''. He is considered the prototypical and archetypal vampire in subsequent works of fiction. Aspects of the character are believed by some to have been i ...

. The male also has a distinctive long prong that extends from 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 ...

and a long embolus that curves so far that it nearly ends at its start. The female can be distinguished by its

epigyne The epigyne or epigynum is the external genital structure of female spiders. As the epigyne varies greatly in form in different species, even in closely related ones, it often provides the most distinctive characteristic for recognizing species. ...

, and particularly the tight coil at the end of the copulatory openings.

Taxonomy

''Bacelarella dracula'' was first described by Tamás Szűts and Rudy Jocqué in 2001. It was allocated to the

'' Bacelarella'', which itself had been first raised by Lucien Beland and Jacques Millot in 1941. The genus is named in honour of the Portuguese

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 ...

Amélia Vaz Duarte Bacelar. The

is named after the character of

from the eponymous novel by

Bram Stoker Abraham Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912), better known by his pen name Bram Stoker, was an Irish novelist who wrote the 1897 Gothic horror novel ''Dracula''. The book is widely considered a milestone in Vampire fiction, and one of t ...

. In 2008, the genus was allocated to a

clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

named the ''Bacelarella'' group based on

DNA sequencing DNA sequencing is the process of determining the nucleic acid sequence – the order of nucleotides in DNA. It includes any method or technology that is used to determine the order of the four bases: adenine, thymine, cytosine, and guanine. The ...

. This was then refined into a subtribe of the

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...

Aelurillini in the clade Saltafresia.

Description

The spider is medium-sized. The male has a plain dark brown

that is between in length and in width. The

is also dark but has pale mottling and a reddish-brown

scutum The ''scutum'' (; :''scuta'') was a type of shield used among Italic peoples in antiquity, most notably by the army of ancient Rome starting about the fourth century BC. The Romans adopted it when they switched from the military formation of ...

. It is between long and wide. 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 ...

and

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 brown, and there are two teeth, one of which is particularly long, from which the species is named. 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 grey and the legs are yellow and dark brown. 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 covered in white hairs and the appendages are curved. The

has a long dorsal prong and a curved groove which contains the long embolus that curves over so that it nearly points back to itself. This prong, along with the prominent tooth, distinguish the species from other spiders. As is typical for the genus, the female is larger than the male. The carapace is between from front to back and between from side to side and has a pale brown band towards the

thorax The thorax (: thoraces or thoraxes) or chest is a part of the anatomy of mammals and other tetrapod animals located between the neck and the abdomen. In insects, crustaceans, and the extinct trilobites, the thorax is one of the three main di ...

, which is a paler brown than the male. The abdomen has a similar mottling but measures between in length and between in width. The spinnerets are pale yellow with a dark streak and the legs are brown. The pedipalp is yellow. The

has small plate towards the back and no pocket. The copulatory ducts are short and finish with a tight coil around just in front of the thick-walled and wide

spermatheca The spermatheca (pronounced : spermathecae ), also called ''receptaculum seminis'' (: ''receptacula seminis''), is an organ of the female reproductive tract in insects, e.g. ants, bees, some molluscs, Oligochaeta worms and certain other in ...

. The coil, which turns entirely around, as well as swellings near the copulatory openings, distinguish the species.

Distribution and habitat

The

for the species was found near Appouasso, Ivory Coast in 1995. It also lives in other areas of the country, including the forests of the

Cavally Region Cavally Region is one of the 31 regions of Ivory Coast. From its establishment in 2011, to 2014 it was in Montagnes District. The seat of the region is Guiglo and the region's population in the 2021 census was 708,241. Cavally is currently divid ...

. The spider was identified near

Ibadan Ibadan (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and most populous city of Oyo State, in Nigeria. It is the List of Nigerian cities by population, third-largest city by population in Nigeria after Lagos and Kano (city), Kano, with a total populatio ...

in Nigeria in 2011, based on a specimen found in 1974. ''Bacelarella dracula'' lives in rainforest. Like many of its genus, the species is adapted to live in areas with low lighting. However, it seems to be more active during the

dry season The dry season is a yearly period of low rainfall, especially in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back over the course of the year. The t ...

when ambient light levels are typically higher. This is particularly the case for mating, which relies on optical cues and complex movements. It lives sympatrically with related species in Ivory Coast, including the more abundant ''

Bacelarella iactans ''Bacelarella'' is a genus of African jumping spiders that was first described by Lucien Berland & J. Millot in 1941. This genus was named in honour of the Portuguese arachnologist Amélia Bacelar. Species it contains eight species, found only ...

'', after which it is the most common of its genus to be found in the area.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q2794353 Fauna of Ivory Coast Fauna of Nigeria Salticidae Spiders described in 2001 Spiders of Africa