''Marma wesolowskae'' 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), ...

of jumping spider 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 ...

'' Marma'' 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 Brazil. It has only been found in Pernambuco. First described in 2020 by Alexandre Salgado and Gustavo Ruiz, the spider is small, typically between in total length. The male is smaller than the female. The spider lives on

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

and has generally a coloration that blends into the rock. The

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 ...

has a thick brown stripe down the middle of its back. The species can be distinguished from other members of the genus by its copulatory organs. The female has copulatory openings towards the back of the epigyne and a projecting border at the back of the eipigynal plate. The male has a long thin embolus and an embolic disc that differs from ''

Marma nigritarsis Marma may refer to: * Marma people, an ethnic Arakanese group in Bangladesh * Marma language, of Bangladesh * Marma (spider), ''Marma'' (spider), a genus of spiders * Marma (film), a 2002 Indian film * Marma, Sweden, a town in Sweden * Marma, Dha ...

'', '' Marma pipa'' and '' Marma sinuosa''.

Taxonomy

''Marma wesolowskae'' was first described by Alexandre Salgado and Gustavo Ruizin 2020. The species is named for the Polish arachnologist

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 ...

. It was allocated to the

'' Marma'', which itself had been first raised by

Eugène Simon Eugène Louis Simon (; 30 April 1848 – 17 November 1924) was a French naturalist who worked particularly on insects and spiders, but also on birds and plants. He is by far the most prolific spider Taxonomy (biology), taxonomist in history, ...

in 1902. ''Marma'' is part of the ''Amphidraus''–''Marma''

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 ...

. In 2015, Wayne Maddison listed the genus in 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 ...

Euophryini. In 2017, the genus was grouped with 25 other genera of jumping spiders under the name Colonines.

Description

The spider is small. The male has a typical total length of . The brown carapace is long and wide, and covered in scales. The

has a thick brown stripe down the middle of its back and pale edges. The chelicerae have two forward and one back teeth. The back tooth has more than one cusp. The legs have dark markings. The palpal bulb has an elongated retrolateral tibial apophysis that is reminiscent of a finger. The embolus is long, thing and has a curved end. The embolic disc is narrow and has a straight spike-like protrusion that extends as far as the embolus. The palpal bulb has orange scales. The female is longer, with a typical length of . It has a similar carapace, although larger at long and wide. The abdomen is also paler. The two copulatory openings are close to each other and to towards the back of the epigyne. The copulatory ducts are long and complex, circling around the spermathecae. The spider is similar to the related ''

'' and '' Marma pipa''. The spider shares attributes with these species, including the way that the spermathecae are circled by the copulatory ducts. The males have a narrower emobolc disc. ''Marma wesolowskae'' has its copulatory openings placed more to the back of the epigyne, and have a projecting border at the back of the eipigynal plate. It differs from '' Marma pechichon'' in that the copulatory ducts circle only once around the spermathecae. '' Marma sinuosa'' can be distinguished by the straight protrusion on the embolic disc on ''Marma wesolowskae''. The orange scales on the palpal bulb are also unusual, the other species generally being white,

Distribution and habitat

''Marma wesolowskae'' is

to Brazil. The male holotype for the species was found in the Buíque in 2019. The female

paratype In zoology and botany, a paratype is a specimen of an organism that helps define what the scientific name of a species and other taxon actually represents, but it is not the holotype (and in botany is also neither an isotype (biology), isotype ...

was found nearby. The spider has only been found in Pernambuco. The species lives on

. The spider's colours are similar to its environment, enabling it to hide on the rock.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q106667480 Endemic spiders of Brazil Salticidae Spiders described in 2020 Spiders of Brazil