''Messapus'' is a
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...
of
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
n
corinnid sac spiders first described 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 taxonomist in history, describing over 4 ...
in 1898.
Species
it contains seven species:
*''
Messapus martini
Messapus, (Greek language, Greek: Μέσσαπος, ''Messapos'') a character in Virgil's ''Aeneid'', appears in Books VII to XII of the Latin Epic poetry, epic poem. He was a son of Neptune (mythology), Neptune, a famous tamer of horses, and king ...
''
Simon, 1898 — Zambia, South Africa
*''
Messapus megae
Messapus, (Greek: Μέσσαπος, ''Messapos'') a character in Virgil's ''Aeneid'', appears in Books VII to XII of the Latin epic poem. He was a son of Neptune, a famous tamer of horses, and king of Etruria, known for being one "whom no one can ...
''
Haddad & Mbo, 2015 — Zimbabwe
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Messapus meridionalis
Messapus, (Greek: Μέσσαπος, ''Messapos'') a character in Virgil's ''Aeneid'', appears in Books VII to XII of the Latin epic poem. He was a son of Neptune, a famous tamer of horses, and king of Etruria, known for being one "whom no one can ...
''
Haddad & Mbo, 2015 — South Africa
*''
Messapus natalis
Messapus, (Greek: Μέσσαπος, ''Messapos'') a character in Virgil's ''Aeneid'', appears in Books VII to XII of the Latin epic poem. He was a son of Neptune, a famous tamer of horses, and king of Etruria, known for being one "whom no one can ...
''
(Pocock, 1898) — Mozambique, South Africa
*''
Messapus seiugatus
Messapus, (Greek: Μέσσαπος, ''Messapos'') a character in Virgil's ''Aeneid'', appears in Books VII to XII of the Latin epic poem. He was a son of Neptune, a famous tamer of horses, and king of Etruria, known for being one "whom no one can ...
''
Haddad & Mbo, 2015 — Guinea
*''
Messapus tigris
Messapus, (Greek: Μέσσαπος, ''Messapos'') a character in Virgil's ''Aeneid'', appears in Books VII to XII of the Latin epic poem. He was a son of Neptune, a famous tamer of horses, and king of Etruria, known for being one "whom no one can ...
''
Haddad & Mbo, 2015 — Botswana, Namibia
*''
Messapus tropicus''
Haddad & Mbo, 2015 — Congo
References
Corinnidae genera
Corinnidae
Taxa named by Eugène Simon
{{Corinnidae-stub