''Metaltella simoni'' is a species of

spider Spiders (order (biology), order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight limbs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude spider silk, silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and ran ...

native Native may refer to: People * '' Jus sanguinis'', nationality by blood * '' Jus soli'', nationality by location of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Nat ...

to South America (

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

and

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

), and introduced into the United States and Canada. Left palp of male, ventral view

Description

Females are about 8 to 9 mm long, males about 7 to 8.5 mm long. Both sexes are brown, with some darker parts, such as of the front of the carapace (the upper surface of the

cephalothorax The cephalothorax, also called prosoma in some groups, is a tagma of various arthropods, comprising the head and the thorax fused together, as distinct from the abdomen behind. (The terms ''prosoma'' and ''opisthosoma'' are equivalent to ''cepha ...

), the ends of the legs and the

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 ...

. The abdomen (

opisthosoma The opisthosoma is the posterior part of the body in some arthropods, behind the prosoma ( cephalothorax). It is a distinctive feature of the subphylum Chelicerata (arachnids, horseshoe crabs and others). Although it is similar in most respects ...

) is mottled grey or grey–black, with indistinct paler chevrons towards the rear. Males have an orange-yellow area towards the back of the carapace, darkening to brown at the front. The lateral eyes of both sexes are larger than the median eyes.

Taxonomy

''Metaltella simoni'' was first described as ''Amaurobius simoni'' by

Eugen von Keyserling Eugen von Keyserling (22 March 1833 in Pockroy, Lithuania – 4 April 1889 in Dzierżoniów, Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czec ...

in 1878. It was transferred to the genus ''Metaltella'' by

Pekka T. Lehtinen Pekka T. Lehtinen (born 1934) is a Finnish arachnology, arachnologist and taxonomy (biology), taxonomist. He is known for his works in systematics and for the many expeditions in which he has participated. Biography Lehtinen was born on 5 April ...

in 1967.

Distribution and habitat

The species is native to South America (

and

). It was first collected in North America in Louisiana in 1944. In 1971, it was described as "common in Mississippi and parts of Louisiana" where it was found under logs at ground level. By 2008, it was described as "widespread in coastal southern California".

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q6483003 Desidae Spiders of South America Spiders described in 1878