''Stenaelurillus brandbergensis'',

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

''Mashonarus brandbergensis'', 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 ...

'' Stenaelurillus'' that lives in Namibia. It was first described in 2006 by

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 ...

and placed in the genus '' Mashonarus'' but was moved to its current genus in 2018. The spider is medium-sized and black, with a

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 ...

between in length and an

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 ...

between long. It is distinguished from other members of the genus by having two broad white stripes that mark both the abdomen and

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 ...

. The

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. ...

in the female also has shorter insemination ducts than the otherwise similar, though larger, '' Stenaelurillus guttatus''.

Taxonomy

''Mashonarus brandbergensis'' is a

that was first described by

in 2006. It is one of over 500 species identified by the Polish

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 ...

. It was initially placed in the

'' Mashonarus'', which had been created by Wesołowska and Meg S. Cumming in 2002. The genus name was derived from

Mashonaland Mashonaland is a region in northeastern Zimbabwe. It is home to nearly half of the population of Zimbabwe. The majority of the Mashonaland people are from the Shona tribe while the Zezuru and Korekore dialects are most common. Harare is the larg ...

, the area where it was first found. The spiders in the genus were medium-sized, between in length, and were differentiated by their sexual organs. At the time, the species was seen as very similar to '' Stenaelurillus'', particularly in the structure of the

and the shield-like shape of and patterns on the

. The species was moved to ''Stenaelurillus'' by Dmitri Logunov and Galina N. Azarkina in 2018. ''Stenaelurillus'' 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 1885. The genus name relates to the genus name '' Aelurillus'', which itself derives from the Greek word for cat, with the addition of a Greek stem meaning narrow. In 2017, it was grouped with nine other genera of jumping spiders under the name Aelurillines. It has been placed in the subtribe Aelurillina 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 ...

Aelurillini in the

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 ...

Saltafresia. The species name is derived from the place where it was first found, the

Brandberg Mountain The Brandberg ( Damara: ; ) is Namibia's highest mountain. Location and extent Brandberg Mountain is located in former Damaraland, now Erongo, in the northwestern Namib Desert, near the coast, and covers an area of approximately 650 ...

Description

The spider is medium-sized and generally similar to '' Stenaelurillus guttatus'' although smaller. The male has a

that measures between in length and between in width. The pear-shaped

is black with white edges. The abdomen is oval, black and hairy, between long and wide. Both the abdomen and carapace have two wide stripes that go from front to back made of white hairs. Sometimes these are broken into three bands. This most distinguishes the species from ''Stenaelurillus guttatus'' and other members of the genus in Africa. Only '' Stenaelurillus marusiki'', found in Iran, has a similar design. The eye field is black and is surrounded by long bristles. The

spinnerets 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 ...

are long and yellow, and the legs are light 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 small, dark brown or black with some small white hairs. 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 ...

is elongated and the

embolus An embolus (; : emboli; from the Greek ἔμβολος "wedge", "plug") is an unattached mass that travels through the circulatory system, bloodstream and is capable of creating blockages. When an embolus Vascular occlusion, occludes a blood vess ...

is thin and hidden with only the tip visible. The female is similar to the male in shape but slightly larger. It has an cephalothorax long and wide and an abdomen that is between long and wide. The colouring is similar. The

is small with lateral copulatory openings and very short insemination ducts. Apart from the striped pattern, it is the very short insemination ducts that most distinguish the species from ''Stenaelurillus guttatus''.

Distribution

The species was first identified in the area around the

in Namibia. It 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 the country.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * {{Taxonbar, from1=Q56646876, from2=Q2133031 Endemic fauna of Namibia Fauna of Namibia Salticidae Spiders of Africa Spiders described in 2006 Taxa named by Wanda Wesołowska