''Stenaelurillus ignobilis'' 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 ''Stenaelurillus'' is a genus of jumping spiders that was first described by Eugène Louis Simon in 1886. Most species live in Africa, with some species found in Asia, including China. All species have two white longitudinal stripes on the carapa ...

'' that lives in Zimbabwe. The female was first described in 2011 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 Meg Cumming. The male has yet to be described. The spider takes its name from a

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

word that can be translated unsightly. The spider is medium-sized, with a

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 ...

long and

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 ...

long. The carapace is brown, covered in bristles and has an almost indiscernible stripe, while the abdomen is larger and has a stripe of lighter brown down the middle of its generally darker, nearly black. The long

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 also hairy while the legs have both hairs and spines. It is similar to ''

Stenaelurillus mirabilis ''Stenaelurillus mirabilis'' is a species of jumping spider in the genus ''Stenaelurillus'' that lives in Kenya and Tanzania. It was first described in 2000 by Wanda Wesołowska and Anthony Russell-Smith. The spider is medium-sized, with a dark ...

'' but can be distinguished by the design of 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. ...

, and particularly the way that the

gonopore A gonopore, sometimes called a gonadopore, is a genital pore in many invertebrates. Hexapods, including insects, have a single common gonopore, except mayflies, which have a pair of gonopores. More specifically, in the unmodified female, it is ...

s are hidden in deep cup-like depressions.

Taxonomy

''Stenaelurillus ignobilis'' was first described by

and Meg Cumming in 2011. 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 ...

Wesołowska. It was placed in the

'', 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 1886. The genus name relates to the genus name ''

Aelurillus ''Aelurillus'' is a genus of spiders in the family Salticidae (jumping spiders). Description Species of the genus ''Aelurillus'' are typically about 7 mm long in females, and up to five mm in males. They are stout, squat-shaped and rather f ...

'', which itself derives from the Greek word for cat, with the addition of a Greek stem meaning narrow. It was 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 by

Wayne Maddison Wayne Paul Maddison (born 1958) is a Canadian evolutionary biologist, arachnologist, and biological illustrator. He is Canada Research Chair in Biodiversity and a professor at the departments of zoology and botany at the University of British ...

in 2015. Two years later, in 2017, it was grouped with nine other genera of jumping spiders under the name Aelurillines. The species name is derived from the

word for unsightly.

Description

Only the female has been described. The spider is medium-sized. The brown

is typically long and wide and is covered with long brown bristles. It has a pattern of light stripes on the darker

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 ...

and white hairs around the eye field. The

is a generally black with a lighter stripe that goes down the middle of it. It is covered with very light hairs, which are almost invisible, and long brown bristles along one edge. It is larger than the carapace and measures in length and in width. The clypeus is also fringed with white hairs, while the long

s are covered in dark hairs. The legs are orange and have both brown hairs and spines. The

has a distinctive arrangement of two round depressions that are situated close to each other and plugged with a waxy substance. The seminal ducts are short and recepticles rounded. The

s are hidden in deep impressions that are reminiscent of cups. The species is very similar to other members of the genus, but can be distinguished by the structure of the epigyne. In particular, the spider is very similar to ''

'' from Tanzania, but the way that the gonopores are hidden enables them to be told apart.

Distribution

The species 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 Zimbabwe. The

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 ...

was identified in the Sengwa Wildlife Research Area based on a specimen collected by Meg Cumming between 2001 and 2002. It is known only from that local area.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q2640258 Arthropods of Zimbabwe Endemic fauna of Zimbabwe Salticidae Spiders described in 2011 Spiders of Africa