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Langelurillus rufus

Langelurillus rufusis aspeciesofjumping spiderin thegenusLangelurillusthat lives in Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania. The male was originally described by Roger de Lessert in 1925 and namedLangona rufawhile male and female samples were namedLangelurillus difficilisbyWanda Wesołowskaand Anthony Russell-Smith in 2000. The species were combined with the current name in 2012. The spider is small, with a browncarapacethat is between 1.9 and 2.0 mm (0.075 and 0.079 in) long and anabdomenbetween 19 and 2.4 mm (0.748 and 0.094 in) long. The female can be identified by the orange patches on its carapace. The spider has an abdominal pattern that helps distinguish the species from the relatedLangelurillus manifestus,which has a brown design on a yellowish abdomen with a brown design whileLangelurillus rufushas a yellow design on a brown abdomen.

Langelurillus rufus
A spider of theLangelurillusgenus
Scientific classificationEdit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Salticidae
Subfamily: Salticinae
Genus: Langelurillus
Species:
L. rufus
Binomial name
Langelurillus rufus
(Lessert, 1925)

Taxonomy

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Langona rufais ajumping spiderthat was firstdescribedby Roger de Lessert in 1925.[1]He allocated thespeciesto thegenusLangona,first identified byEugène Simonin 1901.[2]Initially, only the female was described.[3]In 2000,Wanda Wesołowskaand Anthony Russell-Smith described both male and female examples of a new species that they namedLangelurillus difficilis.They allocated the species to the genusLangelurillus,raised by Maciej Próchniewicz in 1994.[4][5]Species inLangelurillusare related toLangonabut the spiders are smaller and, unlikeLangona,AelurillusandPhlegra,they lack the parallel stripes on the back of the body that is feature of the majority of these spiders.[6]

In 2012, Wesołowska realised that the two species described the same spider. She declared thatLangelurillus difficilisa junior synonym ofLangona rufaand so combined them intoLangelurillus rufus,allocating it to the genusLangelurilluson the basis of the spider's small prolateral apophysis on itstegulum.[7]In 2015,Wayne Maddisonplaced the genus in thesubtribeAelurillina,which also containsAelurillus,LangonaandPhlegra,in thetribeAelurillini, within the subclade Saltafresia in thecladeSalticoida.[8]In 2016,Jerzy Prószyńskiplaced the same genera in a group named Aelurillines based on the shape of the spiders' copulatory organs.[9]

Description

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Langelurillus rufusis a small spider, typical of the genus. The male has acarapacethat is between 2.0 and 2.1 mm (0.079 and 0.083 in) long and between 1.6 and 1.7 mm (0.063 and 0.067 in) wide. It is dark brown and high, covered in golden shiny hairs, with a short blackeye field.Theclypeushas light hairs. Thecheliceraeare brown with two very small teeth to the front. Thelabiumandmaxillaeare brown. Theabdomenis an elongated oval between 1.9 and 2.4 mm (0.075 and 0.094 in) long and typically 1.8 mm (0.071 in) wide. One example had a lighter greyish-orange abdomen, but the majority are darker, almost black, with a pattern of indistinct light dots, although the underside is lighter than the top. It is covered with long dense dark hairs. The forwardspinneretsare lighter than those towards the rear. The spider has short brownish-orangelegsthat have darker dots on some of the surfaces. The copulatory organs are distinctive. Thepedipalpis dark with three tibial apophyses, or spikes.[4]There is a suggestion of an apophysis on the edge of tegulum that has the appearance of teeth. The ventral apophysis is shaped a bit like a shovel.[10]Theembolusis hidden behind a shield.[11]

The female is similar in size to the male, with a high carapace between 1.9 and 2.0 mm (0.075 and 0.079 in) in length and 1.5 and 1.6 mm (0.059 and 0.063 in) in width, and an abdomen measuring between 2.1 and 2.2 mm (0.083 and 0.087 in) long and typically 1.8 mm (0.071 in) wide. The carapace is similar in shape to the male, but is brown with a pattern of orange patches. It has a covering of short dense, brown and grey hairs. The chelicerae and labium are similarly brown, but the maxillae are orange. The abdomen is more rounded and dumpy and has a covering of short dense brown hairs. It has an irregular yellow pattern on a brown background on the top while the underside is light yellow. All the spinnerets are light, and the legs have brown rings on them. Thepedipalpis also light. The spider has an ovalepigynewith two depressions towards the back and a pocket near the epigastric furrow.[4]The seminal ducts are very long and coiled.[12]The internal morphology is more complex than other members of the genus.[13]

The spider is very similar to the relatedLangelurillus manifestus,but can be identified by its smaller size, the fact that it is darker, and its narrowerpalpal bulb.[14]Particularly noticeable is that theLangelurillus manifestushas a yellowish abdomen with a brown design whileLangelurillus rufushas a brown abdomen with a yellowish design.[15]The male is similar toLangelurillus orbicularis,but can be distinguished by the shape of the retrolateral tibial apophysis.[16]It can also be confused withLangona magnabut is smaller and lacks the spines on the feet of the other species.[17]

Distribution and habitat

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Almost all, if not all,Langelurillusspiders live in sub-Saharan Africa.[18]Langelurillus rufuslives in Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania.[19]The maleholotypewas found in Kibonoto nearMount Kilimanjaro.It has subsequently been found in theMkomazi Game Reserve.[15]Examples have also been identified inMackinnon Road,Kenya, and in Ethiopia.[19]It is found in the grasses found inAcacia senegalwoodland, or living among similar shrubs likeDichrostachys.[4]

References

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Citations

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  1. ^World Spider Catalog (2017)."Langelurillus rufus(Lessert, 1925) ".World Spider Catalog.18.0. Bern: Natural History Museum.Retrieved7 May2017.
  2. ^Lessert 1925,p. 475.
  3. ^Lessert 1925,p. 476.
  4. ^abcdWesołowska & Russell-Smith 2000,p. 52.
  5. ^Próchniewicz 1994,p. 27.
  6. ^Próchniewicz 1994,p. 28.
  7. ^Wesołowska 2012,p. 210.
  8. ^Maddison 2015,p. 279.
  9. ^Prószyński 2017,p. 95.
  10. ^Wesołowska & Russell-Smith 2000,p. 53.
  11. ^Maddison 2015,p. 249.
  12. ^Wesołowska & Russell-Smith 2000,p. 54.
  13. ^Wesołowska & Russell-Smith 2000,p. 50.
  14. ^Wesołowska & Russell-Smith 2000,p. 57.
  15. ^abWesołowska 2012,p. 211.
  16. ^Wesołowska & Cumming 2008,p. 193.
  17. ^Caporiacco 1947,p. 239.
  18. ^Logunov & Azarkina 2018,p. 120.
  19. ^abKioko et al. 2021,p. 156.

Bibliography

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