Biology:Phintella incerta

From HandWiki
Short description: Species of spider

Phintella incerta
Phintella.versicolor.male.png
The related male Phintella versicolor
Scientific classification edit
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Salticidae
Subfamily: Salticinae
Genus: Phintella
Species:
P. incerta
Binomial name
Phintella incerta
Wesołowska & Russell-Smith, 2000

Phintella incerta is a species of jumping spider in the genus Phintella that lives in the Mkomazi Game Reserve in Tanzania. The female of the species was first described in 2000 by Wanda Wesołowska and Anthony Russel-Smith. The spider, is small with a light brown carapace that is typically 1.3 mm (0.051 in) long and a greyish-beige abdomen, typically 1.6 mm (0.063 in) in length. The abdomen has a pattern of three stripes. The female has a distinctive sclerotized epigyne that helps distinguish the spider from other members of the genus. The male has not been identified.

Taxonomy

Phintella incerta is a jumping spider that was first identified in 2008 by Wanda Wesołowska and Anthony Russel-Smith.[1] The spider was named after the Latin word for uncertain.[2] It is one of over 500 species identified by Wesołowska.[3] It was allocated to the genus Phintella, raised in 1906 by Embrik Strand and W. Bösenberg. The genus name derives from the genus Phintia, which it resembles.[4] The genus Phintia was itself renamed Phintodes, which was subsequently absorbed into Tylogonus.[5] There are similarities between spiders within genus Phintella and those in Chira, Chrysilla, Euophrys, Icius, Jotus and Telamonia.[6] Genetic analysis confirms that it is related to the genera Helvetia and Menemerus and is classified in the tribe Chrysillini.[7][8]

Description

The spider was described based on a specimen found as part of a survey of invertebrates that was undertaken between November 1994 and January 1995.[9] Only the female has so far been described.[1] The species differs from other members of the genus by the design of the epigyne, which is oval with pronounced sclerite.[2] It has copulatory openings that lead to relatively short seminal ducts and oval receptacles.[10]

Phintella incerta is a small spider with an oval low light brown carapace that is typically 1.3 mm (0.051 in) in length and 0.9 mm (0.035 in) in width. It has a black eye field which has a scattering of grey hairs and brown bristles around the eyes. The clypeus is similarly brown, as is the sternum. The chelicerae are brown with two teeth at the front and a one to the back. It has a brown maxilla. The abdomen is elongated and greyish-beige with three brown stripes running down it. It is larger than the carapace, typically 1.6 mm (0.063 in) long and 0.8 mm (0.031 in) wide. The underside of the abdomen is light with a pattern of brown dots forming two streaks. The spinnerets and the legs are yellowish, although the legs have brown hairs and spines.[2]

Distribution and habitat

Phintella incerta is endemic to Tanzania.[1] The spider has been found in the Mkomazi Game Reserve, in grass tussocks near a pool. The holotype was found in 1996.[2] It has not been found in other areas of the country.[11]

References

Citations

Bibliography

  • Bösenberg, W.; Strand, Embrik (1906). "Japanische Spinnen". Abhandlungen der Senckenbergischen Naturforschenden Gesellschaft 30: 93–422. 
  • Cameron, H. D.; Wijesinghe, D. P. (1993). "Simon's Keys to the Salticid Groups". Peckhamia 3 (1): 1–26. 
  • Maddison, Wayne P.; Hedin, Marshal C. (2003). "Jumping spider phylogeny (Araneae: Salticidae)". Invertebrate Systematics 17 (4): 529–549. 
  • Maddison, Wayne P. (2015). "A phylogenetic classification of jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae)". The Journal of Arachnology 43 (3): 231–292. doi:10.1636/arac-43-03-231-292. 
  • Prószyński, Jerzy (1983). "Position of genus Phintella (Araneae: Salticidae)". Acta Arachnologica 31 (2): 43–48. 
  • Russell-Smith, Anthony (2020). "A checklist of the spiders of Tanzania". Journal of East African Natural History 109 (1): 1–41. 
  • Wesołowska, Wanda; Russell-Smith, Anthony (2000). "Jumping spiders from Mkomazi Game Reserve in Tanzania (Araneae Salticidae)". Tropical Zoology 13 (1): 11–127. doi:10.1080/03946975.2000.10531126. 
  • Wiśniewski, Konrad (2020). "Over 40 years with jumping spiders: on the 70th birthday of Wanda Wesołowska". Zootaxa 4899 (1): 5–14. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4899.1.3. 

Wikidata ☰ Q2593188 entry