Pellenes modicus

Pellenes modicus is a species of jumping spider, a member of the family Salticidae. The male of the species was first described by Wanda Wesołowska and Anthony Russell-Smith in 2000.{{cite web|author=World Spider Catalog|year=2020|title=Pellenes modicus Wesołowska & Russell-Smith, 2000|website=World Spider Catalog|publisher=Natural History Museum|location=Bern|url=http://www.wsc.nmbe.ch/species/31667/Pellenes_modicus|version=25.5|accessdate=6 September 2024}} The female was not described until 2011.{{sfn|Haddad|Wesołowska|2011|page=99}} Wesołowska and Russell-Smith allocated the spider to the genus Pellenes, which had been first circumscribed in 1876 by Eugène Simon.{{sfn|Logunov|Marusik|Rakov|1999|page=91}} The species is named after a Latin word that can be translated "quiet".{{sfn|Wesołowska|Russell-Smith|2000|page=81}}

Wayne Maddison placed the genus Pellenes in the subtribe Harmochirina in the tribe Plexippini in 2015.{{sfn|Maddison|2015|page=280}} This had previously been known as Harmochireae, as circumscribed by Simon in 1903.{{sfn|Maddison|2015|page=251}} It is allocated to the subclade Saltafresia in the clade Salticoida.{{sfn|Maddison|2015|page=278}} The spider is a member of Plexippoida.{{sfn|Maddison|Bodner|Needham|2008|page=58}} Phylogenetic analysis of molecular data demonstrates that the genus is most closely related to Habronattus and Havaika.{{sfn|Maddison|Hedin|2003|pages=538, 540}}

In 2000, Dmitri Logunov and Yuri Marusik divided the genus Pellenes into four subgenera, based on the shape of the male palpal bulb.{{sfn|Prószyński|2016|page=17}} The species is a member of the subgenus Pelmultus.{{sfn|Haddad|Wesołowska|2011|page=97}} In 2016, Jerzy Prószyński grouped the genus with Dexippus under the name Pelenines, named after the genus.{{sfn|Prószyński|2017|page=44}} It is allocated to the supergroup Hylloida.{{sfn|Prószyński|2017|page=31}}

Pellenes modicus is a hairy medium-sized spider.{{sfn|Haddad|Wesołowska|2011|page=98}} It has a body is divided into two main parts: a cephalothorax and an abdomen.{{sfn|Haddad|Wesołowska|2011|page=90}}{{sfn|Wiśniewski|Wesołowska|2024|page=84}} The male has a carapace, the hard upper part of the cephalothorax, that is between {{convert|2.6|and|3.1|mm|in|abbr=on|2}} in length and between {{convert|1.9|mm|in|abbr=on|2}} and 2.6 mm in width.{{sfn|Haddad|Wesołowska|2011|page=97}} It is a high or moderately high oval that is light brown or brown with a covering of light hairs, interspersed with a small number of darker hairs. The area around the eyes is darker. The underside, or sternum, is light brown or brown with darker edges. There are white scales on the sides. White hairs cover the clypeus while the mouthparts are light brown. The chelicerae are long and dark brown, marked with three white lines. The labium is also dark brown.{{sfn|Haddad|Wesołowska|2011|page=98}}{{sfn|Wiśniewski|Wesołowska|2024|page=85}} The male has an abdomen that is between {{convert|2.4|and|3.4|mm|in|abbr=on|2}} in length and between {{convert|1.8|and|2.3|mm|in|abbr=on|2}} in width.{{sfn|Haddad|Wesołowska|2011|page=97}}

It is an oval with a brownish grey topside that has marking made of lighter chevrons running down the middle. It is covered in dense The underside is yellowish. The spider's spinnerets are yellow. Its front legs are darker, longer and thicker than the rest, the remainder either brown or yellow, with brown leg hairs and spines.{{sfn|Haddad|Wesołowska|2011|page=98}}{{sfn|Wiśniewski|Wesołowska|2024|page=85}}

The spider's reproductive system is similar to others in the genus. It has light brown or yellowish pedipalps. The palpal bulb is an oval that has a needle-like embolus projecting from it, which follows the route of a thicker projection or apophysis, that fits in between. The palpal tibia has an apophysis that shows strong sclerotization and extends into a large indentation in the cymbium.{{sfn|Haddad|Wesołowska|2011|page=99}}{{sfn|Wiśniewski|Wesołowska|2024|page=85}}

The female is similar in size to the male, with a carapace typically {{convert|2.7|mm|in|abbr=on|2}} long and {{convert|2|mm|in|abbr=on|2}} wide and an abdomen typically {{convert|3.3|mm|in|abbr=on|2}} long and 2 mm wide.{{sfn|Haddad|Wesołowska|2011|page=97}} It is also similar in shape. The carapace is darker, nearly black, and is covered with white hairs apart from near the eyes, where brown hairs can be found. The sternum is brown, as is the labium is brown, although the latter has light tips.{{sfn|Haddad|Wesołowska|2011|page=99}}

The abdomen is very dark on top with a pattern of yellow chevrons running from the front to the back. It has mottled sides and a yellowish underside that is marked with three darker stripes. The spinnerets are also darker than the male's. The forelegs are less broad and all the legs are mainly greyish-brown, although there are areas of light yellow and black visible. As is typical for the genus, the epigyne has a pocket in the middle. The internal structure of the copulatory organs are, however, distinctive. The gonopores are placed in narrow fissures and there are very visible accessory glands. The spermathecae, or receptacles have three chambers.{{sfn|Haddad|Wesołowska|2011|page=99}}

Pellenes spiders can be found across the Afrotropical, Holarctic and Indomalayan realms.{{sfn|Logunov|Marusik|Rakov|1999|page=97}} Pellenes modicus has been seen living in South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda. The holotype was found living amongst Senegalia senegal trees between Ndeya and Mbula in Mkomazi National Park during 1994.{{sfn|Wesołowska|Russell-Smith|2000|page=81}} It has also been found near Mount Elgon in Uganda.{{sfn|Wiśniewski|Wesołowska|2024|page=83}} In South Africa, it has been seen living across Free State, living in grassland and in woodland dominated by Searsia lancea.{{sfn|Haddad|Wesołowska|2011|page=99}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{cite journal | last1=Haddad | first1=Charles R. | last2=Wesołowska | first2=Wanda | year=2011 | title=New species and new records of jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae) from central South Africa | journal=African Invertebrates | volume=52 | number=1 | pages=51–134 | doi=10.5733/afin.052.0105 | s2cid=86586010 | doi-access=free | bibcode=2011AfrIn..52...51H | author-link2=Wanda Wesołowska}}*{{cite journal | last1=Logunov | first1=Dmitri V. | last2=Marusik | first2=Yuri M. | last3=Rakov | first3=Sergey Yuriyevich | year=1999 | title=A review of the genus Pellenes in the fauna of Central Asia and the Caucasus (Araneae, Salticidae) | journal=Journal of Natural History | volume=33 | number=1 | pages=89–148 | doi=10.1080/002229399300489| bibcode=1999JNatH..33...89L }}
• {{cite journal | last1=Maddison | first1=Wayne P. | last2=Bodner| first2=Melissa R. | last3=Needham | first3=Karen M. | year=2008 | title=Salticid spider phylogeny revisited, with the discovery of a large Australasian clade (Araneae: Salticidae) | journal=Zootaxa | volume=1893| pages=49–64| doi=10.11646/zootaxa.1893.1.3}}
• {{cite journal | last1=Maddison | first1=Wayne P . | first2=Marshal C. | last2=Hedin | year=2003 | title=Jumping spider phylogeny (Araneae: Salticidae) | journal=Invertebrate Systematics | volume=17 | number=4 | pages=529–549 | doi=10.1071/IS02044}}
• {{cite journal | last=Prószyński | first=Jerzy | year=2016 | title=Delimitation and description of 19 new genera, a subgenus and a species of Salticidae (Araneae) of the world | journal=Ecologica Montenegrina | volume=7 | pages=4–32 | url=https://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:4171B7E1-BE6F-48ED-85B4-4DC2C232A273 | author-link=Jerzy Prószyński | doi=10.37828/em.2016.7.1 | doi-access=free |issn=2337-0173}}
• {{cite journal | last=Prószyński | first=Jerzy | year=2017 | title=Pragmatic classification of the World's Salticidae (Araneae) | journal=Ecologica Montenegrina | volume=12 | pages=1–133 | doi=10.37828/em.2017.12.1 | doi-access=free}}
• {{cite journal | last=Maddison | first=Wayne P. |title=A phylogenetic classification of jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae) | journal=The Journal of Arachnology | year= 2015 | volume=43 | number=3 | pages=231–292 | doi=10.1636/arac-43-03-231-292 | s2cid=85680279 | author-link=Wayne Maddison}}
• {{cite journal | last1=Wesołowska | first1=Wanda | last2=Russell-Smith | first2=Anthony | year=2000 | title=Jumping spiders from Mkomazi Game Reserve in Tanzania (Araneae Salticidae) | journal=Tropical Zoology | volume=13 | number=1 | pages=11–127 | doi=10.1080/03946975.2000.10531126 | doi-access=free}}
• {{cite journal | last1=Wiśniewski | first1=Konrad | last2=Wesołowska | first2=Wanda | year=2024 | title=Jumping spiders (Salticidae) of Uganda – revised list, new species and distributional data | journal=European Journal of Taxonomy | number=952 | pages=1–171 | doi=10.5852/ejt.2024.952.2647| doi-access=free}}

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{{Taxonbar|from=Q2223572}}

Category:Arthropods of Tanzania

Category:Arthropods of Uganda

Category:Salticidae

Category:Spiders described in 2000

Category:Spiders of Africa

Category:Spiders of South Africa

Category:Taxa named by Wanda Wesołowska