Phintella lucida

{{Short description|Species of spider}}

{{Speciesbox

| image = Phintella.versicolor.male.png

| image_caption = The related male Phintella versicolor

| taxon = Phintella lucida

| authority = Wesołowska & Tomasiewicz, 2008

}}

Phintella lucida is a species of jumping spider in the genus Phintella that lives in Ethiopia and Kenya. The female of the species was first described in 2008 by Wanda Wesołowska and Beata Tomasiewicz and the male by Angelika Dawidowicz and Wesołowska in 2016. The spider is large for the genus, and the female larger than the male with an abdomen that is up to {{convert|3.2|mm|in|abbr=on}} in length. It is yellow, with brown spots on the abdomen, the lighter colour recognised in the name of the species, which recalls the Latin word for light.

Taxonomy

Phintella lucida is a jumping spider that was first identified in 2008 by Wanda Wesołowska and Beata Tomasiewicz.{{cite web|author=World Spider Catalog|year=2017|title=Phintella lucida Wesolowska & Tomasiewicz, 2008|website=World Spider Catalog|publisher=Natural History Museum|place=Bern|url=http://www.wsc.nmbe.ch/species/31929|version=18.0|accessdate=3 April 2017}} It is one of over 500 species identified by Wesołowska during her career.{{sfn|Wiśniewski|2020|page=6}} The species name is derived from the Latin word for light.{{sfn|Wesołowska|Tomasiewicz|2008|page=38}} It was placed in the genus Phintella, first raised in 1906 by Embrik Strand and W. Bösenberg. The genus name derives from the genus Phintia, which it resembles.{{sfn|Bösenberg|Strand|1906|page=333}} The genus Phintia was itself renamed Phintodes, which was subsequently absorbed into Tylogonus.{{sfn|Cameron|Wijesinghe|1993|page=16}} There are similarities between spiders within genus Phintella and those in Chira, Chrysilla, Euophrys, Icius, Jotus and Telamonia.{{sfn|Prószyński|1983|page=43}} Genetic analysis confirms that it is related to the genera Helvetia and Menemerus and is classified in the tribe Chrysillini.{{sfn|Maddison|Hedin|2003|page=541}}{{sfn|Maddison|2015|page=231}}

Description

The spider was initially described based on a female specimen found by Anthony Russell-Smith between 1982 and 1988.{{sfn|Wesołowska|Tomasiewicz|2008|page=3}} The male was first identified by Angelika Dawidowicz and Wanda Wesołowska in 2016 based on the collection of the Swedish arachnologist Åke Holm.{{sfn|Dawidowicz|Wesołowska|2016|page=437}} The species is distinguished by its lighter colouring, which is recalled in its species name, and larger size. Otherwise, it resembles Phintella debilis, which is found in Asia. The spider has a very light brown thorax and the area around the eyes in yellow. The clypeus is similarly yellow. The abdomen is oval and yellow with a pattern of brown spots.{{sfn|Wesołowska|Tomasiewicz|2008|page=38}} The female is slightly lighter than the male. The male has an abdomen that is between {{convert|1.6|and|2.1|mm|in|abbr=on}} long. The female is larger, between {{convert|1.9|and|3.2|mm|in|abbr=on}} long. The cephalothorax is similar in size to the abdomen, measuring between {{convert|1.6|and|2.2|mm|in|abbr=on}} in length.{{sfn|Dawidowicz|Wesołowska|2016|page=452}} The male has hairy pedipalps and a very short embolus.{{sfn|Dawidowicz|Wesołowska|2016|page=453}} The female has an epigyne with a notch on the end.{{sfn|Wesołowska|Tomasiewicz|2008|page=39}}

Distribution and habitat

Phintella lucida was first found in the Shoa Province of Ethiopia, in a Eucalyptus swamp.{{sfn|Wesołowska|Tomasiewicz|2008|page=38}} It was subsequently identified from examples discovered in the Tsavo West National Park and on the slopes of Mount Elgon in Kenya.{{sfn|Dawidowicz|Wesołowska|2016|page=452}}

References

=Citations=

{{Reflist|30em}}

=Bibliography=

{{refbegin}}

  • {{cite journal|last1=Bösenberg|first1=W.|last2=Strand|first2=Embrik|year=1906|title=Japanische Spinnen|trans-title=Japanese Spiders|journal=Abhandlungen der Senckenbergischen Naturforschenden Gesellschaft|volume=30|pages=93–422}}
  • {{cite journal|last1=Cameron|first1=H. D.|last2=Wijesinghe|first2=D. P.|year=1993|title=Simon's Keys to the Salticid Groups|journal=Peckhamia|volume=3|number=1|pages=1–26}}
  • {{cite journal|last1=Dawidowicz|first1=Angelika|last2=Wesołowska|first2=Wanda|year=2016|title=Jumping Spiders (Araneae: Salticidae) of Kenya Collected by Åke Holm|journal=Annales Zoologici|volume=66|number=3|pages=437–466|doi=10.3161/00034541ANZ2016.66.3.010|s2cid=89556915|url=http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.3161/00034541ANZ2016.66.3.010|access-date=22 May 2017|url-access=subscription}}
  • {{cite journal|last1=Maddison|first1=Wayne P.|first2=Marshal C.|last2=Hedin|title=Jumping spider phylogeny (Araneae: Salticidae)|journal=Invertebrate Systematics|volume=17|number=4|year=2003|page=529–549}}
  • {{cite journal|last1=Maddison|first1=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 }}
  • {{cite journal|last=Prószyński|first=Jerzy|year=1983|title=Position of genus Phintella (Araneae: Salticidae)|journal=Acta Arachnologica|volume=31|number=2|pages=43–48}}
  • {{cite journal|last1=Wesołowska|first1=Wanda|last2=Tomasiewicz|first2=B.|year=2008|title=New species and records of Ethiopian jumping spiders (Araneae, Salticidae)|journal=Journal of Afrotropical Zoology|volume=4|pages=3–59}}
  • {{cite journal|last=Wiśniewski|first=Konrad|title=Over 40 years with jumping spiders: on the 70th birthday of Wanda Wesołowska|journal=Zootaxa|volume=4899|number=1|year=2020|pages=5–14|doi=10.11646/zootaxa.4899.1.3}}

{{refend}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q2225958}}

Category:Fauna of Ethiopia

Category:Fauna of Kenya

Category:Salticidae

Category:Spiders described in 2008

Category:Spiders of Africa

Category:Taxa named by Wanda Wesołowska