Rhene punctatus
{{Short description|Species of spider}}
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| taxon = Rhene punctatus
| authority = Wesołowska & Haddad, 2013
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Rhene punctatus is a species of jumping spider in the genus Rhene that lives in South Africa. The male was identified in 2013 and has distinctive black dots on its abdomen, which gives rise to its name.
Taxonomy
Rhene punctatus was first identified by Wanda Wesołowska and Charles Haddad in 2013.{{cite web|author=World Spider Catalog|year=2017|title=Rhene punctatus Wesolowska & Haddad, 2013|website=World Spider Catalog|publisher=Natural History Museum|place=Bern|url=http://www.wsc.nmbe.ch/species/32387|version=18.0|access-date=22 August 2017}} It was allocated to the genus Rhene, which is named after the Greek female name, shared by mythological figures.{{cite book|title=On European Spiders, Part 1: Review of the European Genera of Spiders, Preceded by Some Observations on Zoological Nomenclature|first=Tamerlan|last=Thorell|year=1869|page=37}} The species name is derived from the Latin for point, punctus, and relates to the dotted pattern on the abdomen.{{cite journal|last1=Wesołowska|first1=W.|last2=Haddad|date=2013|first2=C. R.|title=New data on the jumping spiders of South Africa (Araneae: Salticidae)|journal=African Invertebrates|volume=54|issue=1|pages=225–226|doi=10.5733/afin.054.0111|s2cid=59450669|url=http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.5733/afin.054.0111|access-date=22 August 2017|doi-access=free}}
Description
Only the male of the species has been described. The spider is flat, stocky and hairy. It has a flat, almost square, dark brown carapace that is {{convert|1.8|mm|in}} in length. The abdomen is pale brown with a pattern of black dots and is {{convert|2.1|mm|in}} long. Both the carapace and abdomens are covered with dense white hairs.
Distribution
Rhene punctatus has only been found in the Cathedral Peak Nature Reserve in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
References
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Category:Endemic spiders of South Africa
Category:Spiders of South Africa