Stenaelurillus mirabilis
{{Short description|Species of spider}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Stenaelurillus sp 3507.jpg
| image_caption = A spider of the Stenaelurillus genus
| taxon = Stenaelurillus mirabilis
| authority = Wesołowska & Russell-Smith, 2000
}}
Stenaelurillus mirabilis is a species of jumping spider in the genus Stenaelurillus that lives in Kenya and Tanzania. It was first described in 2000 by Wanda Wesołowska and Anthony Russell-Smith. The spider is medium-sized, with a dark brown carapace between {{convert|1.75|and|2.7|mm|in|abbr=on}} in length that has two white stripes across its length and a black abdomen between {{convert|1.9|and|2.8|mm|in|abbr=on}} long. The female abdomen has orange sides and a white marking of a single stripe interrupted by other marks. The male abdomen has a white cross shape formed of five spors. It is distinguished from other members of the genus by the male's long, thin palpal bulb and the female's epigyne with its short and slightly bent insemination ducts.
Taxonomy
Stenaelurillus mirabilis was first described by Wanda Wesołowska and Anthony Russell-Smith in 2000.{{cite web|author=World Spider Catalog|year=2017|title=Stenaelurillus mirabilis Wesolowska & A. Russell-Smith, 2000|website=World Spider Catalog|publisher=Natural History Museum|place=Bern|url=http://www.wsc.nmbe.ch/species/32890/Stenaelurillus_mirabilis|version=18.0|accessdate=7 November 2017}} It is one of over 500 species identified by the Polish arachnologist Wesołowska.{{sfn|Wiśniewski|2020|page=6}} It was placed in the genus Stenaelurillus, first raised by Eugène Simon in 1885.{{sfn|Logunov|2020|page=202}} The name relates to the genus name Aelurillus, which itself derives from the Greek word for cat, with the addition of a prefix meaning narrow.{{sfn|Fernández-Rubio|2013|page=125}} The species name is a Latin word that can be translated wonderful.{{sfn|Wesołowska|Russell-Smith|2000|page=103}} In 2015, the genus was placed in the subtribe Aelurillina in the tribe Aelurillini in the clade Saltafresia by Wayne Maddison.{{sfn|Maddison|2015|page=279}} Two years later, it was grouped with nine other genera of jumping spiders under the name Aelurillines.{{sfn|Prószyński|2017|page=95}}
Description
The spider is medium-sized. The male has a dark brown pear-shaped carapace that measures between {{convert|1.75|and|1.9|mm|in|abbr=on}} in length and between {{convert|1.33|and|1.4|mm|in|abbr=on}} in width, with two long white stripes on the thorax and one wide white stripe along each edge. The abdomen is black and hairy, between {{convert|1.9|and|2.0|mm|in|abbr=on}} long and {{convert|1.2|and|1.23|mm|in|abbr=on}} wide, with a cross-shape formed of five white spots.The eye field is dark, nearly black, and has short protruding bristles. The spinnerets are long and white, and the legs are brown and yellow. The pedipalps are also brown and hairy.{{sfn|Logunov|Azarkina|2018|pages=80–81}}{{sfn|Wesołowska|Russell-Smith|2000|page=103}} It can be distinguished from other members of the genus by its long thin palpal bulb, which has a tubercle at the very end, and short embolus.{{sfn|Wesołowska|Russell-Smith|2000|page=104}}
The female is very similar to the male in colouration and shape, but is larger. The carapace is between {{convert|2.0|and|2.7|mm|in|abbr=on}} long and {{convert|1.6|and|1.7|mm|in|abbr=on}} wide and the abdomen between {{convert|2.3|and|2.8|in|abbr=on}} long and {{convert|1.7|and|1.9|mm|in|abbr=on}} wide.{{sfn|Wesołowska|2014|page=103}} The carapace is also pear-shaped and dark brown, and has two white stripes on the thorax. The abdomen has a white stripe in the middle which stretches from the front to back, interrupted by two white marks in the middle and ends. The edges of the abdomen are orange and the lighter parts have an orange shine.{{sfn|Wesołowska|2014|page=104}} The spinnerets are yellow. The epigyne is small with a flat plate and the rear sclerotized, with widely separated copulatory openings. The insemination ducts are short and slightly bent toward each other and the spermathecae are round.{{sfn|Logunov|Azarkina|2018|page=81}} The conformation of both the epigyne and the spermathecae are particularly distinguishing for the species.{{sfn|Logunov|Azarkina|2018|page=78}} The lack of gonopores in the epigyne particularly distinguishes the species from the otherwise similar Stenaelurillus ignobilis.{{sfn|Wesołowska|Cumming|2011|page=96}}
Distribution
The holotype was found near the Ibaya camp in the Mkomazi National Park in 1993. Many other examples were found across the reserve, in a range of habitats including Acacia senegal woodland, Combretum bushland and grassland. {{sfn|Wesołowska|Russell-Smith|2000|page=102}} At the time, it was the most abundant ground-active salticid in the reserve.{{sfn|Wesołowska|Russell-Smith|2000|page=101}} It was also subsequently found in the forests of the Tsavo East National Park in the coastal regions of Kenya.{{sfn|Logunov|Azarkina|2018|page=80}}
References
=Citations=
{{Reflist|30em}}
=Bibliography=
{{refbegin}}
- {{cite journal | last=Fernández-Rubio | first=Fidel | title=La etimología de los nombres de las arañas (Araneae) | trans-title=The etymology of the names of spiders (Araneae) | journal=Revista ibérica de Aracnología | number=22 | pages=125–130 | ISSN=1576-9518 | year=2013 | language=ES}}
- {{cite journal | last=Logunov | first=Dmitri V. | year=2020 | title=Further notes on the genus Stenaelurillus Simon, 1885 from India (Araneae: Salticidae) | journal=Zootaxa | volume=4899 | number=1 | pages=201–214 | doi=10.11646/zootaxa.4899.1.11 | pmid=33756833 | s2cid=232339218 }}
- {{cite journal | last1=Logunov | first1=Dmitri V. | last2=Azarkina | first2=Galina N. | year=2018 | title=Redefinition and partial revision of the genus Stenaelurillus Simon, 1886 (Arachnida, Araneae, Salticidae) | journal=European Journal of Taxonomy | volume=430 | pages=1–126 | doi=10.5852/ejt.2018.430| doi-access=free }}
- {{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=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=Wesołowska | first=Wanda | year=2014 | title=Further notes on the genus Stenaelurillus Simon, 1885 (Araneae, Salticidae) in Africa with descriptions of eight new species | journal=Zoosystema | volume=36 | number=3 | pages=595–622 | doi=10.5252/z2014n3a3|s2cid=86684221|url=http://www.bioone.org/doi/full/10.5252/z2014n3a3 | accessdate=7 December 2017| url-access=subscription }}
- {{cite journal | last1=Wesołowska | first1=Wanda | last2=Cumming | first2=Meg S. | year=2011 | title=New species and records of jumping spiders (Araneae, Salticidae) from Sengwa Wildlife Research Area in Zimbabwe | journal=Journal of Afrotropical Zoology | volume=7 | pages=75–104}}
- {{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=}}
- {{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 | pmid=33756825 | s2cid=232337200 }}
{{refend}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q2201864}}
Category:Arthropods of Tanzania