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Seothyra Fasciata
''Seothyra fasciata'', one of the buck spoor spiders, is a sand-dwelling species of Eresidae. It is native to southern Africa. Range It is native to sandy regions of southern Namibia (Kalahari to Naukluft The Naukluft Mountains (Afrikaans and German: ''Naukluftberge'') are a mountain range in central Namibia. The southern part of the mountain range forms the easternmost part of the Namib-Naukluft National Park. The northern mountains are occupied ...), Botswana and northern South Africa. References * Dippenaar-Schoeman A. S. Foord S. and Haddad C. 2013. Spiders of the Savanna Biome. University of Venda & Agricultural Research Council. * Dippenaar-Schoeman, A. S. (1991). A revision of the African spider genus Seothyra Purcell (Araneae: Eresidae). Cimbebasia 12: 135-160. * Dippenaar-Schoeman A. S. 2014. Field Guide of the Spiders of South Africa. Lapa Publisher 424 pp. * Dippenaar-Schoeman A. S., Haddad C. R., Foord S. H., Lyle R., Lotz L. N., Helberg L., Mathebula S., Van De ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Frederick Purcell
William Frederick Purcell (18 September 1866 - 3 October 1919) was an English-born South African arachnologist and zoologist. He is regarded as being the founder of modern araneology in South Africa. Early life and education Purcell was born in London, England to Dr Walter P.J. Purcell of Waterford, Ireland, and his wife Sophia W.J. Hertzog of Cape Town. In 1868 the family moved to South Africa and settled in Cape Town. He spent most of his childhood on the farm Bergvliet, which was owned by his uncle W.F. Hertzog. From 1881, Purcell studied at South African College, Cape Town, matriculated through the University of the Cape of Good Hope (UCGH) in 1884 and received a BA (with Honours) in mathematics and natural science in 1887 from UCGH. In 1885 and 1887 he provided the South African Museum with samples of ''coleoptera'' obtained at Bergvliet and Prieska. Purcell continued his education in Germany with a focus on the internal structure of arachnids. In 1894 Friedrich-Wil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eresidae
Velvet spiders (family Eresidae) are a small group (about 130 species in 9 genera) of spiders almost entirely limited to the Old World, with exception of a few species known from Brazil. In Europe some are commonly called the ladybird spiders Description This family can sometimes be confused with the jumping spiders, or those in the Palpimanidae family. These spiders are usually black or brown in color, thought they can also have brighter colors as pictured. As their common name implies they can look quite smooth and velvety. They usually live in silken tubes under objects, or underground, but the genus '' Stegodyphus,'' builds silken nests. Identification They can be distinguished from most species except the Penestomidae by their semi rectangular carapace and clypeal hood. Thought the can be distinguished from Penestomidae by the eye arrangement, straight anterior eye row and strongly recurved posterior eye row, with the median eyes close together. Social Behavior Som ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kalahari Desert
The Kalahari Desert is a large semi-arid sandy savanna in Southern Africa extending for , covering much of Botswana, and parts of Namibia and South Africa. It is not to be confused with the Angolan, Namibian, and South African Namib coastal desert, whose name is of Khoekhoegowab origin and means "vast place". Etymology ''Kalahari'' is derived from the Tswana word ''Kgala'', meaning "the great thirst", or ''Kgalagadi'', meaning "a waterless place"; the Kalahari has vast areas covered by red sand without any permanent surface water. History The Kalahari Desert was not always a dry desert. The fossil flora and fauna from Gcwihaba Cave in Botswana indicates that the region was much wetter and cooler at least from 30 to 11 thousand BP (before present) especially after 17,500 BP. Geography Drainage of the desert is by dry black valleys, seasonally inundated pans and the large salt pans of the Makgadikgadi Pan in Botswana and Etosha Pan in Namibia. The only permane ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Namib-Naukluft National Park
The Namib-Naukluft Park is a national park in western Namibia, situated between the coast of the Atlantic Ocean and the edge of the Great Escarpment. It encompasses part of the Namib Desert (considered the world's oldest desert), the Naukluft mountain range, and the lagoon at Sandwich Harbour. The best-known area of the park and one of the main visitor attractions in Namibia is Sossusvlei, a clay pan surrounded by dunes, and Sesriem, a small canyon of the Tsauchab. The desert research station of Gobabeb is situated within the park. Location and description With an overall area of , the Namib-Naukluft National Park was at the time of its last expansion the largest game park in Africa and the fourth largest in the world. It consists of a strip of land on the Atlantic Ocean, including of sea, that extends roughly north-to-south from the Swakop River to the B4 road to Lüderitz. Wildlife A surprising collection of creatures survives in the hyper-arid region, including sn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spiders Of Africa
Spiders (order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species diversity among all orders of organisms. Spiders are found worldwide on every continent except for Antarctica, and have become established in nearly every land habitat. , 50,356 spider species in 132 families have been recorded by taxonomists. However, there has been debate among scientists about how families should be classified, with over 20 different classifications proposed since 1900. Anatomically, spiders (as with all arachnids) differ from other arthropods in that the usual body segments are fused into two tagmata, the cephalothorax or prosoma, and the opisthosoma, or abdomen, and joined by a small, cylindrical pedicel, however, as there is currently neither paleontological nor embryological evidence that spiders ever had a separat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taxa Named By William Frederick Purcell
In biology, a taxon ( back-formation from '' taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular name and given a particular ranking, especially if and when it is accepted or becomes established. It is very common, however, for taxonomists to remain at odds over what belongs to a taxon and the criteria used for inclusion. If a taxon is given a formal scientific name, its use is then governed by one of the nomenclature codes specifying which scientific name is correct for a particular grouping. Initial attempts at classifying and ordering organisms (plants and animals) were set forth in Carl Linnaeus's system in ''Systema Naturae'', 10th edition (1758), as well as an unpublished work by Bernard and Antoine Laurent de Jussieu. The idea of a unit-based system of biological classification was first made widely available in 1805 in th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
