''Aelurillus hirtipes'',

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

''Aelurillus sinaicus'', is a species of jumping spider in the genus ''

Aelurillus ''Aelurillus'' is a genus of spiders in the family Salticidae (jumping spiders). Description Species of the genus ''Aelurillus'' are typically about 7 mm long in females, and up to five mm in males. They are stout, squat-shaped and rather f ...

'' that lives in North Africa. First identified by Jacques Denis in Chad in 1960 as part of the

Missions Berliet-Ténéré The Mission Berliet Ténéré and the subsequent Mission Berliet Tchad were two trans-Sahara expeditions organised by the French truck manufacturer, Berliet. The expeditions demonstrated the ability of Berliet trucks to cross long stretches of dese ...

, it has also been found in Algeria, Egypt and Morocco. The spider is small, with a brown

carapace A carapace is a Dorsum (biology), dorsal (upper) section of the exoskeleton or shell in a number of animal groups, including arthropods, such as crustaceans and arachnids, as well as vertebrates, such as turtles and tortoises. In turtles and tor ...

that is between long and a yellow abdomen that measures between in length. The male has a small hooked embolus protruding from its palpal bulb and the female has S-shaped flaps on the

epigyne The epigyne or epigynum is the external genital structure of female spiders. As the epigyne varies greatly in form in different species, even in closely related ones, it often provides the most distinctive characteristic for recognizing species. ...

and short copulatory ducts. The spider has a covering of light hairs, whiter on the female and more yellow on the male. These hairs help distinguish it from the related '' Aelurillus v-insignitus'' and '' Aelurillus plumipes''

Taxonomy

''Aelurillus hirtipes'' was first described by Jacques Denis in 1960. It was placed in the genus ''

'' that was first described by

Eugène Simon Eugène Louis Simon (; 30 April 1848 – 17 November 1924) was a French naturalist who worked particularly on insects and spiders, but also on birds and plants. He is by far the most prolific spider taxonomist in history, describing over 4, ...

in 1885. The genus name derives from the Greek word for cat. It was placed in the subtribe Aelurillina in the tribe Aelurillini, both named after the genus, by Wayne Maddison in 2015. These were allocated to the

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

Saltafresia. In 2017, the genus was grouped with nine other genera of jumping spiders under the name Aelurillines. Initially, only the male was described. In 2000,

Jerzy Prószyński Jerzy Prószyński (born 1935 in Warsaw) is a Polish arachnologist specializing in systematics of jumping spiders (family Salticidae). He is a graduate of the University of Warsaw, a long-term employee of the Siedlce University of Natural Scienc ...

described another new species, ''Aelurillus sinaicus''. These were later found to be of existing species. One example, found in Egypt, was allocated to this species in 2006 by Galina Azarkina and Vladamir Logunov. This was also a male, but the female of the species was described at the same time.

Description

The spider is small, with a length of typically . The female has a brown

that is in length and in width. It is covered by white scales. The yellow abdomen is long and wide. The clypeus is also yellow, as are the spinnerets, although they lack the white hairs that are common on the clypeus. White hairs also cover the yellow pedipalps and legs. The chelicerae are brown. The

is oval with a small pocket and two widely spaced copulatory openings which are enclosed by flaps that form an S-shape. The ducts are short and lead to bean-like spermathecae. The male is slightly smaller than the female. The carapace is long and wide with similar colouring. The abdomen is long and wide and, although generally similar in colour, has a pattern of white-yellow and brown scales. The chelicerae, clypeus, legs and spinneret are all similar in colour to the female, but the hairs are more yellow than white. The palpal bulb is large with a small hook-like embolus. The species is closely related to '' Aelurillus plumipes''. However, the shape and shorter length of the copulatory ducts on the female and the light coloured hairs on the male carapace and legs distinguish the species. It is also similar to '' Aelurillus v-insignitus'', differing in the lack of hair on the legs.

Distribution

The spider has a

range Range may refer to: Geography * Range (geographic), a chain of hills or mountains; a somewhat linear, complex mountainous or hilly area (cordillera, sierra) ** Mountain range, a group of mountains bordered by lowlands * Range, a term used to i ...

across North Africa. It was first identified in Chad by an expedition that was part of the

, with the holotype found in the Sahara Desert and another example in the Tibesti Mountains. It has been seen near

Bordj Bou Arréridj Bordj Bou Arréridj ( ar, برج بوعريريج) is the capital city of Bordj Bou Arréridj Province, Algeria. According to the 2008 estimation, its population was 168,346. It is situated 148 miles by road east of Algiers, near the Hodna Massif ...

and Tamanrasset in Algeria and in Ksar es Souk in Morocco. The example originally named ''Aelurillus sinaicus'' was found on the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q2865194 Fauna of Algeria Fauna of Chad Fauna of Egypt Fauna of Morocco Salticidae Spiders of Africa Spiders described in 1960