''Messua'' is a

spider 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 ...

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of the family

Salticidae Jumping spiders are a group of spiders that constitute the family Salticidae. As of 2019, this family contained over 600 described genera and over 6,000 described species, making it the largest family of spiders at 13% of all species. Jumping spi ...

(jumping spiders).

Etymology

The genus name is derived from Messua, a female character from

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. ...

Jungle Book ''The Jungle Book'' (1894) is a collection of stories by the English author Rudyard Kipling. Most of the characters are animals such as Shere Khan the tiger and Baloo the bear, though a principal character is the boy or "man-cub" Mowgli, who ...

. Other salticid genera with names of Kipling's characters are '' Akela'', ''

Bagheera Bagheera ( hi, बघीरा / ''Baghīrā'') is a fictional character in Rudyard Kipling's Mowgli stories in ''The Jungle Book'' (coll. 1894) and ''The Second Jungle Book'' (coll. 1895). He is a black panther ( melanistic Indian leopard) who ...

'' and ''

Nagaina ''Nagaina'' is a genus of jumping spiders that was first described by George and Elizabeth Peckham in 1896. The name is derived from ''Nagaina'', a character from Rudyard Kipling's Rikki-Tikki-Tavi. Other salticid genera with names of Kipling's c ...

''.

Taxonomy

The genus was first described in 1896 by American

arachnologist Arachnology is the scientific study of arachnids, which comprise spiders and related invertebrates such as scorpions, pseudoscorpions, and harvestmen. Those who study spiders and other arachnids are arachnologists. More narrowly, the study of sp ...

George and Elizabeth Peckham George Williams Peckham (March 23, 1845 – January 10, 1914) and Elizabeth Maria Gifford Peckham (December 19, 1854 – February 11, 1940) were a married couple who were early American teachers, taxonomists, ethologists, arachno ...

based on the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

'' Messua desidiosa''. The genus ''Messua'' was synonymized with '' Zygoballus'' 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 1903. After examining the

type specimen In biology, a type is a particular wiktionary:en:specimen, specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to a ...

for ''Messua desidiosa'', Simon commented that it was "much less divergent from typical ''Zygoballus'' than he Peckhams'description would indicate." This was reversed by

Wayne Maddison Wayne Paul Maddison , is a professor and Canada Research Chair at the departments of zoology and botany at the University of British Columbia, and the Director of the Spencer Entomological Collection at the Beaty Biodiversity Museum. His research ...

in 1996, and ''Messua'' restored as a valid genus. Maddison also transferred several species that had previously been placed in ''

Metaphidippus ''Metaphidippus'' is a genus of jumping spiders that was first described by Frederick Octavius Pickard-Cambridge in 1901. The name is combined from Ancient Greek μετά "after, beside" and the salticid genus ''Phidippus''. Species it contains ...

'' into ''Messua''.

Species

* '' Messua centralis'' (Peckham & Peckham, 1896) –

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

* '' Messua dentigera'' ( F. O. P-Cambridge, 1901) –

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

to Panama * '' Messua desidiosa'' Peckham & Peckham, 1896 –

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

, Panama * '' Messua donalda'' (Kraus, 1955) –

El Salvador El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south b ...

* '' Messua latior'' ( Roewer, 1955) – Panama * '' Messua laxa'' (

Chickering Chickering may refer to: * Chickering, Suffolk, a place in Suffolk, England * Chickering & Sons, the piano company that was created by Jonas Chickering * Arthur M. Chickering, an arachnologist * Arthur W. Chickering, a researcher of student devel ...

, 1946) – Panama * '' Messua limbata'' (

Banks A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...

, 1898) – United States, Mexico * '' Messua moma'' (F. O. P.-Cambridge, 1901) – Guatemala to Guyana * '' Messua octonotata'' (F. O. P.-Cambridge, 1901) –

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

* '' Messua pura'' (Bryant, 1948) – Mexico * '' Messua tridentata'' (F. O. P.-Cambridge, 1901) – Mexico

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q508709 Salticidae Salticidae genera Spiders of North America