''Palfuria'' 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 of the family

Zodariidae Ant spiders are members of the family Zodariidae. They are small to medium-sized eight-eyed spiders found in all tropical and subtropical regions of South America, Africa, Madagascar, Australia-New Guinea, New Zealand, Arabia and the Indian sub ...

of which nine species from

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

have been described to date.

Distribution

Five species (''P. retusa'', ''P. spirembolus'', ''P. gladiator'', ''P. panner'', ''P. harpago'') are known from the southwestern part of the continent, the other species (''P. gibbosa'', ''P. helichrysorum'', ''P. hirsuta'', ''P. caputlari'') from the eastern part. The last species is from as far north as northern

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

. As in many other genera, there is a tendency for the embolus to increase in length. Both the most basal (''Palfuria panner'') and the most derived species (''Palfuria spirembolus'') are found in Namibia.

Species

* '' Palfuria caputlari'' Szüts & Jocqué, 2001 (

) * '' Palfuria gibbosa'' (Lessert, 1936) (

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

) * '' Palfuria gladiator'' Szüts & Jocqué, 2001 (

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

) * '' Palfuria harpago'' Szüts & Jocqué, 2001 (Namibia) * '' Palfuria helichrysorum'' Szüts & Jocqué, 2001 (

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast ...

) * '' Palfuria hirsuta'' Szüts & Jocqué, 2001

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

) * '' Palfuria panner'' Jocqué, 1991 (Namibia) * '' Palfuria retusa'' Simon, 1910 (

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

) * '' Palfuria spirembolus'' Szüts & Jocqué, 2001 (Namibia)

References

* Szüts, T. & Jocqué, R. (2001). A revision of the Afrotropical spider genus ''Palfuria'' (Araneae, Zodariidae). ''Journal of Arachnology'' 29(2):205–219
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{{Taxonbar, from=Q1318855 Zodariidae Spiders of Africa Araneomorphae genera