Holcolaetis zuluensis Lawrence, 1937

Wesolowska, Wanda & Haddad, Charles R., 2009, Jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae) of the Ndumo Game Reserve, Maputaland, South Africa, African Invertebrates 50 (1), pp. 13-103 : 47-49

Holcolaetis zuluensis Lawrence, 1937

Figs 83–86, 240, 241

Holcolaetis zuluensis: Lawrence 1937: 255 , fig. 23; Roewer 1965: 28, fig. 25c; Wanless 1985: 259,

figs 6a–g, 16c.

Redescription:

Measurements (male/female): Carapace length 5.0–5.1/5.1–5.9, width 3.6–3.7/3.6–4.2, height 1.4–1.5/1.5–1.7.Abdomen length 6.5–6.7/7.6, width 3.0–3.2/4.2. Eye field length 2.1–2.2/1.9–2.2, anterior width 2.4–2.5/2.5–3.0, posterior width 2.5–2.7/2.7–3.1.

Male.

General appearance as in Fig. 240; large spider, body slender, flattened and hairy. Eye field dark brown with three whitish streaks composed of light hairs; streaks join in posterior part of ocular area to form wide band extending towards posterior edge of carapace; sides of thoracic part dark brown, with white line framing lateral margins of carapace; clypeus brown. Endites with wide pale inner margins; labium and sternum light brown; chelicera large, with seven small teeth on promargin, and nine teeth on retromargin. Abdomen long and narrow, dark brown with median broad white stripe; venter greyish black with two parallel lines created by small light dots, sides yellowish; abdomen clothed in short hairs, with sparse longer bristles among them; spinnerets dark. First pair of legs dark brown, their tibiae long; remaining legs light brown, distal ends of tibiae and patellae darker; leg hairs long and dense, black; spines stout. Pedipalps large, light orange; tibial apophysis short, with large flange ( Figs 83, 84).

Female.

General appearance in Fig. 241; shape and size similar to male. Carapace oval, broadest in middle of its length, with short eye field and distinct fovea; eyes of second row relatively large; carapace dark brown, margins darker, ocular area black; some white hairs on eye field and on slopes of carapace, hairs forming white line framing margins of carapace; clypeus low, covered with white hairs. Chelicerae with five small teeth on promargin and eight on retromargin; labium brown, sternum yellowish grey, endites with paler tips.Abdomen elongate, flat, dark brown, with broad median dentate yellowish band, clothed in brown and grey hairs, denser and longer at anterior edge; venter yellowish, with four brown longitudinal lines; spinnerets brown. Legs stout, relatively short, brown with darker patches; spines brown; leg hairs long, brown and grey. Epigyne with posterior notch and two horns at epigastric fold ( Fig. 85); internal structure strongly sclerotised, receptacles spherical ( Fig. 86).

Material examined: 1^Between Main Camp and Vulture Restaurant, 26 ° 54.276'S: 32 ° 18.664'E, broadleaf woodland, under bark, 2.vii.2000 (NMSA 21845); 1^Crocodile Farm, 26 ° 54.426'S: 32 ° 19.185'E, broadleaf woodland, under tree bark, 12.i.2007 (NCA 2007/3073); 1ơ Crocodile Farm, Pongola R. floodplain, 26 ° 54.426'S: 32 ° 19.185'E, A. xanthophloea bark, 6.ii.2005 (NCA 2008/617); 1^Eastern shore of Shokwe Pan, 26 ° 52.516'S: 32 ° 12.407'E, A. xanthophloea bark, 11.vii.2002 (NMSA 21846); 1^same data but 13.vii.2004 (NCA 2008/1854); 1ơ same data but 16.vi.2005 (NCA 2008/1860); 1ơ 1^Southern boundary fence, 26 ° 55.578'S: 32 ° 19.081'E, deep sand forest, under bark, 9.ii.2005 (NCA 2006/832); 2^same locality, Commiophora harveyi bark, 13.vi.2005 (NCA 2005/978); 2^3 imm. Southern shore of Hotwe Pan, 26 ° 52.730'S: 32 ° 18.452'E, A. xanthophloea bark, 10.vii.2004 (NCA 2008/634); 1ơ 5 imm. same data but 7.ii.2005 (NCA 2008/640); 1^5 imm. South-western shore of Banzi Pan, 26 ° 53.118'S: 32 ° 16.927'E, A. xanthophloea bark, 23.i.2006 (NCA 2008/1845); 2^Start of game count transect 8, 26 ° 50.183'S: 32 ° 13.135'E, A. xanthophloea bark, 1.vii.2003 (NMSA 21847); 1^same locality, F. sycomorus bark, 11.vii.2004 (NCA 2008/1944); 3^2 imm. Western shore of Nyamiti Pan, 26 ° 53.767'S: 32 ° 16.557'E, A. xanthophloea bark, 10.vii.2004 (NCA 2008/592).

Distribution: Species known from Tanzania and South Africa.

Habitat and biology: This large, sexually dimorphic species was collected in most habitats in the reserve, and was one of the most frequently collected salticids associated with bark. Females ( Fig. 241) and immatures have mottled brown colouration that enables them to camouflage well on bark, while males are black with distinctive white markings ( Fig. 240). Both sexes have flattened bodies that enable them to crawl into narrow crevices and under bark. Egg sacs were constructed under bark, either on the inner bark surface or on the tree trunk, and measured approximately 15–20 mm in diameter.