Festucula lawrencei Lessert, 1933

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 : 35-37

Festucula lawrencei Lessert, 1933

Figs 50–52

Festucula lawrencei: Lessert 1933: 152 , fig. 72; Wesolowska 1992: 50, figs 26–27; Wesolowska & Russell-Smith 2000: 28, figs 49–51.

See Wesolowska & Russell-Smith (2000) for description of both sexes.

Redescription:

Female.

Measurements: Carapace length 2.2, width 1.2, height 0.5. Abdomen length 5.5, width 1.4. Eye field length 0.9, anterior width 1.0, posterior width 1.1.

General appearance in Fig. 50; very long and slender spider.Carapace slightly elongate, not broadening along its whole length, very flattened, eye field short; dorsum of carapace dark brown, with light brown band medially on thoracic part; along sides dark yellow streak, but margins framed by dark line; clypeus very low, clothed in white hairs; delicate, short whitish hairs sparsely cover carapace. Chelicerae, labium and sternum dark brown, maxillae brown with light inner margins. Abdomen very long and thin, striped, with two marginal brownish grey streaks and broad median whitish streak; sides of abdomen whitish, three dark stripes on venter; spinnerets dark. Legs relatively short, the third pair shortest; first legs slightly thicker than others, with slightly swollen tibia, armed with three prolateral ventral spines, and two pairs of spines on metatarsus ventrally; leg I brown, remaining legs whitish yellow. Stridulatory apparatus consists of row of setae located on carapace sides, below lateral eyes, and a few bristles on prolateral surface of femora of first legs. Epigyne with shallow depression, partially plugged with waxy secretion ( Fig. 51); internal structure in Fig. 52, receptacles elongate.

Material examined:1^Main Camp, 26 ° 54.581'S: 32 ° 18.798'E, broadleaf woodland, sweeps, grass, 13.vi.2005 ( NCA 2008 /2037) .

Distribution: Species known from Angola and Tanzania; recorded for the first time from South Africa.

Habitat and biology: The female and a large number of immatures were collected by sweeping long grasses in BW.This species is clearly a grass-dwelling specialist, demonstrated by its elongate body form and colour, which is cryptic on grass stalks.