Helpis Simon, 1901

Gardzińska, Joanna & Żabka, Marek, 2010, A new genus and five new species of Astieae (Araneae: Salticidae) from Australia, with remarks on distribution, Zootaxa 2526, pp. 37-53 : 45

Genus Helpis Simon, 1901

Astia [part] Koch, 1880: 1160, 1163.

Helpis Simon, 1901: 432 , 436–438; Wanless, 1988: 81 –84, 94–102; Davies & Żabka, 1989: 206, 212; Gardzińska, 1996: 299 –304; Żabka, 2002: 259–261; Żabka & Pollard, 2002: 75 ; Maddison et al., 2008: 53 –59. Type species: Astia minitabunda Koch, 1880 , by subsequent designation.

Current list of species: Helpis gracilis Gardzińska, 1996 ; Helpis kenilworthi Żabka, 2002 ; Helpis longipalpis sp. nov.; Helpis minitabunda ( L. Koch, 1880) ; Helpis occidentalis Simon, 1909 ; Helpis risdonica Żabka, 2002 ; Helpis tasmanica Żabka, 2002 .

Diagnosis. The genus can be distinguished by the following combination of characters: legs long and slender, palpal tegulum ovoid with posterior lobe, embolus short, arising anteriorly; epigyne with large posterior pocket, copulatory openings located anteriorly, insemination ducts straight or wavy. Unlike in Adoxotoma leg spination not distinctive.

Description. Pluridentate spiders, 4–8 mm long. Transverse ocular fringe in males present ( H. minitabunda and H. occidentalis , see Wanless 1988), indistinct or missing (other species). Cephalothorax with gentle posterior slope and fovea located just behind PLE. Abdomen either elongate or ovoid, without scutum, with a mosaic of light and dark markings and translucent guanine, sometimes with stripes of pale hairs. Legs rather long and slender, in males first pair the longest and more hairy than in females, sometimes with femoral-patellar fringes. Tibia I with 3–7 proventrolateral and 3–6 retroventrolateral spines, metatarsus I with 2–4 pairs of ventrolateral ones. Leg formula in males: I–IV–II–III or I–IV–III–II, in females: IV–I–II–III or IV–I–III–II. Genitalia as described by Wanless (1988).