Belippo meridionalis, Wesołowska & Haddad, 2013

Wesołowska, Wanda & Haddad, Charles R., 2013, New data on the jumping spiders of South Africa (Araneae: Salticidae), African Invertebrates 54 (1), pp. 177-177 : 186-187

Belippo meridionalis sp. n.

Figs 3, 15, 36–42

Etymology: From Latin meridionalis (southern), referring to the distribution of the species relative to its congeners.

Diagnosis: The habitus of the male is similar to Belippo cygniformis Wanless, 1978 from Ghana, but it may be easily distinguished from it and other congeners by the cheliceral dentition: this species has a toothless promargin and only two teeth on the retromargin, whereas all of the other species have many teeth on both cheliceral edges. The female is difficult to recognize. The epigyne is similar to that of B. ibadan Wanless, 1978 from Nigeria, but lacks the lateral pouches.

Description:

Measurements (♂ / ♀). Cephalothorax: length 1.8/1.5, height 0.7/0.6. Abdomen: length 1.8/1.6, width 0.9/0.9. Eye field: length 0.8/0.7, anterior width 0.9/0.8, posterior width 1.0/0.9.

Male.

General appearance as in Figs 3, 15. Very small, ant-like spider. Carapace with shallow constriction behind eye field, widest at last row of eyes, delicately pitted, dark brown, darker near eyes, with some colourless bristles at anterior eyes and a few white scales on thoracic part. Clypeus very low. Chelicerae brownish orange, large, broad in middle of their length, with distal retrolateral spur; promargin toothless, retromargin with two teeth ( Figs 36, 37). Mouthparts and sternum brown. Abdomen oval, with delicate constriction, broadest in posterior section; dorsum covered with two scuta ( Fig. 15), dark brown with strong lustre. Sparse long thin colourless hairs cover abdomen, with white scales forming small submarginal patches behind anterior scutum. Venter brown with two pale bands. Spinnerets short, dark. Legs short, slender, yellow, first pair with slightly darker dorsal surfaces of femora and tibiae, others with dark line along femora, patellae and tibiae prolaterally. Four pairs of ventral spines on tibiae I, two pairs on metatarsi I; leg II with single spine on tibiae ventrally and two pairs on metatarsi, remaining leg segments spineless; tarsi with dense hairs ventrally. Pedipalps brown; palpal tibia with apical retrolateral denticles, tibial apophysis hidden in cymbial groove, sickle-shaped with small cog ( Figs 38–40); embolus long, encircling bulb twice, with broad pars pen- dula ( Fig. 38).

Female.

Similar to male, colouration slightly lighter, abdomen whitish ventrally with two dark areas laterally. Chelicerae shorter than in male, with four small teeth on promargin and five on retromargin. Tarsi of legs and pedipalps with very dense hairs. Epigyne very delicate, weakly sclerotized, without lateral pouches ( Fig. 41). Internal structure as in Fig. 42, seminal ducts very long, forming a few loops, membranous, visible only after staining with chlorazol black; only their distal, narrow parts more strongly sclerotized; spermathecae spherical.

Holotype: ♂ SOUTH AFRICA: KwaZulu­Natal: Ophathe Game Reserve , 28°25.344'S 31°23.957'E, 897 m, montane grassland, sifting leaf-litter, 4.x.2008, C. Haddad (NCA, 2008/3917).

Paratype: 1♀ 1 imm., same data as holotype (NCA, 2008/3917) .

Distribution: Known from the type locality only ( Fig. 49).

Habitat and biology: This species was found in leaf-litter amongst Crematogaster ants.