Genus Tusitala Peckham & Peckham, 1902

Type species: Tusitala barbata Peckham & Peckham, 1902, by original designation.

Diagnosis: Males of Tusitala species have long setae on the promargin of the chelicerae that form a distinct dome (Fig. 1, arrowed). Females have long spirally coiled insemination ducts and receptacles composed of two parts – a spherical part, clearly visible through the epigynal tegument (Fig. 5, arrowed) and a vermiform section, only visible in the spermathecae (Fig. 4, arrowed).

Short description: Small- to medium-sized spiders, total length 4–7 mm, with sexual dimorphism. Males have long first legs, large chelicerae with promarginal process(es) near the fang base – small in T. barbata (Fig. 2, arrowed), T. discibulba Caporiacco, 1941 (see PrÓszyŃski 1987: fig. 115), T. hirsuta and T. yemenica (see WesoŁowska & van Harten 2007: fig. 201), and long in T. ansieae sp. n. (Fig. 3, arrowed) and T. lyrata (see WesoŁowska & Tomasiewicz 2003: figs 5–12); T. lutzi Lessert, 1927 has a long process on the exterior rim of the chelicera (WesoŁowska 2012: fig. 57). Both sexes, but males in particular, vary considerably in size (Figs 43–45). The length of the male palpal femora and chelicerae varies in T. barbata and T. hirsuta, from short to very long (Figs 48–50), while the structure of the copulatory organs are invariant (Figs 79–81). The structure of the epigyne in T. barbata and T. hirsuta varies considerably (Figs 37–42, 61–67).

Composition: Tusitala includes the following ten species: T. ansieae sp. n. (♂ ♀); T. barbata Peckham & Peckham, 1902 (♂ ♀); T. discibulba Caporiacco, 1941 (♂); T. guineensis Berland & Millot, 1941 (♀); T. hirsuta Peckham & Peckham, 1902 (♂ ♀); T. lutzi Lessert, 1927 (♂ ♀); T. lyrata (Simon, 1903) (♂ ♀); T. proxima WesoŁowska & Russell-Smith, 2000 (♀); T. unica WesoŁowska & Russell-Smith, 2000 (♀); T. yemenica WesoŁowska & van Harten, 1994 (♂ ♀).

Distribution: Continental Afrotropical Region and Yemen (Fig. 13).