Evarcha prosimilis Wesolowska & Cumming, 2008

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 : 33-35

Evarcha prosimilis Wesolowska & Cumming, 2008

Figs 42–46

Evarcha prosimilis: Wesolowska & Cumming 2008: 179 , figs 33–37.

Evarcha similis: Wesolowska & Russell-Smith 2000: 28 , figs 45–48 (nec Caporiacco 1941).

Redescription:

Measurements (male/female): Carapace length 2.3–2.4/2.3, width 1.9/2.0, height 0.9/ 0.9. Abdomen length 2.0–2.1/2.9, width 1.3–1.4/2.2. Eye field length 1.0–1.2/1.0, anterior width 1.6/1.5, posterior width 1.7/1.6.

Male.

Carapace oval, brown, vicinity of eyes black; sparse white hairs on eye field, forming small patch behind anterior median eyes; longitudinal streak composed of brown hairs on thoracic area; glaring orange scales encircling anterior eyes, except scales surrounding anterior laterals from above, which are white; clypeus high, covered with orange reddish hairs. Mouthparts dark brown, sternum orange-brown.Abdomen light brown with white yellowish pattern; two transverse bands in anterior half, large leaf-shaped patch, and pair of submarginal spots in posterior half. Abdomen covered with brown and whitish hairs; venter yellow, with three longitudinal lines of small dark marks, in second specimen whole venter dark; spinnerets greyish. Legs yellow with brown rings, tarsi light, first and second pairs slightly darker than posterior pairs; leg hairs and spines brown. Pedipalps dark brown, white hairs forming spots on tips of palpal femur and patella dorsally; tibial apophysis with notch ( Figs 43, 44), embolus double ( Fig. 42).

Female.

Carapace light brown, traces of striae on thoracic part, black rings around eyes; clypeus low, brownish, with thin white line on lower clypeal margin; two parallel white lines on lateral slopes of carapace, below anterior lateral eyes; anterior eyes surrounded by small fawn scales, some long brown bristles on eye field anteriorly. Mouthparts brownish with light tips, sternum yellowish.Abdomen darker than in male, mottled, pattern composed of small greyish brown patches on yellowish background, posteriorly a few darker chevrons; brownish and grey hairs cover abdomen; venter light with brownish marks; spinnerets greyish beige. Legs yellow with brownish rings proximally and distally on segments; spines and leg hairs brown. Epigyne as in Fig. 45, receptacles multi-chambered ( Fig. 46), only initial chambers strongly sclerotised.

Material examined: 1ơ Between Crocodile Farm and Main Camp, 26 ° 54.431'S: 32 ° 19.045'E, broadleaf woodland, leaf litter, 5.vii.2002 (NMSA 21842); 1^Near NRC picnic site, 26 ° 52.742'S: 32 ° 11.088'E, A. tortilis savannah, leaf litter, 29.xi.2000 (NCA 2008/2035); 1ơ Near Nyamiti Bird Hide, Pongola River floodplain , Ezikebheni, 26 ° 53.362'S: 32 ° 18.892'E, pitfall traps, 15–25.i.2006, C. Haddad & R. Lyle (NCA 2008/1877); 1ơ Red Cliffs, 26 ° 51.164'S: 32 ° 12.365'E, subtropical bush, leaf litter, 17.vi.2005 (NCA 2008/ 2036).

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

Habitat and biology: Collected from leaf litter and the bases of grass tussocks in AS, BW and ST, and from pitfall traps in FP.

Remarks: This species resembles E. culicivora Wesolowska & Jackson, 2003 from Kenya, but the male has a shorter embolus (compare Fig. 42 herein with fig. 6 in Wesolowska & Jackson 2003); the females are very similar and telling them apart is problematic. It is also similar to E. picta Wesolowska & van Harten, 2007 from Yemen, but the male of the latter species has a wider tibial apophysis, and the female has an epigyne with a strongly sclerotised posterior rim (see figs 38, 41 in Wesolowska & van Harten 2007).