Hersilia Audouin, 1826

Javed, Maqsood, Foord, Stefan H. & Tampal, Farida, 2010, A new species of Hersilia Audouin, 1826 (Araneae: Hersiliidae) from India, with notes on its natural history, Zootaxa 2613, pp. 40-50 : 41-42

Genus Hersilia Audouin, 1826

Hersilia Audouin, 1826: 317 ; Lucas, 1869: 1; Simon, 1893: 440; Smithers, 1945: 1; Benoit 1967: 1; Baehr & Baehr, 1987: 351; Baehr & Baehr, 1993: 3; Levy, 2003: 1; Rheims & Brescovit, 2004: 1; Foord & Dippenaar-Schoeman, 2006: 8.

Type species. Hersilia caudata Audouin, 1826 , by original designation.

Diagnosis. Members of the genus Hersilia resemble the genus Murricia Simon by the following combination of characters: metatarsi of legs I, II, and IV with bi-articulations; chelicerae with three large promarginal and six-10 minute retromarginal teeth; four pairs of dorsal muscular sigillae on the abdomen; eyes heterogeneous, with ALE pearly white and AER and PER strongly recurved; and MOQ rectangular, as broad anteriorly as posteriorly. Species of Hersilia can be distinguished from similar species of Murricia , by the leg I, which is usually longer than leg II, by the embolus which does not complete a full revolution, and by the internal genitalia of the female, which have short and simple insemination ducts, accessory glands and spermathecae present on either side of the epigynum ( Baehr and Baehr 1993; Foord 2008).

Distribution. The genus Hersilia occurs in the Afrotropical, Oriental and Australian Regions ( Baehr and Baehr 1993; Rheims and Brescovit 2004; Foord 2008).