Nigorella plebeja (L. Koch, 1875 )

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 : 66-67

Nigorella plebeja (L. Koch, 1875)

Figs 127–131, 220

Euophrys plebeja: L. Koch 1875: 90 , pl. 7, fig. 9.

Pachypoessa albimana: Simon 1902 b: 399 .

Philaeus manicus: Peckham & Peckham, 1903: 205 , pl. 24, fig. 1.

Pachypoessa plebeja: Prószyński 1987: 71–72 .

Nigorella plebeja: Wesolowska & Tomasiewicz 2008: 35 .

Redescription:

Measurements (male/female): Carapace length 3.5–3.7/4.4–4.7, width 2.8–3.0/3.1–3.6, height 1.2–1.5/1.7–1.8. Abdomen length 3.4–3.9/6.4–6.6, width 2.1–2.4/4.2–4.7. Eye field length 1.3–1.4/1.6, anterior width 2.0–2.1/2.1–2.3, posterior width 2.1–2.2/2.4– 2.7.

Male.

General appearance in Fig. 220. Medium-sized, dark, hairy spider; carapace oval, medium high, gently sloping posteriorly, dark brown; eye field short, black; fovea visible; dark, short hairs densely cover carapace, with numerous long bristles near eyes; clypeus low, dark, with black hairs. Chelicerae large, black, unidentate; endites and labium dark brown with narrow whitish margins.Abdomen narrower than carapace, dark brown with traces of lighter patches medially; dense long dark hairs on abdomen; venter dark, with four longitudinal lines composed of yellowish dots; spinnerets dark. Legs dark brown; first pair of legs slightly stouter than others, with dark scopulae on tarsi; leg hairs long, dark brown. Pedipalp dark; tibial apophysis straight, tegulum rounded, with small anterior haematodocha ( Figs 127, 128); embolus short, enveloped by tegular apophysis ( Fig. 129).

Female.

Larger than male. General colouration dark brown to black, vicinity of fovea slightly lighter; whole body covered with short, dark hairs; clypeus with few white hairs; three parallel lighter bands on ‘cheeks’, below anterior lateral eyes. Labium with narrow white tip, endites with wide pale inner margins. Abdomen broader than carapace, brownish grey, pattern formed by a patchwork of small dark patches; venter dark, with four longitudinal lines formed with light dots. Epigyne strongly sclerotised, with two widely spaced rounded depressions and broad posterior pocket ( Fig. 130); internal structure simple, initial part of seminal ducts with very thick walls ( Fig. 131).

Material examined: 1^Crocodile Farm, Pongola R. floodplain, 26 ° 54.426'S: 32 ° 19.185'E, A. xanthophloea bark, 6.vii.2004 ( NMSA 21875 ) ; 1^Near Fontana Camp, 26 ° 52.072'S: 32 ° 09.545'E, A. tortilis savannah, leaf litter, 8.vii.2004 ( NCA 2008 /2743); 1ơ Near Environmental Centre, 26 ° 55.275'S: 32 ° 17.947'E, broadleaf savannah, leaf litter, 6.ii.2005 ( NCA 2008 /2744); 1ơ Northern shore of Nyamiti Pan, 26 ° 53.192'S: 32 ° 18.272'E, under logs, 7.vii.2002 ( NCA 2008 /2745) .

Distribution: Species known from the Democratic Republic of the Congo; recorded for the first time from South Africa.

Habitat and biology: This species was collected from the ground in leaf litter or under logs, and on one occasion from under bark, in AS, AX, BW and FP.

Remarks: The species is very similar to N. aethiopica Wesolowska & Tomasiewicz, 2008 , but is smaller; the male differs by the shape of the tibial apophysis, which is longer and has a single tip (bifid in N. aethiopica ), and the female epigyne has a strongly sclerotised initial part of the seminal ducts (compare Figs 128 and 131 herein with figs 134 and 142 in Wesolowska & Tomasiewicz 2008).