Heliophanus hamifer Simon, 1886

Michelotto, Alexandre S. & Santos, Adalberto J., 2023, A new alien species in Brazil: Heliophanus hamifer Simon, 1886, Peckhamia 300 (1), pp. 1-7 : 2-4

Heliophanus hamifer Simon, 1886

Figures 2-4

Material examined. 1 J and 1 ♀ ( UFMG 27922 ) From BRAZIL: Rio de Janeiro: Vargem Pequena (22°58’55’’S, 43°28’3’’W), March 2021, Rafael Mariante leg . 1 J ( UFMG 29234 ) Belo Horizonte: Parque Municipal Ame ̕rico Renne ̕ Giannetti (19°55’24.6’’S, 43°56’2.5’’W), November 2022, A . S . Michelotto & P . H. Souza leg., dwelling on herbaceous vegetation. 2 ♀♀ ( UFMG 29242 ) Belo Horizonte: Mata da PUC (19°55’16.4’’S, 43°59’32.1’’W), December 2022, A . S . Michelotto leg. 124 iNaturalist records ( Table 1).

Diagnosis. H. hamifer can be distinguished from other chrysillines present in Brazil by the green iridescence in both sexes ( Figure 2 ), heavily sclerotized bulbus and embolus, large apophysis on male palpal femur and an epigyne with two smaller openings separated by a median septum ( Figure 3 ). To distinguish it from other species of the genus, see Wesołowska (1986).

Distribution. Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Madagascar, Comoros, Mayotte, Seychelles (WSC, 2023), and Brazil (present data).

Natural history. Specimens from Brazil were collected from low level herbaceous vegetation in urban areas. In most of the iNaturalist records ( Table 1), they were found on branches or leaves of herbaceous vegetation or human buildings ( Figure 4 ), often feeding on dipterans. One record shows the standard courtship display observed for jumping spiders, in which the male exhibits elevated first legs to the female ( Figure 4.9 ).

retrolateral view. 2, Same, ventral view. 3, Cleared female genitalia (UFMG 29234), ventral view. 4, Same, dorsal view.

Figures

Figure 2. Habitus in life of Heliophanus hamifer. 1, Dorsal view of the male (UFMG 27922). 2, Same, frontal view. 3, Frontal view of the female (UFMG 27922). 4, Same, dorsal view. 5, Male over millimetric graph paper (UFMG 29234). 6, Female over millimetric graph paper (UFMG 29242). Photographs 1-4: Rafael Mariante (used with permission).

Figure 3. Heliophanus hamifer copulatory organs. 1, Male left palp (UFMG 29242),

Figure 4. iNaturalist records of Heliophanus hamifer. 1, Male dwelling on grass, by @laisacraupp (used with permission). 2, Male over a thorny herbaceous stem, by @gussoni (CC-BY-NC). 3, Male jumping over low herbaceous leaves, by @euqueromorango (used with permission). 4, Female under an herb leaf, by @chatonov (CC-BY-NC). 5, Female over a dry herbaceous stem, by @isismedri (CC-BY-NC). 6, Same, in detail. The arrow points to the bare patch related to stridulation. 7, Female preying on a fly, by @euqueromorango (used with permission). 8, Male preying on a midge over a wall, by @daniel_schelesky (used with permission). 9, Male displaying courtship behavior to a female over a plant vase (used with permission).