Habrocestum africanum Wesołowska & Haddad, 2009

Wesołowska, Wanda & Haddad, Charles R., 2013, New data on the jumping spiders of South Africa (Araneae: Salticidae), African Invertebrates 54 (1), pp. 177-177 : 199

Habrocestum africanum Wesołowska & Haddad, 2009

Fig. 18

Habrocestum africanum: Wesołowska & Haddad 2009: 38 , figs 62–67.

Wesołowska & Haddad (2009) described both sexes; general appearance of the female as in Fig. 18.

Material examined: SOUTH AFRICA: KwaZulu­Natal: 8 imm.13♂ 2♀ Ophathe Game Reserve , 28°23.202'S 31°24.077'E, 505 m, rocky mountainside, pitfall traps, 29.ix–3.x.2008, C. Haddad (NCA, 2008/4026) ; 3♂ 1♀ same data but 1.x.2008, active searching (NCA, 2008/4057) ; 1♂ same locality, 28°23.727'S 31°23.643'E, 455 m, Ophathe R. bed, sifting leaf-litter, 2.x.2008, C. Haddad (NCA, 2008/4213). Western Cape : 2♀ De Hoop Nature Reserve, Potberg , 34°22.719'S 20°32.216'E, sifting leaf-litter, transition between Eucalyptus plantation and fynbos, 24.iii.2005, C. Haddad ( NMBA) .

Distribution: Until now known only from the type locality (Ndumo Game Reserve); recorded here from a second locality in KwaZulu-Natal and also for the first time from the Western Cape Province, expanding the range of the species more than 1500 km south-west ( Fig. 71).

Habitat and biology: This is a leaf-litter spider that may be quite locally abundant (see also Wesołowska & Haddad 2009) in pitfall traps and leaf-litter samples in savanna habitats. The first record from the Fynbos biome provided here indicates that the species has a much broader habitat preference than previously indicated.