Menemerus nigeriensis
A spider of the Menemerus genus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Salticidae
Subfamily: Salticinae
Genus: Menemerus
Species:
M. nigeriensis
Binomial name
Menemerus nigeriensis
Wesołowska & Russell-Smith, 2011

Menemerus nigeriensis is a species of jumping spider in the genus Menemerus that lives in Nigeria. The species was first described in 2011 by Wanda Wesołowska and Anthony Russell-Smith based on a holotype found near Ibadan. The spider is medium-sized, with a cephalothorax that is typically 2.5 millimetres (0.098 in) long and an abdomen that is 2.6 millimetres (0.10 in) long. The carapace is generally a uniform dark brown, the eye field black and the abdomen greyish-brown. Its copulatory organs most distinguish the species from others in the genus. The male has a distinctive dorsal tibia that has a very long and pointed apophysis or appendage. The female has not been identified.

Taxonomy

Menemerus nigeriensis is a species of jumping spider that was first described by Wanda Wesołowska and Anthony Russell-Smith in 2011.[1] It was one of over 500 species that the Polish arachnologist Wesołowska had helped identify during her career, ensuring her reputation as one of the most prolific in the field.[2] They allocated the spider to the genus Menemerus, first described in 1868 by Eugène Simon. It contains over 60 species.[3] The genus name derives from two Greek words, meaning certainly and diurnal.[4]

Genetic analysis has shown that Menemerus is related to the genera Helvetia and Phintella.[5] The genus shares some characteristics, including having narrow, oval, fixed embolus, with the genera Hypaeus and Pellenes.[6] Previously placed in the tribe Heliophaninae, the tribe was reconstituted as Chrysillini by Wayne Maddison in 2015.[7] The tribe is ubiquitous across most continents of the world.[5] It is allocated to the subclade Saltafresia in the clade Salticoida.[8] In 2016, Prószyński created a group of genera named Menemerines after the genus.[9] The vast majority of the species in Menemerines are members of the genus, with additional examples from Kima and Leptorchestes.[10] The species name is derived from the nme of the country where it was first found.[11]

Description

Menemerus nigeriensis is a medium-sized spider. The male has a cephalothorax that is typically 2.5 millimetres (0.098 in) long and 1.9 millimetres (0.075 in). It has a flat oval dark brown carapace and a black eye field that has a metallic sheen and brown bristles near the eyes. The clypeus is very low with a covering of white hairs. The spider has brown labium and sternum. The spider's abdomen is typically 2.6 mm (0.10 in) long and 1.6 millimetres (0.063 in) wide. It is a greyish-brown ovoid, covered in delicate colourless hairs.[11] The underside is dark. It has grey spinnerets and brown legs. The pedipalps are also brown, with some white hairs visible on the femur. There are bristles on the femur that the spider uses for stridulation with a ridges on its chelicerae. The palpal bulb is short and wide with a small embolus with an opposing conductor of a similar size and a thin and very long tibial apophysis or appendage.[12] The female has not been described.[1]

Spiders of the Menemerus genus are difficult to distinguish from each other. It is necessary to study the copulatory organs to identify the different species.[13] The shape of the tibial apophysis is distinctive, as it is longer and more pointed than in other spiders.[11]

Behaviour

Due to their good eyesight, Menemerus spiders are mostly diurnal hunters. They attack using a complex approach to their prey and are generally more proactive in their attacks in comparison to web-spinning spiders.[14] They will eat a wide range of prey and is likely to eat nectar.[15] The males undertake aggressive displays between themselves.[16]

Distribution

Menemerus spiders are found throughout Africa and Asia, and have been identified as far as Latin America.[17] Menemerus nigeriensis is endemic to Nigeria.[1] The holotype was found in 1974 near Ibadan.[11]

References

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 World Spider Catalog (2017). "Menemerus nigeriensis Wesolowska & Russell-Smith, 2011". World Spider Catalog. 18.0. Bern: Natural History Museum. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
  2. ↑ Wiśniewski 2020, p. 6.
  3. ↑ Mariante & Hill 2020, p. 1.
  4. ↑ Fernández-Rubio 2013, p. 128.
  5. 1 2 Maddison & Hedin 2003, p. 541.
  6. ↑ Maddison 2015, p. 233.
  7. ↑ Maddison 2015, p. 231.
  8. ↑ Maddison 2015, p. 278.
  9. ↑ Prószyński 2017, p. 112.
  10. ↑ Prószyński 2017, p. 116.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Wesołowska & Russell-Smith 2011, p. 580.
  12. ↑ Wesołowska & Russell-Smith 2011, p. 581.
  13. ↑ Wesołowska 1999, p. 252.
  14. ↑ Richman & Jackson 1992, p. 33.
  15. ↑ Jackson et al. 2001, p. 27.
  16. ↑ Richman & Jackson 1992, p. 35.
  17. ↑ Mariante & Hill 2020, p. 3.

Bibliography

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