Phintella chopardi (Berland & Millot, 1941) comb. nov.

Fig. 59

Cosmophasis chopardi Berland & Millot, 1941: 318, fig. 20.

Material examined

UGANDA • 1 ♂; Masindi distr., Budongo Forest; 1°45′ N, 31°25′ E; dry season; 21–31 Jul. 1995; T. Wagner leg.; ZFMK 2884 .

Redescription

Male

General appearance as in Fig. 59A. Specimen in poor condition.

MEASUREMENTS. Cephalothorax length 2.1, width 1.7, height 0.9. Eye field length 1.0, anterior width 1.2, posterior width 1.4. Abdomen length 2.6, width 1.3.

CARAPACE. Oval, brown, edges darker, anterior part of eye field black. Anterior median eyes framed by white hairs, many short white hairs on eye field, some on slopes of carapace. Mouthparts light brown, sternum tinged by grey. Chelicera unidentati.

ABDOMEN. Oval, slightly elongated, dark brown with metallic sheen. Thin transverse lighter stripe in middle of abdomen length, traces of second stripe near frontal edge. Dorsum clothed in transparent hairs, some very long big setae on anterior half. Venter dirty yellowish.

LEGS. First pair brown, two black lines along dorsal surface of tibia. Two very long spines on femur dorsally. Other legs missing.

PALPS. Brownish, slender. Tibial apophysis short and broad (Fig. 59D). Bulb with long posterior lobe, embolus very short (Fig. 59B–C).

Female

Unknown.

Distribution

Hitherto known only from type locality in Ivory Coast, this is the first record of the species in Uganda.

Remarks

The species is significantly different from the type species of the genus Cosmophasis Simon, 1901 . Moreover, Cosmophasis is distributed in Oriental and Australian Regions, and several species reported from Africa are certainly misclassified. Body proportion and palp structure of Cosmophasis chopardi are similar to those in the type species of Phintella Strand, 1906, and other members of this genus, especially to Phintella australis (Simon, 1902) so we transfer this species to the genus Phintella .