Afromarengo bimaculata (Peckham & Peckham, 1903) Wesołowska & Haddad, 2013

Wesołowska, Wanda & Haddad, Charles R., 2013, New data on the jumping spiders of South Africa (Araneae: Salticidae), African Invertebrates 54 (1), pp. 177-177 : 180-182

Afromarengo bimaculata (Peckham & Peckham, 1903) , comb. n.

Figs 1, 13, 14, 22–29

Copocrossa bimaculata: Peckham & Peckham 1903: 187 , pl. 19, fig. 7.

Redescription:

Measurements (♂ / ♀). Cephalothorax: length 1.6–1.7/1.8–2.0, width 1.0–1.1/1.0–1.1, height 0.4–0.5/0.3–0.4.Abdomen: length 2.0–2.2/2.4–2.9, width 0.7–0.8/1.2–1.3. Eye field: length 0.6/0.6–0.7, anterior width 0.7–0.8/0.9, posterior width 0.8–0.9/1.0.

Male.

General appearance as in Fig. 1. Small, elongate spider with strongly flattened body ( Fig. 13). Carapace orange to light brownish, with black line along lateral carapace margins; eyes surrounded by black rings, eye field short (occupying about one-third of carapace length); fovea absent. Clypeus extremely low. Chelicerae with two promarginal and three retromarginal teeth, all teeth very small. Labium and endites orange, sternum elongate, pale. Abdomen long and narrow, brownish grey, with broad median greyish belt. Two large round black patches placed on darker lateral areas, behind midpoint of abdomen ( Fig. 1). Venter of abdomen pale brown. Spinnerets black. Legs relatively short in comparison to body length, delicate, light yellow, with delicate dark lines along lateral surfaces of femora, patellae and tibiae III and IV (darker on retrolateral sides). First pair of legs stout, with enlarged femora and swollen tibiae, ventral surface of tibiae clothed in very long, dense, black hairs ( Figs 14, 22, 23); three pairs of spines on tibiae I and two pairs on metatarsi I. Pedipalps pale yellow; tibial apophysis thin, bulb oval, slightly elongate, with embolic spiral composed of three loops ( Figs 24, 25).

Female.

Similar to male, general appearance as in Fig. 26. Carapace dorsoventrally flattened ( Fig. 27). Silver patches of translucent guanine crystals on centre of eye field. Abdominal pattern as in male but colouration slightly lighter. Shape of first leg as in male, but hairs on tibial ventral surface absent. Epigyne weakly sclerotized ( Fig. 28); internal structure as in Fig. 29, inlet part of seminal ducts weakly sclerotized (visible after staining with chlorazol black).

Holotype (examined): 1 imm. SOUTH AFRICA: KwaZulu­Natal: Durban [29°55'S 30°56'E], Quekett ( MCZ).

Other material examined: SOUTH AFRICA: Eastern Cape: 2♀ Somerset East, Bestershoek Nature Reserve , 32°42.500'S 25°33.652'E, 810 m, canopy fogging, woodland trees, 3.xii.2011, J. Neethling & C. Luwes (NCA, 2012/1823) ; 1♀ same data ( MRAC) . KwaZulu­Natal: 6 imm. 1♂ Ophathe Game Reserve , 28°23.202'S 31°24.077'E, 505 m, rocky mountainside, beating short shrubs, 1.x.2008, C. Haddad (NCA, 2008/3975) ; 7 imm. 1♂ same data (NCA, 2008/3998) ; 2 imm. 1♂ same locality, 28°22.135'S 31°23.363'E, 560 m, overgrazed savanna, beating short shrubs, 3.x.2008, C. Haddad (NCA, 2008/4141). Limpopo : 1♀ Naboomspruit / Mookgopong, Rhemardo Holiday Resort , 24°26.864'S 28°36.705'E, 1295 m, canopy fogging, Ziziphus mucronata , 1.ii.2011, C. Haddad, V. Butler & J. Neethling (NCA, 2012/1820) . North West: 1♀ Rustenburg Nature Reserve , 25°42'S 27°18'E, sweeping, 7.xi.1980, M. Stiller (NCA, 94/100) .

Distribution: Species known from scattered localities in South Africa ( Fig. 35); recorded for the first time from the Eastern Cape, Limpopo and North West provinces.

Habitat and biology: This foliage-dwelling species lives in tree canopies but has also been collected on lower vegetation, including short broad-leaved shrubs. The majority of localities are from the Savanna Biome.

Remarks: The type specimen is immature, but the characteristic shape of the body and abdominal pattern of this species (presence of two large black patches) is distinctive. The original inclusion of this species into the genus Copocrossa Simon, 1901 was probably based on the general body proportions, and these similarities appear to be the result of convergence rather than of generic relationships. Copocrossa is a small genus with three species distributed in Australia and the Malay Archipelago, with a fourth species described from Kenya ( Platnick 2012). The morphological features of this South African species, especially the shape of the first leg and the structure of the genitalia, are typical for Afromarengo Benjamin, 2004 . The placement of the Kenyan species, C. albozonata Caporiacco, 1949 , should be clarified as it too may be misplaced.