Pellenes Simon, 1876

Maddison, Wayne P., 2017, New species of Habronattus and Pellenes jumping spiders (Araneae, Salticidae, Harmochirina), ZooKeys 646, pp. 45-72 : 57-58

Genus Pellenes Simon, 1876

Type species.

Aranea tripunctata Walckenaer, 1802

Notes.

Currently 84 species are assigned to Pellenes (World Spider Catalog, 2016). There are five subgenera: the nominate, three described by described by Logunov et al. (1999) and one by Prószyński (2016). These are:

Pellenes Simon 1876. Logunov et al. (1999) included three species in the nominate subgenus. The TmA is massive, much larger than the embolus. Logunov et al (1999) diagnosed Pellenes s. str. by "a raised epigynal median septum in females ... and the tibial apophysis appressed in the cymbial groove in males".

Pelpaucus Logunov, Marusik & Rakov, 1999 (type species Pellenes limbatus Kulczyński, 1895). Six species are assigned to Pelpaucus . Their TmA is a more or less straight flat blade, wide especially at the tip, parallel to the embolus and as long as it. Logunov et al (1999) diagnosed Pelpaucus by the RTA very short or absent, an apical spine on the TmA, a recessed epigynal atrium, and a one-chambered spermatheca.

Pelmultus Logunov, Marusik & Rakov, 1999 (type species Attus geniculatus Simon, 1868). Twenty-three species are assigned to Pelmultus . They are compact-bodied (not elongate), with contrasting markings and a somewhat-ornamented male first leg, resembling in habitus to some extent the Habronattus dorotheae species group. The TmA is as long as the embolus but wider, with a complex pointed tip. Logunov et al (1999) diagnosed Pelmultus by the heavily sclerotized epigynal flaps and the subparallel tips of the embolus and the TmA.

Pelmirus Logunov, Marusik & Rakov, 1999 (type species Pellenes dilutus Logunov, 1995). Four species are assigned to Pelmirus , having a large complex TmA that curls distally at the tip, like a tongue. Logunov et al. (1999) diagnosed Pelmirus by the embolus and TmA perpendicularly orientated to each other and the peculiar elevated central pocket of the epigynum.

Pellap Prószyński, 2016 (type species implied to be Pellenes lapponicus Sundevall 1833). Pellenes lapponicus has a long embolus and TmA, the latter much wider. Prószyński (2016) characterizes Pellap by the long needle-like embolus sheathed in the thick TmA, trapezoidal RTA, medial groove behind the central pocket of the epigynum, and spiral spermathecae.

In all of these subgenera, the TmA is distinctly larger than the embolus. Many other species of Pellenes are not yet assigned to a subgenus, including many African species whose TmAs are small or (apparently) absent.

Although two Holarctic species are known from the Americas, Pellenes (Pellap) lapponicus and Pellenes (Pelpaucus) ignifrons (Grube, 1861), the remaining species of New World Pellenes form a distinctive group not known to occur in the Old World. The subgenus Pellenattus is here described to contain them.