Hasarinella distincta
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Infraorder:	Araneomorphae
Family:	Salticidae
Subfamily:	Salticinae
Genus:	Hasarinella
Species:	H. distincta
Binomial name
Hasarinella distincta Haddad & Wesołowska, 2013

Hasarinella distincta is a species of jumping spider in the genus Hasarinella that lives in South Africa. The species was first described in 2013 by Charles R. Haddad and Wanda Wesołowska. With a dark brown oval cephalothorax] that is between 3.4 and 3.8 mm (0.13 and 0.15 in) long and a brown ovoid abdomen that has a length between 3.7 and 4.5 mm (0.15 and 0.18 in). The male has a marking of three white streaks, one in the middle and two along the edges, on the carapace. The female does not. It is the copulatory organs that enable the species to be differentiated from the related Hasarinella berlandi, particularly the wider seminal ducts in the female and the oval palpal bulb in the male. It lives in both grassland and woodland.

Taxonomy

Hasarinella distincta is a jumping spider that was first described by Charles R. Haddad and Wanda Wesołowska in 2013.^[1] The species is one of over 500 named by the Polish arachnologist Wesołowska.^[2] It was allocated to the genus Hasarinella, which had been first described by Wesołowska in 2012. The genus name is a diminutive of Hasarius, the genus in which the type species Hasarinella berlandi was originally placed.^[3] The species is named after a Latin word that can be translated distinct, and refers to the male mouthparts.^[4] In 2015, Wayne Maddison defined the genus Hasarinella as a possible thiratoscirtine.^[5] It is member of the subclade Simonida in the clade Saltafresia, both named in honour of the French arachnologist Eugène Simon.^[6] In 2016, it had been grouped with eight other genera of jumping spiders under the name Evarchines, named after the related genus Evarcha, by Jerzy Prószyński.^[7]

Description

The male Hasarinella distincta has a cephalothorax that has a typical length of 3.8 mm (0.15 in) and width of 2.9 mm (0.11 in).^[4] The oval carapace is moderately high and dark brown, covered with brown hairs. It has a thin white streak down the middle and one on each of the sides. There are bristles and scales near the eyes. The clypeus is low and dark brown with a scattering of white hairs. The chelicerae is dark brown, large and robust with a short fang, two teeth to the front and one large teeth to the back. The labium is light brown apart of edges, which have thin white markings. The sternum is also brown. The abdomen is ovoid and brown apart from two white streaks on the back.^[8] It is typically 3.7 mm (0.15 in) long and 2.2 mm (0.087 in) wide.^[4] The top is covered in brown hairs and the underside is greyish-brown. It has brown spinnerets. It has brown hairy legs and pedipalps, the former covered in brown hairs and the latter with white hairs. The palpal bulb is oval with a short apophysis, or spike, on the tibia and a short straight and wide embolus.^[9]

The female has a smaller cephalothorax that is typically 3.4 mm (0.13 in) lond and 2.7 mm (0.11 in) wide and a longer abdomen which has a length of 4.5 mm (0.18 in) and a width of 3.0 mm (0.12 in).^[4] It is generally similar to the male to look at, except it does not have the white lines on the body or the scales near the eyes. The abdomen is similar on the top but has white dots forming four lines marking out the black underside. The spinnerets are yellowish-grey and the legs brown. The spider has a distinctive epigyne with a depression towards the front and a broad pocket surrounded by a relatively deep furrow. The copulatory openings lead to sclerotized seminal ducts and simple receptacles.^[9]

The species can be confused with the related Hasarinella berlandi. Although the epigyne is similar but the seminal ducts are wider. The palpal bulb is oval and lacks the protuberances sign on the tegulum of the other species.^[4]

Distribution and habitat

Hasarinella distincta is endemic to South Africa and restricted to Limpopo.^[1][10] The holotype was discovered in 2009 in the Lekgalameetse Provincial Park. It thrives in both grassland and woodland dominated by Acacia trees.^[4]

References