Phintella kaptega is a species of jumping spider in the genus Phintella that lives in Kenya. The species is named after the area around the Kaptega river where it was first found. The spider was first described in 2016 by Angelika Dawidowicz and Wanda Wesołowska in 2016, and is distinguished by the large pockets in the female's epigyne. It is a small spider with a light brown carapace that has a dark line along its edge. The abdomen is between 1.95 and 2.2 mm (0.08 and 0.09 in) long and has light brown markings on a yellow background.
| Phintella kaptega | |
|---|---|
 | |
| The related male Phintella versicolor | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
| Family: | Salticidae |
| Subfamily: | Salticinae |
| Genus: | Phintella |
| Species: | P. kaptega |
| Binomial name | |
| Phintella kaptega Dawidowicz & Wesołowska, 2016 | |
Taxonomy
Phintella kaptega was first described in 2016 by Angelika Dawidowicz and Wanda Wesołowska.[1] The species name is derived from the name of the area where it first found.[2] It is one of over 500 species identified by Wesołowska.[3] The genus Phintella was circumscribed in 1906 by Embrik Strand and W. Bösenberg. The genus name derives from the genus Phintia, which it resembles.[4] The genus Phintia was itself renamed Phintodes, which was subsequently absorbed into Tylogonus.[5] There are similarities between spiders within genus Phintella and those in Chira, Chrysilla, Euophrys, Icius, Jotus and Telamonia.[6] Genetic analysis confirms that it is related to the genera Helvetia and Menemerus.[7] It is a member of the tribe Heliophaninae, renamed Chrysillini by Wayne Maddison in 2015.[8] Chrysillines are monophyletic.[9] The tribe is ubiquitous across most of the continents of the world.[7] It is allocated to the subclade Saltafresia in the clade Salticoida.[9]
Description
The spider was initially described by Angelika Dawidowicz and Wanda Wesołowska in 2016 based on the collection of the Swedish arachnologist Åke Holm.[10] The spider has a very light brown carapace which has a dark line along its edges. The clypeus is similarly dark. The abdomen is generally oval in shape and yellow with a pattern of brown markings. The female is slightly smaller and lighter than the male. The male's abdomen is 2.2 mm (0.09 in) long, while the female's is 1.95 mm (0.08 in) long. The cephalothorax is smaller, measuring between 1.5 and 1.7 mm (0.06 and 0.07 in) in length. The species is similar to Phintella aequipes but differs in the design of its copulatory organs. The male has small, light brown pedipalps and a short spiky embolus. The female has very large pockets that occupy almost half of the epigyne, which is distinctive for the species.[2]
Distribution
Phintella kaptega was first identified from examples discovered on the slopes of Mount Elgon in Kenya near the Kaptega River.[2]
References
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