Anyphops gilli
| Uitenhage Anyphops Flat Spider | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
| Family: | Selenopidae |
| Genus: | Anyphops |
| Species: | A. gilli
|
| Binomial name | |
| Anyphops gilli (Lawrence, 1940)[1]
| |
Anyphops gilli is a species of spider in the family Selenopidae.[2] It is endemic to South Africa and is commonly known as Uitenhage Anyphops flat spider.[3]
Distribution
[edit]Anyphops gilli occurs in three South African provinces: Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, and Western Cape.[3] Notable localities include Uitenhage, Hogsback in the Amatola Mountains, iSimangaliso Wetland Park, and Ngome State Forest.[3]
Habitat and ecology
[edit]The species inhabits Forest, Savanna, and Thicket biomes at altitudes ranging from 45 to 1307 m above sea level.[3] These are free-living cryptozoic nocturnal spiders that have been sampled with pitfall traps and from leaf litter in dry-humid wet forest.[3]
Description
[edit]Known only from the male. The carapace is light reddish brown and a little darker anteriorly, with thoracic striae brown and some fine long radiating lines from it. The cephalic region is bisected by a light brown line which is duplicated for most of its length, and the chelicerae are a little darker than the carapace.[3]
The opisthosoma has some brown spots and wavy cross-bars over most of its surface, with a transverse, procurved, fairly broad black stripe near its posterior extremity. The anterior tibiae have 6 pairs of inferior spines.[3]
Total length is 8.6 mm.[3]
Conservation
[edit]Anyphops gilli is listed as Least Concern due to its wide geographical range.[3] The species is protected in three State Forests, though more sampling is needed to collect the female.[3]
Taxonomy
[edit]The species was originally described by Lawrence in 1940 as Selenops gilli from Uitenhage in the Eastern Cape.[1] It was later transferred to the genus Anyphops by Benoit in 1968.[3]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Lawrence, R.F. (1940). "The genus Selenops (Araneae) in South Africa". Annals of the South African Museum. 32: 597. doi:10.5962/bhl.part.5227.
- ^ "Anyphops gilli (Lawrence, 1940)". World Spider Catalog. Natural History Museum Bern. doi:10.24436/2. Retrieved 2025-09-27.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Dippenaar-Schoeman, A.S.; Haddad, C.R.; Foord, S.H.; Lotz, L.N. (2020). The Selenopidae of South Africa. Version 1. South African National Survey of Arachnida Photo Identification Guide. p. 22. doi:10.5281/zenodo.7162139.
This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 4.0 license.
