Anyphops helenae
| St Helena Anyphops Flat Spider | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
| Family: | Selenopidae |
| Genus: | Anyphops |
| Species: | A. helenae
|
| Binomial name | |
| Anyphops helenae (Lawrence, 1940)[1]
| |
Anyphops helenae is a species of spider in the family Selenopidae.[2] It is endemic to South Africa and is commonly known as St Helena Anyphops flat spider.[3]
Distribution
[edit]Anyphops helenae is endemic to the Western Cape province of South Africa.[3] The species is known only from the type locality of Stompneus at St Helena Bay.[3]
Habitat and ecology
[edit]The species inhabits the Fynbos biome at an altitude of 109 m above sea level.[3] These are free-living cryptozoic nocturnal spiders.[3]
Description
[edit]![[icon]](/wiki/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} | This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (September 2025) |
Known only from the female.[3] The carapace is light reddish brown, ornamented with minute black specks and larger blackish spots, with a tuft of white hairs above and overhanging the anterior median eyes. The chelicerae are the same colour as the carapace.[3]
The opisthosoma is brown above with some rather ill-defined symmetrical darker markings. The anterior legs have brown bands while the posterior ones are without bands. The anterior tibiae have 5 pairs of inferior spines.[3]
Total length is 8 mm.[3]
Conservation
[edit]Anyphops helenae is listed as Data Deficient due to taxonomic reasons.[3] The species has a very small range and more sampling is needed to collect males and determine the full extent of its distribution.[3]
Taxonomy
[edit]The species was originally described by Lawrence in 1940 as Selenops helenae.[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: 576. doi:10.5962/bhl.part.5227 (inactive 3 October 2025).
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of October 2025 (link) - ^ "Anyphops helenae (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 l 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. 23. doi:10.5281/zenodo.7162139.
This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 4.0 license.
