Anyphops lesserti
| Touwsriver Anyphops Flat Spider | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
| Family: | Selenopidae |
| Genus: | Anyphops |
| Species: | A. lesserti
|
| Binomial name | |
| Anyphops lesserti (Lawrence, 1940)[1]
| |
Anyphops lesserti is a species of spider in the family Selenopidae.[2] It is endemic to South Africa and is commonly known as Touwsriver Anyphops flat spider.[3]
Distribution
[edit]Anyphops lesserti is endemic to the Western Cape province of South Africa. The species is known from a few localities including Touws River, Gouritsmond, and Swartberg Nature Reserve.[3]
Habitat and ecology
[edit]The species inhabits the Fynbos biome at altitudes ranging from sea level to 1405 m above sea level. These are free-living cryptozoic nocturnal ground living spiders.[3]
Description
[edit]Known only from the male. The carapace is orange-yellow with the thoracic striae visible, and the chelicerae are much darker than the carapace, being reddish brown.[3]
The opisthosoma is light yellow-brown above with minute scattered black dots and a wavy transverse black stripe above the spinnerets. The legs apparently lack markings or bands of any kind. The anterior tibiae have 5 pairs of inferior spines.[3]
Total length is 10.2 mm.[3]
Conservation
[edit]Anyphops lesserti is listed as Data Deficient due to taxonomic reasons. The species has a small range and more sampling is needed to collect females and determine the full extent of its distribution. It receives some protection in Swartberg Nature Reserve.[3]
Taxonomy
[edit]The species was originally described by Lawrence in 1940 as Selenops lesserti from Touws River.[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: 581. doi:10.5962/bhl.part.5227.
- ^ "Anyphops lesserti (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 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. 31. doi:10.5281/zenodo.7162139.
This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 4.0 license.
