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  11. ›Chrysillini
  12. ›Menemerus
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Menemerus meridionalis

Menemerus meridionalis is a species of jumping spider in the genus Menemerus that lives in South Africa. The species was first described in 1999 by Wanda Wesołowska, one of over 500 descriptions she produced during her lifetime. The spider is small, with a carapace that is typically 2.8 millimetres (0.11 in) long and an abdomen 3.3 millimetres (0.13 in) long. The carapace is generally dark brown with a white stripe down the middle while the abdomen has a dark brown stripe. Otherwise, it is its copulatory organs that most distinguish the species from others in the genus. The male has a lumpy retrolateral tibial apophysis, similar to but smaller than Menemerus tropicus, and a very small spiked ventral tibial apophysis.

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From the article Menemerus meridionalis on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), quoted section by section

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Description

Menemerus meridionalis is a small spider. The male has a dark brown flattened carapace that is typically 2.8 millimetres (0.11 in) long and 1.9 millimetres (0.075 in) wide. It has a scattering of white hairs on it and white hairs making up lines on its edges and a stripe down the middle. There are long brown bristles around the nearly black eye field. The spider has brown chelicerae, labium, maxilae and sternum. The spider's abdomen is typically 3.3 mm (0.13 in) long and 1.9 millimetres (0.075 in) wide. It has a wide dark brown stripe down the middle of the top, white hairs on its sides and a wide brownish stripe on its underside. It has brown spinnerets and legs. The spider's copulatory organs are distinctive. The pedipalp is light brown and covered in white hairs. It has a large palpal tibia. The spider has what looks like two embolus, with a lamella of nearly the same size closely matching the actual embolus. It also has a lumpy retrolateral tibial apophysis and very small spiked ventral tibial apophysis. The female has not been described. Spiders of the Menemerus genus are difficult to distinguish from each other. It is the copulatory organs of this species that are distinctive and enable it to be identified. The male's palpal bulb resembles Menemerus tropicus but the retrolateral tibial apophysis is smaller.

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Range & habitat

Menemerus spiders are found throughout Africa and Asia, and have been identified as far as Latin America. Menemerus meridionalis is endemic to South Africa. The holotype and other examples were found near Mogwadi in Limpopo during 1967. It is only known from that area of the country.

Wikipedia: “Distribution”

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Where it lives

Recorded sightings

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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.

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This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 674893.