Euophrys bifida

Euophrys bifida is a small spider with a body divided into two main parts: a rectangular cephalothorax and thinner, more oval abdomen.^[13] The male has a cephalothorax that is between 1.2 and 1.3 mm (0.05 and 0.05 in) long and typically 0.9 mm (0.04 in) wide. The carapace, the hard upper part of the cephalothorax, is a moderately high oval that is mainly dark brown with some short colourless hairs. The eye field is black, with large bristles particularly near its eyes, which are unusually large, particular those to the front. The underside of the cephalothorax, or sternum, is large and has a distinctive convex shape.^[5] The spider's face, or clypeus, is black, as are the majority of the mouthparts. The arrangement of teeth in the chelicerae is distinctive, with two rows of stiff hairs forming lines between two fork-shaped back teeth and a single curved fang to the front.^[14]

The male spider's abdomen is an oval that is typically 1.2 long and between 0.8 and 0.9 mm (0.03 and 0.04 in) wide. It is dark with a mosaic pattern of very small blackish-brown plates and two thin yellowish-orange lines from front to back. The sides of the abdomen are whitish with thin diagonal white belts while the underside is dark with a pattern of white spots that make four streaks. It is between 1.5 and 1.7 mm (0.06 and 0.07 in) long and typically 1.1 mm (0.04 in) wide. The spider has dark grey spinnerets. The spider's legs and mainly blackish, with yellowish-grey sections and brown leg hairs and spines. The pedipalps are dark.^[5]

The spider's copulatory organs include a rounded palpal bulb, in some examples more bean-shaped. There is a small thin curled embolus attached to the top that projects outwards and lines up with the large cymbium that surrounds the outside of the bulb. The cymbium is hairy. The palpal tibia is blunt and has a relatively long erect protrusion, or tibial apophysis, that has a pointed tip.^[5][15]

The female has a larger cephalothorax than the male, between 1.3 and 1.4 mm (0.06 in) mm long and between 1 and 1.1 mm (0.04 and 0.04 in) wide. The carapace that similar to the male, although slightly lighter. The chelicerae are also similar. The female's abdomen is also larger than the male's, between 1.5 and 1.7 mm (0.06 and 0.07 in) in length and typically 1.1 mm (0.04 in) in width. Both the top and bottom are light and covered in a mosaic of small dark patches. There are indistinct lighter chevrons to the rear of the underside. The spider's legs are light brown.^[16]

The female has a epigyne with two rounded depressions towards the rear. The edges have limited sclerotization on their rims. It has two copulatory openings that lead to very short and relatively wide insemination ducts that lead to large ovoid spermathecae, or receptacles. There are large accessory glands in the wall of the spermathecae.^[17][15] Apart from the distinctive teeth, the spider is similar to other species in the genus. The male's palpal bulb is particularly similar to the related Euophrys purcelli, but the embolic coil has a larger diameter and the shape of the tibial apophysis is different.^[5]

Euophrys spiders live across the world, although those found in North America may be accidental migrants and those in Central and South America misidentifications.^[18][19] In Africa, they are mainly found in the southern part of the continent.^[20] Euophrys bifida is endemic to South Africa.^[1][21] It has been only found in Eastern Cape. The male holotype was discovered in 2011 on Hogsback in the Amatola Mountains. Other examples have been found across the province, including in the Fort Fordyce Nature Reserve. It was found in woodland, particularly living in leaf litter.^[17]