Euophrys elizabethae

Euophrys elizabethae is a small spider with a body divided into two main parts: a broader oval cephalothorax and longer abdomen.^[13] The male has a cephalothorax that is typically 2.3 mm (0.09 in) long and 1.8 mm (0.07 in) wide. The carapace, the hard upper part of the cephalothorax, is a brown oval. The eye field is black, with a covering of colourless hairs. The underside of the cephalothorax, or sternum, is light brown. The spider's face, or clypeus, is low and covered in of white hairs. The chelicerae has two teeth to the front and one to the back, while the remainder of the mouthparts, including the labium, are light brown.^[5]

The male spider's abdomen is an oval that is typically 2.2 mm (0.09 in) long and 1.6 mm (0.06 in) wide. It is mainly dark grey with a mosaic pattern of very dense small dark and light patches and chevrons. The sides of the abdomen are yellowish with indistinct dark marking while the underside is greyish-yellow. The spider has light spinnerets and brown legs, the first pair of legs being darker than the rest.^[5]

The female looks similar externally to the male, although it is hairier, with a cephalothorax that is 2.2 mm long and 1.6 wide and an abdomen that is 2.6 mm (0.10 in) long and 1.7 mm (0.07 in) wide. The abdomen is dark grey on top with a mosaic pattern of smaller light patches and a yellowish underside. The spider's legs are yellowish-grey with darker areas.^[5]

The spider has distinctive copulatory organs. The female has limited sclerotization on its epigyne. It has two copulatory openings that lead to very short and relatively wide insemination ducts which loop around before feeding into the spermathecae, or receptacles. There are large accessory glands in the wall of the spermathecae. The male has a long palpal bulb with a pronounced bulge to the bottom and a very small curled embolus attached to the top. The palpal tibia is small and has a short erect protrusion, or tibial apophysis.^[14][15] The spider is similar to the related Euophrys purcelli, especially the design of the male's palpal bulb, but the male has a shorter and wider tibial apophysis and the female has shorter accessory glands and longer and more strongly curved insemination ducts.^[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.^[16][17] In Africa, they are mainly found in the southern part of the continent.^[18] Euophrys elizabethae is endemic to South Africa.^[1][19] It has been only found in Western Cape]. The male holotype was discovered in 1976 in the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden. It was found in woodland.^[5] Like many species in the genus, it thrives in fynbos.^[20]