Freya decorata
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| Freya decorata | |
|---|---|
 | |
| female from Brazil | |
 | |
| male from Ecuador | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
| Family: | Salticidae |
| Subfamily: | Salticinae |
| Genus: | Freya |
| Species: | F. decorata |
| Binomial name | |
| Freya decorata (C. L. Koch, 1846) | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Freya decorata is a species of jumping spider in the genus Freya. It is the type species of its genus and is found in northern South America.[1]
The species was first described by Carl Ludwig Koch in 1846 as Euophrys decorata, with the male illustrated in figure 1248 of his work.[2] In the same publication, Koch described what he believed to be a separate species, Euophrys trifasciata (figure 1249), based on a female specimen from Brazil.[2] However, Koch himself expressed uncertainty about whether E. trifasciata might actually be the female of E. decorata, noting in his description that "perhaps the spider described here is the female of Attus decoratus, but the differently formed cephalothorax and the lateral band extending over the edges raise not entirely unfounded doubts."[2]
Modern taxonomic studies have confirmed that both names refer to the same species, representing the male and female forms respectively. Euophrys trifasciata was formally synonymized with Freya decorata by Eugène Simon in 1903.[3] Both names are now considered junior synonyms of Freya decorata.
The species was transferred to the genus Freya by Koch himself in 1850.[4] Freya decorata serves as the type species for the genus Freya, which was named after Freyja, the fertility goddess of Norse mythology.[5]
