Helafricanus

Most species in this genus are endemic to Africa, with two species reaching the Arabic Peninsula and one Iran.^[1]

These are free-living spiders found on the ground or plants, collected from a broad range of habitats.^[2]

The genus Helafricanus comprises small to medium-sized spiders, measuring 2.5 to 4.5 mm.^[2]

Males have a black carapace, in some species with a thin whitish median streak. The abdomen is black, usually with a white leaf-like pattern or a median stripe, sometimes also featuring a thin white line along the lateral edges of the body.^[2]

Females have mottled brown and black colouration and an abdominal pattern comprising a light central stripe composed of several pairs of merging spots. Notably, some males exhibit an abdominal pattern similar to females.^[2]

Light streaks and patches are composed of white hairs. The diagnostic character of Helafricanus males is the presence of a large palpal patellar apophysis. The structure of the female genital organs is similar in all congeners, with the copulatory openings usually placed at the posterior part of the epigyne.^[2]

The genus Helafricanus was elevated from a subgenus of Heliophanus C. L. Koch, 1833 by Wesołowska in 2024. The type species is Helafricanus patellaris (Simon, 1901). Fourteen species are known from South Africa.^[2]

• 
  male H. debilis
• 
  female H. insperatus
• 
  female H. nanus
• 
  female H. trepidus

As of October 2025^[update], this genus includes 46 species:^[1]