Heliocapensis
Genus of spiders
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Heliocapensis is a mainly South African genus of the spider family Salticidae (jumping spiders).
| Heliocapensis | |
|---|---|
| |
| female H. capensis | |
 | |
| female H. deserticola | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
| Family: | Salticidae |
| Subfamily: | Salticinae |
| Genus: | Heliocapensis Wesołowska, 1986[1] |
| Type species | |
| Heliocapensis peckhami | |
| Species | |
| Synonyms | |
Distribution
Life style
These are free-living spiders found on the ground or plant-dwellers collected from various habitat types.[3]
Description
These are small salticids, measuring between 3.0 and 4.5 mm in length.[3]
Males are characterized by black coloration with distinctive white markings. A thin line traverses the anterior region of the abdomen, accompanied by two or three pairs of rounded or obliquely-oriented white markings. These markings consist of white setae or microscopic scales and tend to fade as the specimen ages.[3]
Taxonomy
The genus Heliocapensis was elevated from a subgenus of Heliophanus C. L. Koch, 1833 by Wesołowska in 2024.[4]
Species
female H. aberdarensis
female H. capensis
female H. peckhami
As of October 2025[update], this genus includes fourteen species:[2]
- Heliocapensis aberdarensis (Wesołowska, 1986) – Kenya, South Africa
- Heliocapensis bellus (Wesołowska, 1986) – South Africa
- Heliocapensis capensis (Wesołowska, 1986) – South Africa
- Heliocapensis charlesi (Wesołowska, 2003) – South Africa
- Heliocapensis chikangawanus (Wesołowska, 1986) – Angola, Malawi
- Heliocapensis claviger (Simon, 1901) – Mozambique, South Africa
- Heliocapensis deserticola (Simon, 1901) – South Africa
- Heliocapensis lola Wesołowska & Henrard, 2025 – Guinea
- Heliocapensis maluti (Wesołowska & Haddad, 2014) – South Africa, Lesotho
- Heliocapensis mirabilis (Wesołowska, 1986) – South Africa
- Heliocapensis peckhami (Simon, 1902) – South Africa (type species)
- Heliocapensis portentosus (Wesołowska, 1986) – South Africa
- Heliocapensis redimitus (Simon, 1910) – South Africa
- Heliocapensis termitophagus (Wesołowska & Haddad, 2002) – South Africa
