Leptorchestes separatus

Leptorchestes separatus are small ant-like spiders. Their body is divided into two main parts: a cephalothorax and an abdomen. The male carapace, the hard upper part of the cephalothorax, is typically 1.3 mm (0.05 in) long and 0.9 mm (0.04 in) wide while the female is typically 1.5 mm (0.06 in) long and 0.8 mm (0.03 in) wide.^[8] It is fawnish-brown, very flat and has short hairs. Its eye field is pockmarked and there are a few long hairs and black rings around its eyes. The underside of the cephalothorax, or sternum, is light brown. The spider's clypeus is brown, very low and have long protruding bristles. It has long brown chelicerae.^[9] It has two teeth on its front^[10] The remainder of the mouthparts, including its labium and maxillae, are light brown.^[9]

The male's abdomen is typically 2 mm (0.08 in) long and 0.9 mm wide.^[8] It is pear-shaped and covered in a few short hairs with a top that is yellowish-brown at the front and black to the back, and a uniformly brownish underside. Its book lung covers are large. It has brown spinnerets and pedipalps. Its legs are long and thin, particularly the fourth pair of legs, They are generally light brown with dark stripes on the third and fourth pairs. There is a long pedicel that connects between the carapace and the abdomen,^[9] The female's abdomen is typically 2.3 mm (0.09 in) long and 0.9 mm wide.^[8] It is similar to the male abdomen but the top has a distinctive stripe of white hairs between the lighter front and darker back sections. Unlike the male, it has light brown legs with the front pair differing in the presence of a dark stripe.^[9]

The male and female spiders can also be distinguished by their copulatory organs. There are two rounded copulatory openings, surrounded by areas of significant sclerotization, on its epigyne, the external visible part of its copulatory organs. These lead, via wide insemination ducts, to compact spermathecae, or receptacles, that have a many chambers.^[11] The male has an oval, somewhat elongated palpal bulb, which has a small embolus projecting from the top. There is also a single small spike projecting from the palpal tibia, called a tibial apophysis.^[9] As with other members of Leptorchestes, Leptorchestes separatus can be distinguished by its copulatory organs, particularly the male's short tibial apophysis. The female is most easily idenitified by its smaller size than others in the genus.^[12] The sclerotization of area around its copulatory openings and structure of the insemination ducts are also characteristic for the species.^[13]

Leptorchestes spiders live in the Afrotropical and Palearctic realms. Leptorchestes separatus was the first species in the genus to be found in sub-Saharan Africa.^[12] It is endemic to Namibia, the first examples being found in Etosha National Park in 1998.^[1][14] Leptorchestes species are typically ground-dwelling spiders.^[15]

• Maddison, Wayne P. (2015). "A phylogenetic classification of jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae)". The Journal of Arachnology. 43 (3): 231–292. doi:10.1636/arac-43-03-231-292. S2CID 85680279.
• Maddison, Wayne P.; Bodner, Melissa R.; Needham, Karen M. (2008). "Salticid spider phylogeny revisited, with the discovery of a large Australasian clade (Araneae: Salticidae)". Zootaxa. 1893: 49–64. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.1893.1.3.
• Prószyński, Jerzy (2017). "Pragmatic classification of the World's Salticidae (Araneae)". Ecologica Montenegrina. 12: 1–133. doi:10.37828/em.2017.12.1.
• Wesołowska, Wanda; Szeremeta, M. (2001). "A revision of the ant-like salticid genera Enoplomischus Giltay, 1931, Kima Peckham & Peckham, 1902 and Leptorchestes Thorell, 1870 (Araneae: Salticidae)". Insect Systematics & Evolution. 32 (2): 217–240. doi:10.1163/187631201x00173.